QUICK Qs: OT or NT?

What makes ancient biblical texts relevant in our modern world? In this candid roundtable, David Shapiro, Javi Marquez, and Jason Holloway tackle the age-old question: Old Testament or New Testament? Their unanimous preference for the older texts reveals surprising insights about how these ancient writings continue to captivate believers today.

David transports us back 4,000 years, inviting us to imagine biblical journeys without modern conveniences like "rolling luggage" – a perspective that brings fresh appreciation to familiar stories like the Exodus. His Orthodox Jewish background adds depth to his understanding of prophecy and historical context. Jason describes the Old Testament as an "unending well" of knowledge, comparing it to watching the essential prequels before the final chapter of a trilogy. His fascination with Hebrew language, numerology, and ancient Jewish customs demonstrates how these texts reward deeper study.

Bobby's connection to the grand narratives – Samson's strength, Daniel facing lions, the parting seas – reminds us why these stories have endured through millennia. All three hosts find particular meaning in the wisdom literature, with Ecclesiastes emerging as a unanimous favorite. "Every time you read something," David notes, "you go 'wait a minute, this is practical today.'" This timelessness explains why ancient writers describing human struggles, failures, and redemption still speak directly to our experiences.

The conversation concludes with a delightful practical application – a "Sunset and Psalms" date night that combines natural beauty with ancient wisdom. Whether you're a seasoned scripture scholar or simply curious about why these texts have shaped civilizations for thousands of years, this discussion offers fresh perspectives on humanity's oldest and most influential writings. Share your own favorite testament or biblical book in the comments – we'd love to hear what resonates with you!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
welcome to the boundless bible.
My name is david shapiro.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey, I'm hobby marquez and I'm jason holloway.
Quick questions with david.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
All right, this is getting more and more ridiculous
all right, I love it uh, david,that's your question today I
just say I love the fact thatthe bigger I am, the higher
pitched my song goes, my introsong, yes.
So okay, the question of theday.
Do you prefer the?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
old Next time we're going whistle notes, there we go
.
We're going Mariah Carey,whistle notes.
Oh.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Do we prefer the Old Testament or the New Testament,
and why?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
That's an awesome question.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
I am not going first you're not going first, I will
okay this one, yeah uh, for meit is old testament, and not
just because I was born orthodoxjewish, oh really, um, you know
what the?
When you look at the oldtestament, from genesis to
exodus, to the prophets, it isjust filled with incredible
prophecy.
Yeah, um, but, but more thanthat, it, you know, it's

(01:06):
probably my love of, ofarchaeology and going back in
time and just thinking aboutwhat life was like and putting
myself in the shoes of peoplethat lived 4,000, 5,000 years
ago and what life would havebeen like and what they went
through.
And you know, we look at ittoday in modern world and we go,
okay, you know, they were inEgypt and they left Egypt and

(01:27):
they saw the, you know, the redsea split and they went into the
desert and we kind of have thisthought of what it would be
like, um, but realizing how theydid that they didn't have a car
, they didn't have, you know,rolling luggage Um, it's just
amazing to really kind of takemyself back to the Old Testament
and then, when you layer itwith just how much you know

(01:49):
Jesus appears in the OldTestament, I just by far, it's
my number one you want to go.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Alright, I'm Old Testament too.
I'm Old Testament too, believeit or not.
I find it so fascinating andthe more I learn about the
jewish culture, the ancientjewish culture, the hebrew
language, the numerology, thegenealogy that's cool, like.
The more you learn about thosethings, the like it is a super

(02:19):
unending well, and the more Ilearn, the more I realize I
don't know.
And the more I, the more Irealize I don't know.
And the more I learn, the moreI realize I don't know.
And there's just no end to itfrom from learning about the I
don't know the historical parts,like you said, the
architectural or the, thearcheological parts just all of
it's so fascinating to me.
And then it adds so much morecontext to the New Testament to

(02:43):
know the Old Testament that it's.
It's almost like agreed, yeah,it's like.
It's like trying to watch thethird part of a trilogy without
watching the first and thesecond.
You know it's like you, youneed to watch the first and the
second and the prequel to knowfully, fully, fully what you're
talking about.
And and I'm just so overwhelmedby the prequel yeah right
that'd be cool.
Well, it would be empty becauseit would be nothing.

