Sermon quotes on the Old Testament
Craig Blomberg
Every command [from the Old Testament] reflects principles at some level that are binding on Christians (2 Timothy 3:16).
Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 39.
R.W. Church
Hope, never destroyed, however overthrown, never obscured even amid the storm and dust of ruin, is the prominent characteristic of the Old Testament.
Advent Sermons. London: Macmillan, 1886, pp. 88-94.
Peter Enns
Are the early stories in the Old Testament to be judged on the basis of standards of modern historical inquiry and scientific precision, things that ancient peoples were not at all aware of? Is it not likely that God would have allowed his word to come to the ancient Israelites according to standards they understood, or are modern standards of truth and error so universal that we should expect premodern cultures to have made use of them?
Inspiration and Incarnation
J.H. Kurtz
When the sacrifice of animals is mentioned in the law, making atonement is nearly always expressly mentioned, and for the most part this alone, as being the purpose, end, and fruit of the sacrifice.
Offering, Sacrifices and Worship in the OT, p. 66.
Sandra L. Richter
Contrary to popular opinion, the Old Testament is not a hodgepodge of unrelated materials thrown together by some late, uninformed redactor. Nor has it come to us as the result of an empty-headed secretary copying down verbatim some mysterious message. No, the Old Testament writers were themselves theologians, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have written for us a carefully formatted and focused piece of literature in which there exists an intentional, theological structure.
Taken from The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament by Sandra L. Richter Copyright (c) 2008 by Sandra L. Richter. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
Sandra L. Richter
God did not canonize Israel’s culture. Rather, he simply used that culture as a vehicle through which to communicate the eternal truth of his character and his will for humanity.
Taken from The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament by Sandra L. Richter Copyright (c) 2008 by Sandra L. Richter. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
Vaughan Roberts
The Old Testament on its own is an unfinished story; a promise without a fulfillment. We must read on to the New Testament if we want to know what it really means. And the New Testament constantly looks back to the promise it fulfills.
Taken from God’s Big Picture by Vaughan Roberts. ©2003 by Vaughan Roberts. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove IL 60515-1426. www.ivpress.com
Christopher J. H. Wright
Yahweh demanded justice for the poor, compassion and equality for foreigners and refugees, systemic redress for poverty, structural mechanisms to protect the homeless and family-less from abuse and destitution, fair and equitable distribution of land, integrity in the judicial system, humility, simplicity and morality in the government (as opposed to wealth, women and weapons), etc. etc. If you want that kind of society, you need to be faithful to the living God.
Christopher J. H. Wright
Old Testament Israel had some foundational pillars of faith. They were true and robust and God given. The trouble was that people had come to trust in them merely by repeating them, without paying any attention to the ethical implications of what their faith should mean in how they lived. They believed God had given them their land. He had. But they had not lived in it in either gratitude or obedience. They had not fulfilled any of the conditions that Deuteronomy had made so clear.
H. Norman Wright
The Old Testament Hebrew word for blessing means the transmission or endowment of the power of God’s goodness or favor. And the Old Testament affirms that God is the source of the favor and well-being we receive. Blessings must be pretty important, because it’s mentioned 415 times in the Old Testament alone.
Chosen For Blessing, Harvest House Publishing, 1992.
N.T. Wright
The Old Testament is a story in search of an ending.
N.T. Wright
The Old Testament isn’t written in order simply to “tell us about God” in the abstract. It isn’t designed primarily to provide information, to satisfy the inquiring mind. It’s written to tell the story of what God has done, is doing and will do about.
Taken from Evil and the Justice of God by N.T. Wright Copyright (c) 2006, p.48, by N.T. Wright. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
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