Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 3
Justin’s conversion story hinges on an elderly Christian who “never went to the New Testament” but “preached Christ from the Old Testament”—what does that reveal about how the earliest Christians viewed God’s long-term purposes in history, and how might it confront the way many modern Christians functionally treat the Old Testament?
Another way to ask: Justin was led to Christ by someone who preached Jesus from the Old Testament without using the New Testament. What does that show about how early Christians saw God’s plan through history, and how might it challenge how we treat the Old Testament today?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s account, the early Christian approach assumed the Old Testament already points forward to Christ and that God’s plan has been unfolding for a long time—an approach that challenges modern Christians who rarely think to “preach Christ from the Old Testament.”
- Justin’s turning point comes from an older man who “never went to the New Testament… preached Christ from the Old Testament.”
- The man argues Moses and the prophets “pointed to this other person, Jesus Christ.”
- He stresses historical depth: these writings were “back a long time ago before Plato existed, before Socrates.”
- He claims fulfillment: “They talked about this man who would come. And he actually came… And all these things they predicted, he fulfilled.”
- The speaker highlights how unusual this feels now: “something you and I almost never think about doing.”
- He even applies it to evangelism: this could help reach “a Muslim… Or a Jew.”