The Distinction Between Old and New Testament Laws in Modern Christianity

In the Bible, there are a surplus of rules that the people of God are called to follow, and many of which seem to be absolute rubbish to modern day Christians. Christians of today have been accused of picking and choosing which laws they like from the Bible and only addressing and following those certain laws. A large portion of the Old Testament has rules that the modern Christian would say are not necessary to follow or enforce. In the Old Testament, there is also the Ten Commandments that are written that many or even most Christians today continue to follow. The New Testament has many rules that are still not seen as necessary to follow to a portion of Christians; however, many Christians believe that the New Testament shows the “new law” and addresses what is and isn’t important in Christianity. Each person as an individual Christian draws their line of what is deemed a “modern rule” in a different place. What this research is looking to do is to find why there is such a distinct difference in what many Christians deem as “trash-able” laws, and what is still considered a “reasonable” law. It is strictly intended to find the distinction between important and non-important laws and discover why there is a distinction specifically from the Old Testament laws and the New Testament laws.

The first thing to address in this research is that each persons’ morals and views of religion and law is going to be vastly different. Finding a common ground is simply going to be the majority opinion of logical reasoning behind the distinction of the laws. With the time allotted for the research, there probably will not be a definite opinion that trumps all others. It has to be understood that this will not necessarily be a popular opinion among current, modern Christians, or an opinion that is talked about often. The reasons behind what laws Christians are called to follow tend to be determined by personal preference only, but there is still a logical reasoning process to how Christians as a whole approach the problem of what rules should and should not be enforced. Additionally, the reasoning found through this research will most likely be posed with some initial bias from the writers. Pulling sources from the Internet and from other mediums will require for neutral readers to address the initial biases that each person has towards both religion and law. For example, on the web page called “Bible babble”, the website creator says in his biography that it is strictly an “anti-Christianity website” where Christians are “using the Bible to justify horrible actions”. Clearly there is a bias written where the writer says, “It is common that a Christian will blow off these old rules with ‘Jesus came to change the laws, so these are outmoded, and we don’t need them’, but throughout Leviticus God states that these laws are to be followed forever”. When information about these laws is found, there must be some sort of sifting through the bias to find the logical answers. The writer of the website writes about the laws strictly in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. He has only mentioned a distaste for the reason the New Testament is widely accepted, but no reason behind why Jesus was said to have changed these laws.

“Catholic Answers” writer Jim Blackburn (a Catholic apologist, author, and speaker. He holds a Masters Degree in Theology from John Paul the Great Catholic University) writes that there are 613 laws in the Old Testament. He writes that the Old Testament was never binding to Christians and only was binding to the Jews or Israelites. Some of the laws have qualities that are binding all people at all places at all times, and Jesus and Paul write of these specific laws in the New Testament. It could be interpreted that Jesus and Paul have come the perfect the laws in the Old Testament, which is why they are technically “disregarded”. “A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture” says, “The solemnity of our Lord’s opening pronouncements and his clear intention of inaugurating a new religious movement make it necessary for him to explain his position with regard to the [Old Testament Law]. He has not come to abrogate but to bring it to perfection, i.e. to reveal the full intention of the divine legislator”.

He also writes of the “natural law”, or as he has defined it: “knowledge built into the human conscience”. Paul is known to write of the natural law in Romans, saying, “When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts…” (Romans 2:14-15a). The Ten Commandments are also considered natural law. It is perceived that Christians are not supposed to follow these laws because they are in the Old Testament written as Commandments, but because it is part of the natural law that all Christians inherently understand to be law. The most important of the Ten Commandments is written in Matthew’s Gospel, and it says, “[A Pharisee lawyer] asked him a question, to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Matt 22:34-40).

Additionally, Jim Blackburn writes that worship on Saturday is not written as natural law but was simply put in the Bible to give them discipline. Blackburn writes, “That part of the Sabbath commandment is not part of the natural law at all but was simply a law imposed upon the Jews for the discipline of their nation. Other people had the authority to choose for themselves the time they set aside for worship. For Christians now, it makes sense to do this on Sunday.” He also quotes the “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, saying “The celebration of Sunday observes the moral commandment inscribed by nature in the human heart to render to God an outward, visible, public, and regular worship as a sign of his universal beneficence to tall. Sunday worship fulfills the moral command of the Old Covenant, taking up its rhythm and spirit in the weekly celebration of the Creator and Redeemer of his people (CCC 2176)”. This is saying that even though the Ten Commandments are all generally moral laws, the law about the Sabbath day being on a Saturday can be disregarded because there is still a day dedicated to public worship of God. The law was initially put in place so the Jews had known when their day of worship was.

