Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 62:1 (Mar 2019)
Article: Editorial
Author: Andreas J. Köstenberger

JETS 62:1 (March 2019) p. 1

Editorial

Andreas J. Köstenberger

“Should we ‘unhitch’ the New Testament from the Old?” was doubtless one of the most frequently asked questions in popular circles this past year, and the debate continues to resonate. While this is certainly not a new question in scholarly circles (it is at least as old as Marcion), a popular pastor raised the issue in a widely circulated and much-reviewed book that generated considerable discussion and brought this issue to the attention of a broader population. We can be grateful to that pastor for raising the question, even though, I suspect, most of us would not agree with his answer if the largely negative reviews of his book are any indication. To tip my hand right at the outset, I certainly would take issue with the proposition that we should “unhitch” the OT from the NT if by that we mean that we should no longer preach from the OT in our churches and focus instead exclusively on the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ.

On the most foundational level, such an argument is unduly dichotomous, drawing too sharp a dividing line between the Testaments (if not falling into the trap of some kind of neo-Marcionism). Augustine famously declared in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount that the “New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.” It is easy to forget that the early church used the OT as their “Scriptures” and that every reference to the “Scriptures” in the NT has the OT in view. Far from being “unhitched” from the OT, the early church used it at every turn, both explicitly and as a substratum for its teaching and preaching. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that according to the gospel he received, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3–4). He also wrote to the same audience, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Cor 10:11); and similarly wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17). What these passages show, I believe—and many more could be cited—is that for Paul and the early Christians, the core message of the NT was embedded in the OT and “hitched” to it.

The question of the exact nature of the relationship between the OT and the NT, of course, has been the subject...