WOF 534: The Evangelical Power of the Old Testament

WOF 534: The Evangelical Power of the Old Testament

From The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture by Bishop Robert Barron

April 27, 2026 · 41 min · Episode 534

About this episode

Bishop Robert Barron discusses the importance and evangelical power of the Old Testament in understanding Christianity.

Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show . I'm Matthew Petrusek, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. The Old Testament is about three-quarters of the Bible. It is theologically and morally impossible for Christians to understand God's relationship with the world, the nature and purpose of human beings, original sin, salvation history, the person of Jesus Christ, and the foundation of the Church without it. Indeed, as far back as the second century AD, the Church condemned the heresy of Marcionism, which sought to distinguish the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New Testament and to lop off the Old Testament from the biblical canon. There is and never has been, in short, Christianity without the Old Testament. Nevertheless, much of the text remains difficult for the faithful to understand and, even more so, to explain to others, especially to those who know nothing about it. To make matters more complicated, secular critics of the faith often try to use the Old Testament against it, arguing—like the Marcionites of the past—that belief in the Old Testament is both irrational and immoral. So how…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew Petrusek

Guest: Bishop Robert Barron

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Word on Fire Institute, Church

Books & works: Old Testament, Bible

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