Alex Fuller: The ‘moral’ law

Regarding the June 18 letter “Bible bigotry”: It is amazing that a distinguished Meredith College religion professor would be confused about how the Old Testament and the New Testament relate to each other.

He concluded that if Christians rightly reject the Old Testament’s call for death of homosexuals, they should also reject the presumption that God disapproves of homosexuality.

The Old Testament did condemn homosexual acts and call for the death penalty just like it did for worshiping false gods, consulting mediums and a number of other things. The penalty (death) was part of the Jewish “civil” law. There were also “ceremonial” laws such not touching a dead body or sacrifices for particular sins.

In the Old Testament, God’s “moral” law is summed up in the Ten Commandments. Jesus summed up the “moral” law in the New Testament in Mark 12:30-31. In Colossians 2:14 of the New Testament, the law was canceled through Jesus’ death, meaning the “civil” and “ceremonial” law, although the “moral” law still stands.

There continues to be admonitions against homosexual acts, heterosexual sex outside of marriage and a number of other things. Without this understanding of the relationship between Old and New Testament, many can be led into a misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Alex Fuller: The ‘moral’ law."