Is the Old Testament obsolete?

[fschmidt]

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[dawis]

The context which many prophets of Israel were operating is the complete forsaken of the Torah by the Israelites:

"The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
    the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
    following worthless idols." (Jer 2)

In that context no one listened to Jeremiah, so eventually he was thinking of stopping his mission and complained to god:

"You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived;
    you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
    everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I cry out
    proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the Lord has brought me
    insult and reproach all day long." (Jer. 20)

And yet Jeremiah could not stop:

"But if I say, “I will not mention his word
    or speak anymore in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
    a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
    indeed, I cannot." (Jer. 20:9)

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My question to you is why is that Jeremiah could not stop?

[fschmidt]

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[dawis]

Thanks for your reply,

It seems I understood quite well what you said in your first post. what I pointed out in my comment - which is open for debate - is that Jeremiah, for example, encountered a generation and culture which is not much better, if at all, than the current modern culture; and despite being mocked and his suffering, he eventually continued to promote the word of god. he could not stop though it seems no one understood him.

my question in that comment was not a rhetoric question, but a genuine one. my intuition, which might be very well wrong, is indeed we should not stop promoting the OT. After all, this is how I found this site.  

(by the way, why did you return to post on Mikraite rather than "friends of Islam" ? )

Maybe we should inquire the means of promotion rather than the content itself. Marshall McLuhan once said: "The medium is the message"

"Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return" (Ecclesiastes 11:1)

[fschmidt]

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[dawis]

Well, Okay.

With respect to an example, I am being lost in your definition of "member of modern culture". are you, for example, a member of modern culture? for if you don't consider yourself as a "member of modern culture", then almost by definition there are probably just very few members that are not stupid (though, that would also need deeper inquiry) . May I offer the author of the "progress debunked" book  as an example?