Thoughts on Living Biblically

[KingsGambit]

Isn't the Christian dismissal of Old Testament laws typically based on their acknowledgement that Christ fulfilled the law in our stead?

I daresay your average Christian would be unable to articulate that.

[Jedidiah]

It is in the Bible so bringing it up shouldn't be automatically off limits.

It is a distortion that has been addressed many times. Adrift handles it right in this thread.

ETA:

I daresay your average Christian would be unable to articulate that.

Whether "your average Christian would be unable to articulate that" or not does not change the facts of the matter. It remains a distortion of scripture.

[NorrinRadd]

If you read the review at Daily Wire, you'll see one of the brains behind the series is Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter). He assures one and all that they hope to be "respectful." At the risk of sounding like a set-up to a bad joke, they have as advisors a priest and a rabbi.

I have completely negative expectations.

I do not at all mind a rude, profane series ("Archer," for instance) that makes no pretense of being "respectful" toward Christianity or the Bible. I laugh at it for what it is. But something like this just can't work, at least in any way Christians can accept.

At some point, they'll have to address "hot button" topics like abortion and homosexuality. They won't be able to do that in a way that "respects" conservative Christianity and Judaism.

At some point, they won't be able to just flick aside the "mixed fabrics" stuff. They'll have to deal with the problem of "living Biblically" according to the Obsolete Covenant or the New Covenant. They'll have to deal with the exclusive and exclusionary facets of Christianity -- or else just keep it light and too boring to watch.

[One Bad Pig]

Many of the laws mentioned in the Old Testament weren't intended for just any ol person who happened to be living in Israel, or for one individual to take upon himself. Tons of those laws were intended to be accomplished by Priests that the common Israelite would have had little part in. I had never heard of this Jacobs character before this thread, but apparently in his attempt to "live Biblically" he did things like stone adulterers, blew the shofar and refrained from trimming the corners of his facial hair. Generally speaking, the priests were the ones who blew the shofar, not lay Israelites. You didn't typically just stone people you thought were committing adultery...even adulterers received a trial, and the penalty ranged from divorce to stoning. Growing the corners of his facial hair is probably fine.

It's an interesting book. Though he's Jewish, most of his family is agnostic and so is (was?) he. He paid at least lip service to following the intent rather than the strict letter of the law, but struggled with consistency in that regard. He was pretty forthright about his struggles with lying and prayer.

[KingsGambit]

It remains a distortion of scripture.

I think you're missing my point. My concern is that many Christians write off the Old Testament altogether. It's no wonder that modern atheists are very good at using it to catch Christians flat footed.

[Jedidiah]

I think you're missing my point. My concern is that many Christians write off the Old Testament altogether. It's no wonder that modern atheists are very good at using it to catch Christians flat footed.

Yes, you are correct in that. And I did miss the point.