The final section of the article is talking about homosexuality. As most people know, homosexuality is considered a sin in both the Old and New Testament of the Bible. It doesn’t say why it is considered so bad, but on multiple occasions in both Testaments, it says that it is a sin. On the Catholic Answers article, Blackburn writes, “Like the majority of the Ten Commandments, the Church’s teaching on the immorality of homosexual activity is part of the natural law. People of every time and place can know this through reason alone and are bound by it even without explicit teaching on it. It wasn’t absolutely necessary for God to include such teaching in the Old Testament law, nor was it absolutely necessary to include it in the New Testament. Even so, the New Testament contains ample teaching in this regard.” This is telling that homosexuality being a sin is considered a natural law that everyone is supposed to inherently know. It doesn’t need to be included in either Testament, like the Ten Commandments, but it is still there regardless.

Taking all this information we have, we can make some deductions on homosexuality. Homosexuality is a natural law. It didn’t need to be written in either section of the Old or New Testament because it is said that everyone knows to be bound to it. This is where a lot of Christians start to get a bad rap. Christians have their most important commandments told by Jesus Christ to “love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind”, and then to “love your neighbor as yourself”. That means that these rules, specifically the second one in this case, is also natural law, but are the most important natural laws. It may be certain that homosexuality is a sin, by natural law. But this does not mean that you yourself are supposed to condemn homosexuality. God is supposed to make the final calls in the long run on who is redeemed and who is not saved. That is not up to you to be judgmental or hateful of the sins. Christians are called to love thy neighbor as thyself. Christians should be loving towards others, even if they are considered sinful. Everyone is sinful in Christianity, there should not be a placement of ones’ sin above or below another persons’ sins. Additionally, in modern days, it should be accepted as a “natural law” of sorts that all people are created equally, and that all people should have equal rights. Especially because there is a separation from Church and State in making legal laws. This means that homosexuals have equal rights and should be given the opportunity to have a legal marriage. It is then up to the Church that they are trying to get married to whether or not they are able to have a religious marriage. Again, this is not up to outside opinions.

Now with this, it should be recognized that there is an additional bias. It is on a website called Catholic Answers, it should then be understood that this is bias from the Christians’ side. The source of the information is an educated man in Theology, so there is room to say that the ideas that are written have been studied upon. But it can also be argued that not many Christians follow this kind of teaching and understanding of the Bible. Many Christians, mostly Catholics, say that homosexuality should be accepted by society. These numbers are even growing more than they have originally been in 2014. According to a study from Pew Research Center, US Christians are becoming far more accepting of homosexuality specifically. Catholics specifically in 2007 had a 58 percent acceptance rate of homosexuals. In 2014, that percentage rose to 70 percent. The total of all Christians was at 44 percent acceptance of homosexuality in society, and in 2014 it rose to 54 percent. The percent is generally taken and shifted, because the lowest acceptance rate, The Jehovah’s witnesses, have had a 12 percent acceptance of homosexuality in society from 2007 and has only raised 4 percent in 2014. This shifts the scale for total Christians drastically, but overall it is safe to say that all of the other Christian groups have become more accepting through their percentages. This is showing that Christians in general do not necessarily align with the natural laws being inherently understood. Even though only around half of the Christians are accepting of homosexuality in society, the number is still growing. In later years, it can be predicted that the percentage of acceptance of homosexuality is going to continue to grow. While some Christians will still believe that homosexuality is wrong because of natural laws written in the Bible, it seems that this opinion will be fading as the years go on.

Additionally, there are a few problems with the natural law that the Christians are called to follow. In “Ethics, Chapter 7: Deontological Theories of Natural Law”, there is really no way to determine what is essential or morally praiseworthy traits of human nature. Morals and ethics are generally subjective, and philosophers cannot generally debate on the natural laws because it is so subjective to each individual person. It is hard to be able to justify what is right and wrong morally because most people have an ethical subjectivist view of what opinions should be the highest preference. Other philosophers do not believe that such law and order is inspired divinely. Not everyone is a Christian, so having the Christian natural law as the most important natural law is not how other people’s morals will align.

Another view of the laws in the Bible is of the three types of laws that are written throughout. The distinction is briefly described in Nairaland Forum and on other sources. It says that there are three types of laws: Civil Laws, which are laws described that only apply to the Israelites, the Ceremonial Laws, which speak to cleanliness that also include Priestly Laws as the ones in Leviticus and the ceremonial laws that are involving worship, and the Moral Laws, which would be the Ten Commandments. As a Christian not from the Israelite’s day and age, you are not bound to the Civil Laws for Israel or the Ceremonial Laws because they apply to the days that have already passed. The Civil and Ceremonial Laws both are no longer significant to the modern-day Christian because the coming of Christ was supposed to halt these laws and continue the practice of the Moral Laws. The Moral Laws are said to be timeless, and should be followed all the time by all Christians. For instance, the concept of “an eye for and eye” was only in the Civil Laws, and is not something that should be followed anymore. Additionally, tithing was considered a Ceremonial Law and Christians of today are not bound to this idea either.

