A note on the ways and means of a relationship between the New Testament and the Old Testament

The syntagma "Old Testament" (2 Corinthians 3,14), unlike the corresponding "New Testament" (Jeremiah 31,31; CD 6,19; CD 8,21; CD 19,33-34; CD 20,12) is of exclusively Christian coinage. Regarding the modes of usage of the first by the second we have recorded: a) the quantitatively differing presence within the single NT books; b) the various forms of the text employed; and c) the diverse exegetical techniques used. Regarding the causes of such recourse to the OT, two motives can be distinguished. There is a cultural motive, due to the simple fact that Jesus and all the first Christians belong to the Jewish people. And there is a theological motive, due to the fact that the belief in Jesus as Messiah is rooted in a "praeparatio evangelica". The chief source of the expectation of a Messiah lay precisely within the Scriptures of Israel. Thereupon the fundamental hermeneutic criterion has been (and is) the Christological faith.