Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Donald W. Parry on the importance of the Old Testament

  

The Old Testament was the Savior’s Bible, the one He read and cited during mortality. The Old Testament was 9and still is) a magnificent, exceptional set of scriptural texts. It is singular and unparalleled. Why? Because it is:

 

·       “The first testament of Christ” (M. Russell Ballard, “The Miracle of the Holy Bible,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 82).

·       A significant handbook on the Savior’s Atonement.

·       The foundational document designed to prepare the world for the Savior’s coming in the flesh, when He would die for us.

·       A record that contains hundred of symbols that reveal Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

·       A record that presents scores of prophecies of Jesus Christ and His divine mission.

 

In short, the Old Testament is a scriptural work that reveals the Lord as the Savior, Redeemer, and great Atoner. When Jesus Christ commanded, “Search the scriptures; . . . they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39), He was referring to the Old Testament. (Donald W. Parry, "The Atonement of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament," Liahona [April 2022])