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It seems to me that in order to understand the New Testament you need to Read the Old Testament...so why do some Protestants not read it?

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What Protestents? – The Preacher Sep 7 '11 at 1:08
@The Preacher I don't know! I guess I'll have to ask...I know it isn't ALL of them. – leeand00 Sep 7 '11 at 1:17
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Ask those protestants... or tell us who they are. I'm pretty sure we've been over "Why do some people..." questions about 100 times on this site, and they're always too broad/not constructive. – Flimzy Sep 7 '11 at 1:21
I dunno I heard somebody say it, didn't quite believe it, and figured I'd ask about it on here to see if it was true and why. – leeand00 Sep 7 '11 at 1:33
Even after answering the question myself, I didn't feel that there was any good quality answer that could come of this. I feel that my answer is as close as you can come, but even then it seems a poor answer, since there are no valid reasons to not read the Old Testament. – Richard Sep 7 '11 at 1:56
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closed as not a real question by Flimzy, Bob Black, a_hardin, JustinY, Richard Sep 7 '11 at 1:54

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

2 Answers

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Well, the reasoning is two-fold.

First, most people don't read the Old Testament because most protestant preachers rarely teach from the Old Testament. Because of that, they don't see the need to go over it. (Sad, but I've heard this argument before.)

Secondly, there's the concept that Jesus fulfilled the law and we, therefore, are no longer under the law. This comes from (among other places) here:

Galations 3:23-25 (NIV)

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Now, since we are no longer the old law, most people find it difficult to directly apply to our lives. If you compare this to the New Testament (particularly the epistles), the utility seems to be dramatically greater in the New Testament.

A correlation to the second part is that anything that we should follow is in the New Testament. The idea is that if it was repeated by the apostles or Jesus, then it is worthy of study; otherwise, it's just extra words to try to absorb that no longer apply.

An example of this:

Acts 15:28-29 (NIV) 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Here, Paul repeats some commands from the OT. Since they're in the NT, they should be learned. Anything that's not in the NT, can safely be ignored.

OK, don't stone me. I'm not saying this is a valid justification. It's just what I've learned about "some Protestants".

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I must re-iterate that this is a poor excuse for not reading the old testament. – Richard Sep 7 '11 at 1:56
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I am a Protestant, and I love the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophets laid the foundation of our faith!

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Good I'm glad that you do. I was just concerned when I heard that there were some that didn't. (maybe it's a lie! :) I hope it is) – leeand00 Sep 7 '11 at 1:39
@Bob Black - where can we get our hands on an English translation of the old testament? – Arrow Feb 5 at 16:21

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