What divides Christians and non-believers|290|

Reading these struck my curiosity... You talk about ancient hierarchies, "pre-Christian parochialism and Christian ethical universalism" and I wonder, given the contrast, was Christianity meant to be a standalone or was it meant to continue Jewish tradition? Was the New Testament always meant to be coupled with the Old Testament or was it meant to be The Testament by a historical Jesus? Was the OT simply included to help ease the transition of Jewish followers?
 

Interesting listen.

He makes a strong argument for a "prime mover" and describes well the New Atheists philosophical weaknesses in that regard (although I'm not sure that post 9/11 a "prime mover god" was really in their crosshairs).

He then simply appears to accept the notions of "meaning" and "morality" as a given from that position... The ability to do this really does seem to be what separates Christians from non-believers, and I'd love Alex to push him on that point.
 
Was the New Testament always meant to be coupled with the Old Testament or was it meant to be The Testament by a historical Jesus? Was the OT simply included to help ease the transition of Jewish followers?


http://christianstandard.com/2011/12/why-new-testament-christians-should-study-the-old-testament/
The Old Testament was the Bible of Jesus. He read from it, quoted it, interpreted it, and declared himself to be the fulfillment of many of its promises. He insisted that he did not “come to abolish the Law or the Prophets . . . but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
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The Old Testament was the Bible of the New Testament church. When the authors of the New Testament referred to the “Scriptures,” they were referring to the Old Testament. The New Testament was still being written and had not yet been canonized and fully distributed among the churches.

When Paul described the Scripture as “God-breathed” and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), he was speaking of the Old Testament. When he said that what “was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4), he was talking about the Old Testament.
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There are more than 300 direct quotations of the Old Testament to be found throughout the New Testament. If one counts partial quotations or allusions, the number jumps to more than 2,000. This material accounts for about 10 percent of the New Testament, or about the same amount devoted to the recorded words of Jesus.

Taking their cue from Jesus himself, the authors of the New Testament believed the Old Testament to be nothing less than the word of God (Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16; Romans 3:2).
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