The Old Testament

Why would a Bible Study group want to study the Old Testament? It’s part of the Bible, of the canon of Sacred Scripture, so why wouldn’t it be an important study topic? It is the “Old” Testament, though. Is it still relevant to our faith journey? After all, we have the New Testament now. However, the New Testament tells us that “all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Gk. Text) (Vatican II, Dei verbum, 18 Nov. 1965, 757). Let’s explore the value of these ancient texts and some of the reasons the study of these can be vital to understanding our identity as Catholic Christians.

Who were these people, this family, chosen and prepared by God to bring forth from their descendants His son, the living Word, God incarnate into the world? We read about their culture, what their daily lives were like, how they worshipped, how they grappled with the meaning of their lives (Boadt 1). We discover how they responded to being chosen and what the consequences of those responses were. We can begin to contemplate what we can learn about ourselves from their story.
The Old Testament writings, which span many centuries and lands, can be viewed as a garden from which our faith journey and relationship with God was planted and cultivated. It is here we find the beginnings of the hope for a Messiah (Boadt 462-464). Then we see some of the fruit come to bear in the early centuries after Christ, as the apostles traveled to the lands in the Roman empire where there were many Jewish communities. These communities were the receivers of the message of the Gospels which then began to take root and spread (Boadt

Once people feel accepted and comfortable in a small group, they are often likely to share their personal stories. We see some of our personal stories echoed in the pages of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, and we realize the lessons and hope that are there for us. I feel it’s vital that we don’t miss any part of that