The Sin Problem
Many people have a problem with the do's and dont's of the Old Testament, particularly in the books from Exodus to Deuteronomy. There are in effect 2 main problems. The first is the wide scope of the rules. They ban things which we no longer see as bad. Some of the things are plain irrelevent, having to do with Jewish Temple worship and life rituals, and some are seen as no longer having a claim on our behaviour, like Sabbath day observance. Indeed in the New Testament we can see both in the teaching of Jesus and of the Apostle Paul, a setting aside of some of the Old Testament regulations. The second problem lies in the area of punishments. Some of the punishments seem vastly disproportionate to the behaviour to which they are allocated. Stoning for adultery springs to mind, but there are plenty others. So how do we approach this in a way which allows us to disregard some of the rules but not throw the baby out with the bathwater? Once again we need to start with our theology