I stumbled upon the following summary of the message contained in the Bible by C.S. Lewis:
- At some point in the past, mankind learned to depart from God’s will and began to sin.
- Because no one is free from sin, humanity cannot deal with God directly, so God revealed Himself in ways people could understand.
- God called Abraham and his progeny to be the means for saving all of mankind.
- To this end, He gave the Law to Moses.
- The resulting nation of Israel went through cycles of sin and repentance, yet the prophets show an increasing understanding of the Law as a moral, not just a ceremonial, force.
- Jesus brought a perfect understanding of the Mosaic Law and a “new Law” of love and salvation.
- By His death and resurrection, all who believe are saved and reconciled to God.
The summary does point to a fundamental difference between what Christians would refer to as the old and new testaments: the understanding of love. While the Old offers what I always interpreted as a bleak tone, the new offers a much more positive outlook; an eye for an eye vs. turn the other cheek, for example.
Two different contexts for decision making which would result in different actions given the same set of conditions.
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