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Heidegger's Bible Handbook: Old Testament in General: Summary of the Doctrine of the Old Testament

Updated: Apr 28, 2019



2. A Summary of the doctrine of the same. Now, those Books teach that that God, who was worshipped by the Holy Fathers, Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc., is the only true God, the Creator of Heaven and earth, of man pre-eminent, created in His own image, who, by the malice and deceit of the Devil, and by his own sin, rendered himself and the entire human race liable to the wrath of God, death, and eternal damnation. But God, as He is of ineffable φιλανθρωπίᾳ/philanthropy, with the human race fallen, as He was pleased to restore that in part to Himself, promised the blessed seed of the woman, JESUS CHRIST, His Son, the only Savior, who would free from sin and the tyranny of the Devil all those that have faith in the promise, and trust in Him alone. Which promise indeed, and the faith had in it, and so, in a word, JESUS CHRIST, the only Savior of those believing, is, as it were, the nucleus, the center, and the σκοπὸς σκοπιμώτατος, the sole scope/goal/end, of all the books of the Old Testament. As one of the Theologians piously said of the Books, All the Scripture are to be read as if they were written with the blood of Christ: and with good reason in the New Testament that Coryphæus[1] of the Apostles professed that he desired to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, 1 Corinthians 2:2. Meanwhile, while the Fathers were awaiting Christ, God was pleased to join to the promise the doctrine of the law chiseled on tables of stone, and also a variety of rites and statutes, not so that in the observance of those things the hinge of eternal salvation might turn, but so that through it, with the sin and wickedness of the human heart recognized, they might more ardently thirst for the coming of Christ, who would redeem them from their sins, with the price of redemption paid; which the law itself, and carnal sacrifices, as shadows and figures of the true oblation of Christ, were not able to offer. And this is the argument of the Books of the Old Testament in general, this is the scope, with which all their doctrine, history, and prophecies aligned.

[1] That is, the leader of the company or chorus.


Dr. Dilday's Lecture: "What is the Old Testament About? (Part 2)"



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