Show us your appendix

Who said the appendix is redundant?  There's some brilliant appendices to Bible Overview

How about this from Paul Blackham - he answers 24 frequently asked questions about an explicitly Christ focused Old Testament.  Here are the questions - if you want to read his answers - buy the book!

Appendix I - Frequently Asked Questions (Written by Paul Blackham)

 1. Do we need the New Testament?  If the gospel was set out in the Old Testament and the ancient church was saved by that revelation, then is the New Testament ultimately necessary?

 2. Weren't the writers of the Old Testament trying to work out what they had written, according to 1 Peter 1:10-12?

 3. Did the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures understand what they were writing?

 4. How much did the Old Testament saints really know about the person and work of Jesus Christ?

 5. According to Hebrews 1:1-3, didn't God have a different revelation in the Old Testament?

 6. If the Old Testament church knew so much, what was the point of the incarnation?

 7. What difference did the incarnation make to God the Son? How did the incarnation affect Him?

 8. In Hebrews 11:40 doesn't it seem as if the Old Testament church was imperfect until the New Testament church came along?

 9. According to Exodus 6:2-3, did Abraham know the name of the Lord?

 10. When Jeremiah spoke about a ‘new covenant' was he looking forward to a different way of salvation?

 11. What are the differences between the church in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament?  What are the areas of continuity and discontinuity?

 12. We just speak about ‘Jesus' all the time, but what name did the Old Testament saints use to refer to God the Son?

 13. What is the meaning of the day of Pentecost in Acts 2?  Is it ‘the birth of the church' or perhaps ‘the coming of the Spirit'?

 14. Why does Paul speak about the ‘mystery' that was not revealed to people in the past as it has now been revealed in the New Testament?

 15. Why do so many Christians think that the Angel of the Lord is God the Son?

 16. Is the Word of the Lord in the Old Testament the same as the Word of God in John 1?  Is the Word of the Lord a title for Jesus in the Old Testament?

 17. Are we in a more privileged position today than the Old Testament saints?

 18. Is the revelation of God ‘progressive'?

 19. In Matthew 11:11, doesn't Jesus say that even the least New Testament Christian is greater than the greatest Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist?

 20. Can the gospel of Christ really be understood from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament?

 21. Did every believer in the Old Testament have a personal meeting with the Angel of the Lord?

 22. How can we speak of the ‘church' in the Old Testament when that word is never used in the Old Testament?

 23. Why did the early church think that Jesus was in Proverbs 8?

 24. Do all Christians understand the Old Testament in this way?

 

This is followed, in appendix 2, by a list of quotes from the greats of church history.  All of them uphold conscious faith in Christ from the very beginning:

JC Ryle
CH Spurgeon
RM McCheyne
John Newton
George Whitfield
Jonathan Edwards
John Bunyan
Richard Sibbes
John Owen
Francis Turretin
The Geneva Bible notes
Church of England homilies (1562)
John Calvin
Martin Luther
Cyril
Leo the Great
Jerome
Augustine
Ambrose
Chrysostom
Eusebius Pamphilius
Tertullian
Clement of Alexandria
Irenaeus
Justin Martyr
Igniatius

.That's some cloud of witnesses eh?

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