ABSTRACT
This chapter explores that the church needs to claim the Old Testament as its own but also to grant the legitimacy of the Jewish claim on Israel's sacred Scriptures. The main thesis of the chapter is that the Bible does not so much provide us with precepts, that is, specific commands, but rather with examples that it follow. However, the thrust of what is being maintained in the chapter is that while many of the Bible's precepts cannot be applied directly to today's world for reasons that are explained in the chapter. Already in the writings of Paul there is the principle that the written code kills but the Spirit gives life, a principle taken up and developed by Augustine. The particular principle enunciated in Leviticus 25 is that people are more important than economic processes and that the latter should not be allowed to force people into poverty, slavery and dependence.