(03:04):
So I think we all know thatstory.
No, and look, and then youstart talking about the you know
the ideological learning andthe eschatological, like it's
just, oh man, it's mind blowing,I love it, I love it, I love it
.

Speaker 3 (03:18):
I thought maybe one of us would be someone in the
middle, but I'm Old Testament.
As I'll say, I love them both.
You're such a people, pleaser?
Yeah, I am.
I just can't.
I just can't make it happen.
I will say the Old Testamentonly because some of my favorite
books are from the OldTestament mostly the prophets
right, like huh, mostly theprophets right no, but like you

(03:42):
know Psalms and you know just, Imean Ecclesiastes, just the
wisdom.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Ecclesiastes is one of my favorites, me too.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Yeah, it's just the wisdom and it's just the reality
, just the truthfulness of it.
But it's also, like whateveryou guys are saying, just kind
of like the history right, andjust kind of talking about Egypt
, talking about this kind ofthings.
That's just happening.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
And the biggest thing , I think for me is all these
and just kind of like we talkabout samson and just just kind
of him, his strength and all thethings on the parting of the
red sea.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
You know the part, it's like grand stories man the
lion's den, and I think that'swhat it is.
That it is for me not to saythe new testament doesn't have
that it has.
It has a lot of that and isalso very good with a lot of
things that I love.
But I would say I would leantowards more of the Old
Testament because of the storiesand it makes it really I don't
know.
It just takes me back to thebeginning.
When I was first picking up theBible, it was the Old Testament

(04:37):
where I started and that kindof led me moving forward to the
New Testament.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know, I will say, if the wisdom books weren't in
the Old Testament, it would be amuch closer.
For me it would be a muchcloser tie.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
I'll give you that New Testament.

Speaker 2 (04:46):
Because the new, the new, then it would be New
Testament for me.
Because the the wisdom booksfor me are like the clincher.
They're there when I read thewisdom books, when I read the
Proverbs and uh, not Proverbs,proverbs, wisdom book, yeah.
Proverbs um uh.
Psalms and and Ecclesiastes andor what the hell yeah Job is a
wisdom book.

(05:06):
And so when I read those likethe truth, value that comes
through, those like it's sopresent, tense it's so present
tense.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
I love that about it.
Like I can't even explain tosomebody Every time it happens,
every time you read something.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
You go wait a minute this is practical today Every
single time.
It's the most human humanitything I've ever like laid my
eyes on.

Speaker 3 (05:28):
It's 4 000 years old I mean, new testament too is
right well so that's the thing.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
So then, so that's why I'm saying so.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Then you get a new testament.
It's just all like man.
These, these people, you know,2 000 years ago were doing the
same stuff we're doing today.
They were screwing up the samethings.
Yeah, they were messing up thesame things.
They were being forgiven thesame way.
They were given the same gracethe same way do you.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Greatest date ever.
Okay, take your spouse out forsunset and psalms.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Sunset and psalms.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Go and watch the sunset while reading psalms, and
it is just a beautiful thing.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
You add the two together.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
It's a gorgeous date have a picnic and do sunset and
psalms, that's a great idea.
Which psalms?
Every one of them, every one ofthem, every one of them, every
one.
And you're not allowed to go inuntil it's done.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
Oh, that's a long time It'll be, sunrise.
At that point I know.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Is there 130, some songs or?

Speaker 2 (06:15):
something like that.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
You don't know, my wife do you.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, we'd both be very hungry before.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
Yeah, she'll knock out by chapter two, okay All
right guys.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
Thanks a lot for your time time as always, and we'll
talk to you next week.
Bye, later.