Is the Old Testament Too Old for Christian Ethics?

Abstract

This article examines the issue whether the Old Testament is still relevant for Christian moral life. Affirming the relevance of the Old Testament for Christian ethics is not an easy task due to a number of problems that the OT does have. These problems can be categorized broadly into three: historical (i.e. Old Testament ethical teachings are directed to particular people in particular time and place), hermeneutical (i.e. the Old Testament itself presents various viewpoints on the same ethical issue), and moral (i.e. the Old Testament, from time to time, either allows or sanctions immoral values and actions). This article, having examined these problems in turn, argues that they can be reasonably resolved so as to reclaim the Old Testament as an authoritative source for Christian moral life. In other words, the historically conditioned nature of the Old Testament does not necessarily mean the irrelevance of the Old Testament teachings for Christian moral life, but it reminds us that both rigorous exegesis and imaginative application are required for finding analogies between the Bible world and our world. Concerning hermeneutical and moral problems, they, despite their differing nature, can be equally resolved by a proper understanding of how God reveals his will and purpose in an imperfect human world. In doing so, the present study investigates how an evolutionary approach, a principle of condescension, and a canonical approach, respectively, may enrich our understanding on this issue. Then the article will end with some proposed guidelines for using the Old Testament as an ethical resource.