Christ-Centered Scripture
Reading the Old Testament Through Christ
Interview with Will Bourne
The conversation begins where many sincere readers hesitate: the compassion and self-giving love they see in Jesus can feel difficult to reconcile with warfare, severe laws, judgment, and other passages in the Old Testament. The questions are not merely academic. They can reach into trust, worship, and a person’s understanding of God.
Will Bourne approaches that tension without dismissing the reader or flattening the biblical story. In this written interview, he speaks about Jesus as the interpretive center, historical context, covenant, difficult texts, the Jewish character of Scripture, honest questions, and the responsibility leaders carry when people bring their uncertainty into the open.
What first led you to write Reading the Old Testament Through Christ?
The book grew out of questions I kept hearing from sincere people who wanted to trust Scripture but did not know what to do with some of its most difficult passages. They could see the compassion, mercy, and self-giving love of God in Jesus, yet parts of the Old Testament seemed to present a different picture. I did not want to give them quick answers that ignored the weight of their concerns. I wanted to walk with them through the whole biblical story and ask whether the God revealed in Christ is truly the same God who has been revealing Himself from the beginning. The more carefully I studied, the more convinced I became that the change is not in God. The change is in the clarity with which we see Him through Jesus Christ.
What is the central question at the heart of the book?
The central question is simple to state, even though it takes an entire book to explore: Can the God revealed in Jesus Christ truly be the same God we encounter throughout the Old Testament? That question reaches beneath individual objections about warfare, judgment, law, or sacrifice. It asks what kind of God Scripture reveals. My conviction is that the Bible tells one unified story of one faithful God carrying out one redemptive purpose. Jesus does not introduce us to a different God. He reveals perfectly the Father who has been patiently making Himself known throughout the entire story.
What does it mean to read the Old Testament through Christ?
It means allowing Jesus to become the interpretive center of the whole biblical story. On the road to Emmaus, the risen Christ opened the Scriptures and showed His disciples how Moses and the Prophets belonged to the story fulfilled in Him. Reading through Christ does not mean ignoring the original setting of a passage or turning every verse into a hidden prediction about Jesus. It means reading each passage faithfully within its own context while also recognizing where the whole story is moving. Christ reveals the destination, and that destination helps us understand the road that led there.
How does the book approach passages involving conquest, violence, slavery, judgment, and severe laws?
The book approaches them slowly, honestly, and within the whole story. These passages should not be dismissed with slogans, but neither should they be isolated from their historical and covenant setting. We ask what the text meant in its ancient world, what problem it was addressing, what it describes rather than endorses, and where it stands within progressive revelation. We also preserve our capacity for grief. Human suffering should never become emotionally casual simply because it appears in an ancient text. At the same time, our first modern reaction cannot be the only interpretive authority. Compassion and humility must remain together as we bring each passage into the light of Christ.
Do you believe honest questions are a threat to faith?
Not at all. Honest questions can become invitations to deeper faith when we bring them into the presence of Christ and remain willing to listen. God is not threatened by careful examination of Scripture. In fact, trust should make us more careful because we want to hear what God has actually said rather than defend what we assume He must have meant. Some people have been taught that uncertainty is unbelief, but intellectual humility and strong conviction are not enemies. Humility means being honest about what we know, how well our conclusions are supported, and where we still have more to learn.
How should Christians honor the Jewish character of the Old Testament while reading it through Christ?
We begin by remembering that the Old Testament was not written as a collection of detached Christian illustrations. It is Israel’s Scripture, formed within Israel’s history, worship, suffering, covenant, exile, and hope. Jesus and the first disciples inhabited that world. Christians therefore need humility. We should learn the text’s Jewish setting, resist caricatures of Judaism as merely legalistic or spiritually inferior, and acknowledge that Jewish readers do not exist simply as background characters in a Christian argument. Reading through Christ is a specifically Christian confession, but it should make us more truthful, grateful, and careful, not dismissive. The fruit of good interpretation should never be antisemitism or contempt.
How do you speak about biblical warfare without excusing violence or pretending the texts are emotionally easy?
First, I refuse emotional distance. Real people suffer in violent stories, and faithful interpretation should not train us to become casual about that. Second, I examine ancient war rhetoric, historical setting, covenant judgment, literary purpose, and the difference between a unique narrated event and a continuing mandate. Third, I bring the text into conversation with Jesus, who rejects domination, loves enemies, absorbs violence at the cross, and forms a people whose struggle is not against flesh and blood. I may still be left with tension, but tension is more honest than either dismissing Scripture or recruiting ancient warfare to justify modern aggression. The Christian use of these texts must be governed by Christ’s character and kingdom.
How can leaders create a safe environment for conversations about difficult Scripture?
Leaders should begin by admitting that the questions are real. They should never shame a participant, treat distress as rebellion, or use authority to force agreement. A healthy setting distinguishes exploration from ridicule, establishes respectful conversation, and allows people to pass when a subject touches trauma or personal history. Leaders need enough preparation to explain context, but also enough humility to say, “I do not know.” If a discussion exposes abuse, acute distress, or danger, the leader should move beyond theological conversation toward appropriate safeguarding and qualified support. The measure of success is not that every tension disappears in one meeting.
A Closing Invitation
The invitation is to begin with honesty rather than fear. Read the passage in its setting, follow the movement of the whole biblical story, and keep the character of God revealed in Jesus at the center. When a text remains difficult, resist the pressure to solve it carelessly. Study patiently, seek trustworthy conversation, and allow faithful reading to form humility as well as conviction.
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