On the Articles: Article VII

The Sunday Next Before Easter commonly called Palm Sunday

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

VII. Of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not contrary to the New: for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard, which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral.

In discussions where a Christian might seek to apply some rule from the Old Testament, it is often the case that their opponent might reply by pointing out they are wearing a cotton-polyester blend shirt and that by the Law written in Leviticus, they are to be put to death. How do you respond? It is clear that today some of the rules of the Old Testament are no longer operative for Christians, but which and why? Are Christians just picking and choosing what to follow and what not to follow as they desire, or is there something more organized to the application of the Old Testament?

Since the early days of Christianity, there have been controversies over how to interpret and understand the Old Testament Scriptures for Christians. While Article VI makes clear that they are Scripture, Article VII is left to interpret exactly how.

In the early Church, Marcion of Sinope had so great a struggle with understanding and applying the Old Testament in light of Christ that he declared them to be speaking of a separate God and that no Christian was bound by them. His heresy, marcionism, now bears his name and has been thoroughly rejected. Article VII makes this clear, and also lays out the answer to the original question of how we are to interpret and apply the Old Testament.

First, it counters marcionism by explicitly stating that, “the Old Testament is not Contrary to the New,” or in other words that the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New, and goes further in pointing out that nothing in the Old Testament is contrary, and indeed elements of the Old Testament prefigure Christ and point to him as the only mediator between God and mankind. This refers to Scriptural passages both that present types of Christ—such as Isaac as a type of Christ going willingly to be sacrificed—or which prefigure him—such as the bronze serpent being lifted up in the desert prefiguring Christ being lifted up on the cross—as well as prophecies which Christ fulfilled. The Old Testament and New Testament are a part of one consistent deposit of Holy Scripture, inseparable from one another, and the Old Testament cannot be interpreted apart from the Light of Christ revealed in the New Testament. The covenants of the Old Testament continue to operate, but certain elements have been fulfilled by Christ, and there is now a new economy of grace through Christ. Christ’s sacrifice, once and for all for the forgiveness of sins, means, for instance, that the sacrifices of the temple are no longer necessary, but God’s promises to his people still operate in this new reality. As the Article says, these promises were not transitory.

Finally, the Article moves on to explaining the question of the Law of the Old Testament and how we are to apply it today. It divides the Law of Moses into three sections. First are the Laws relating to Ceremonies and Rites. These include such things as the laws of ritual sacrifice, laws of ritual purity and so forth. The second relates to what the article calls “Civil precepts” which related to laws describing how Jewish society was to regulate itself. Finally, it categorizes laws pertaining to morality as a third category.

The laws of Ceremonies and Rites it says “do not bind Christian men,” and of the civil laws, it says they do not, “of necessity,” need to be applied to the civil laws of any particular country. These laws we might refer to as the particular laws of the Jews. These were laws meant to distinguish the Jews and mark them as being God’s own chosen people. Through Christ, all are invited into the family of God and so no such laws are necessary. Indeed, they would be counter-productive, because instead of being born into God’s family through ancestry of Abraham, we enter into God’s family through our choice to accept and submit ourselves to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The final section of the laws, “which are called Moral,” continue to apply to Christians today. While this does not create an explicit list, it does help us to understand how we are to interpret the Old Testament. For instance, adultery remains prohibited because it is a moral law, yet the civil precept that adultery is to be punished by death is not to be required. Christians are to follow the moral laws in Leviticus, but the particular laws of the Jews, such as the requirement not to wear garments of two kinds of thread, is no longer operative.

This can at times lead to dispute on the particular nature of what is a moral law, but often it becomes clear that those disputing the nature of what is moral are attempting to apply some form of legalism in order to escape either what they feel they are called to follow or what is clearly something they are meant to follow as a moral law. The first part of this Article helps us to remember that the interpretation and application of these rules follows a simple line of reasoning:  the Old and New Testament are a single and consistent whole. If in the New Testament a part of the Old is indicated to be inoperative, that is a clear sign it is a particular law of the Jews, while laws strengthened or affirmed are moral.

Now even in the cases where the laws are no longer operative, that does not mean we are to discount them or throw out those parts of the Old Testament, similar to what Marcion advocated, but rather we must remember that the entirety of the Old Testament remains inspired, and even where a law is no longer applicable for the reasons stated, there was a reason God ordained that law in the first place and it may tell us something of God’s nature that helps us to know him better and thus understand his will for us today in our Christian contexts better.