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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a genuine question. It was raised previously, but I don't feel I fully understand the answer.

For the Christians,[b] those that were saying that the Bible (or at least the OT) is not relevant.[/b] Help me understand.

From my perspective, its like wanting to play soccer. There are rules to soccer. But, you are now saying those rules don't matter because you were told that who ever had control of the ball could count a score how ever they wanted. You are making up the rules as you go. So, what is the point of the rule book if you don't think you have to follow it anymore? [/quote]

No one actually said the OT is not relevant.  Nor is the Bible a rule book.

Christianity rejected literalism at its origin.  The Old Testament was full of dietary law and ceremonial law that new converts to Christianity did not really understand or want to follow.  Quite understandably, grown men did not really want to get circumcised in Roman times in order to follow Jesus.  This was a pretty big conflict where a lot of people basically said what you say above- we have a rulebook and you can't make up the rules as you go.  
Those people did not win.  You do not have to follow Jewish ceremonial law to become a Christian.  You can eat shellfish and be uncircumcised.  That's just what happened.  This is all in the book of Acts and sporadically throughout the remainder of the Bible if you would like to read about it.

But we can see the conflict continue to play out as people want to use the Bible as a rulebook.[/quote]

What is the point of including the OT then? Why not make a more abridged version that focuses on Jesus' teachings? Wouldn't that have made it clearer and more impactful? [/quote]

I'm not an expert, but the Old Testament gives a lot of information that you need for the New Testament.  It is full of history, poetry, law, prophecy, etc.  If you think about it as a TV show, the Old Testament is the first season that sets up a lot of the plot for the second season.  But as a matter of "law," it's not controlling.  [/quote]

Except it was controlling, at least in terms of the anonymous author of Mark who had to shoe horn in specific details in the Christ narrative so that he would satisfy requirements of prior prophecies. Some of the most ridiculous aspects of the NT comes from this. And remember, the other Gospels are just Mark re-told. It's more like the original Star Wars and how Lucas keeps changing Han shooting Greedo. The basic story is the same but the sequence of timing and interpretation of it changed as Lucas kept wanting to tweak it. [/quote]

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