Why is the Old Testament shut out of church?

Ralph Davis holds the distinction of writing the only Bible commentary that has doubled me over in laughter. A hilarious Old Testament Bible commentary? I know it sounds strange. Dr. Davis is unique voice, a cherished OT scholar, and a man worth listening to. His article Why is the Old Testament shut out of church? is worth a read.

In part:

“…Maybe this is why the OT is shut out of the church.  We do not have the right approach.  I am not convinced that there is a ‘problem’ with the OT.  I do not think the ’strangeness’ or ‘distance’ or the language of the OT is much of a problem; nor is our difficulty with the OT mainly a matter of techniques.  Rather we get off track in our interpretation of the OT because our eyes are fastened on the wrong ‘object.’   I do not mean that we cannot consider methods and genre and criticism and problems, but for crying out loud there is a living God waiting to reveal himself in the OT and we so easily take our eyes off of him!  If he is my exceeding joy (Ps. 43:4) then I should delight in seeing him in the OT.  If he is the fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13), I should be thirsting and craving for him as I read its texts…”