On “trusting-in-jesus.com”, they also talk about the three kinds of laws. For the Ceremonial Laws, it says that these are no longer followed because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Although they no longer apply to Christians, the principle behind the Ceremonial Laws being to worship and love God will still apply to Christians of today. The Civil Law was supposed to dictate how Israelites were supposed to live on a daily basis. We are also supposed to follow the principle behind the laws which would be a guide to conduct, but the laws specifically are not bound to the Christians of today. The Moral Laws are directly from God, and still apply to all Christians of today. These laws are not meant to be a guide to salvation, but they are a way to live to please God. It also says that only nine of the Ten Commandments are moral laws, and the Sabbath Day is considered a Ceremonial Law. This means that the celebration of God on Saturdays is okay to not do, and instead Christians today use Sunday as a day of worship.

It’s hard to say how many Christians feel similarly to any of the facts about homosexuality being a natural law, or only needing to follow the Moral Laws. Many Christians say to “look at the Bible loosely and take it with a grain of salt”, and to not interpret everything as literal or as completely necessary. Modern Christians are generally very accepting of homosexuality, Some, but very few, would say that we should be taking everything in the New Testament seriously because of the reasons above. As seen in the acceptance rate of homosexuals being accepted by society, Christians do not generally follow the New Testament on a completely literal level.

Atheists and other non-Christian groups tend to not agree with how Christians pick and choose, even in the New Testament, about which laws should and should not be followed. But it is also arguable that not all Christians pick and choose and some do follow all the rules in the New Testament. But overall, the Atheist and non-Christian groups do not like that Christians say that the Old Testament is “trash-able”. On the article, “76 Things Banned in Leviticus (and Their Penalties)”, the introduction of the list starts with saying, “Leviticus is a funny book for modern Christians. Along with Deuteronomy and swathes of Exodus and Numbers, it lays out the Law for the Israelites. But it’s largely ignored by modern Christians because it’s felt that Jesus replaced the Law (except where He didn’t) and that Paul said a lot of it didn’t apply (except for the parts that did). And for all of that, many are still willing to cite Leviticus for things that they think are sinful, while ignoring it for things they don’t. In other words, people tend to cherry-pick which of the Levitican laws (or, for that matter, all of the Old Covenant, not to mention most of the Bible) they think still apply, and which don’t. This cherry-picking is sometimes reasoned, and sometimes not. Sometimes it’s based on personal taste — I think that’s okay, so we can ignore that law. Everyone does that these days, so it must be fine. I think that’s icky, so we should cite it frequently as sinful. Sometimes it’s based on reasoning — e.g., comparing them to the Greatest Commandments as Jesus laid them out and seeing if they still seem to apply”. It is fair to say that Christians should not be picking laws from the Old Testament when they say that the whole thing had been re-written by Jesus and Paul. But the lack of evidence why Jesus and Paul are not credible for re-writing the laws in the New Testament is not conveyed in this section of writing. Some people have this kind of mindset that Christians are “cherry-picking” their laws that they like and don’t like without any reasoning, but above from the other sources there is more evidence or reasoning behind the laws that are being endorsed and the laws that are being ignored.

To sum up, there are many biases we have to sift through to find any real answers. It sounds as though most of the reasoning behind the laws that are enforced are influenced by personal preference. The modern day Christian view sound like it should align with Jim Blackburn and say that Jesus and Paul have come in the New Testament to help perfect and touch up the laws from the Old Testament. The Civil and Ceremonial Laws seem to be negligible and the Moral Laws are the laws to be followed by Christians of all places and times. The natural laws are considered to be the Ten Commandments and that homosexuality is a sin, but Christians should not be condemning others of their sins while they are also sinful. While some philosophers and people of today would argue that natural laws are generally subjective and humans are not able to have a full understanding of what is right and wrong inherently because it is exclusive to their own moral beliefs, it sounds fairly evident that that is how the laws are supposed to be enforced. The Old Testament is not a place to look for laws besides the Ten Commandments, and the New Testament seems to be the perfection of the laws that modern day Christians are called to follow. Although there seem to be many strange rules that are still even in the New Testament, these are the laws that Christians are technically supposed to be following.