Christians NEED the Old Testament
Comment from Scheeben
Many of you really loved the stream with Gideon and Hasan from last week on the “older brother” and Genesis...I am going to do a bit of a “part 2” on Exodus/Leviticus focusing on the sacrificial system for Thanksgiving week.
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THE GREATER EXTENSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
One of my favorite quotes from Scheeben is his brief comments on the Old Testament, which I believe illuminates clearly much of the methodology of the Fathers and Scholastics. He writes,
[The OT] is not merely supposed to serve to store up the historical context and the genetic development of revelation and of its institutions; it also contains with respect to the New Testament a materially more abundant and formally more thorough presentation of many points of the doctrine of the faith and of many points of moral doctrine. Certainly the Old Testament needs the New, as the body needs the soul that makes it alive, but the New also presupposes the Old as an already formed body to be permeated and animated by it, and for precisely this reason the NT does not give such in-depth explanations and detailed presentations about many things, because they are already available in the OT.
For many moderns who have lost the proper understanding of the Old Testament, this comment might seem quite strange. How can the Old Testament be said to be MORE ABUNDANT than the New?
Most take the view that he rejects here that the Old Testament merely provides us with the “historical context and the genetic development of revelation and of its institutions.” In this view, the Old Testament is basically some “background lore” to the coming of Jesus. It provides us with some interesting reading material, but is otherwise unnecessary for understanding the New Testament. Nothing further could be from the truth.
He says that the Old Testament is both “materially more abundant and formally more thorough.” When he states that it is “materially more abundant,” he is indicating that there are more topics that are discussed in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. When he states that it is “formally more thorough,” he is indicating that even those topics that are discussed in the New Testament are often discussed in more detail than in the New Testament.
To make this more concrete, we can think of a number of different examples of this.
First, the issue of worship. There are a few canticles and prayers in the New Testament, e.g., Benedictus, Magnificat, Pater Noster, etc., but, while luminous, they are few and far between relatively speaking. If I were to want to lament to God, where better could I go than the Lamentations of Bl. Jeremiah or the many psalms of lamentation? If I wanted to pray prayers of repentance, where better to go than the seven penetential psalms?
Second, the issue of civil governance. In the New Testament, we see general principles of the foundation of civil governance (e.g., Romans 13), along with principles of civil obedience (e.g., 1 Peter 2) or even of disobedience (Acts 5:29), but there really isn’t much there about the manner in which the state ought to function, examples of civil legislation, etc. Here is where the Old Testament helps quite well. While there are, of course, certain contingent factors that are unique to ancient Israel, as Bl. Moses notes, even those other nations that are not Israel will see the laws given by God and marvel, saying “what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:8) These civil laws become examples of justice that can aid the legislator in the formation of good laws that are proportioned to the contingent circumstances of the state he governs.
Third, the problem of evil. Certainly, there are many passages in the New Testament that aid in the solution of the problem of evil. Foremost among these is the exalted discussion of Divine Providence in Romans 9-11 that left St. Paul himself at the heights of contemplation to declare “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33) Yet, this treatment is brief in comparison to those great disputations found in the Book of Job, where the entire problem is treated extensively, all contrary positions demolished by the pen of the inspired writer.
Fourth, select moral topics. This, perhaps, will be the most controversial. While, in itself, the statement that the Old Testament in a sense materially and formally surpasses the old in its explanation of matters of faith ought to be the more controversial, among many moderns, the more controvesial is the statement Scheeben makes about morals. It seems that the Gospels and Epistles are so full of moral instruction that there is no way in which the Old Testament may surpass the new. Yet, a closer examination will lead to the opposite conclusion on a select number of topics. I will give one example, social purity.
In the New Testament, we see a number of different luminous statements on the issue of purity, “it is good for a man not to touch a woman” (1 Corinthians 7:1), “every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28) Yet, if I were to try to systematically draw out a treatment of the social relations of the sexes in order to guard purity, I would be quite lost without the guidance that the Old Testament, especially in the Wisdom books.
There, I learn the role of the father as guardian of chastity, “Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, lest, when she finds liberty, she use it to her hurt. Be on guard against her impudent eye, and do not be surprised if she sins against you. As a thirsty traveler opens his mouth and drinks from any water near him, so she will sit in front of every tent peg and open her quiver to the arrow.” (Sirach 26:10-12)
There, I learn that the danger of familiarity with women is so great that even familiarity with evil men is less dangerous than with a good woman, “Do not sit in the midst of women; for from garments comes the moth, and from a woman comes woman’s wickedness. Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good; and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.” (Sirach 42:12-14)
Hence, when St. Thomas treated this aspect of the preservation of chastity, he quoted entirely from the texts of the Old Testament (cf., DePerfect.C10.13).