This article suggests that early Christian teaching consisted largely of a new understanding and interpretation of the message of the Old Testament. The primary means through which the Christian faith was communicated was the Jewish Scriptures. It indicates that early interpretation treated the Old Testament as a historical narrative of God's dealings with his people.

Justin Martyr has the honour of being the first comprehensive Christian interpreter of the Old Testament. What was Justin's exegetical method? Aune indicates the gap between the New Testament's use of the Old and the exegesis in early patristic literature. The further Justin departed from the New Testament exegetical tradition, the closer he got to allegory.