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Course 4 · Lesson 5.1

Typology in the New Testament and the fathers

11 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 4 outline

Module 1: How the Canon Formed

  1. What a canon is, and what canonical means
  2. The Old Testament canon: Law, Prophets and Writings
  3. The New Testament canon: from gospels and letters to a list
  4. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant canons compared

Module 2: The Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint

  1. The Hebrew Bible and the work of the Masoretes
  2. Origin and character of the Septuagint
  3. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the state of the Old Testament text
  4. How New Testament writers quote the Old Testament

Module 3: Transmission of the New Testament Text

  1. Copying by hand: papyri, codices and scribes
  2. Manuscript traditions: Alexandrian, Western and Byzantine texts
  3. Kinds of variants and how they arise
  4. The principles of textual criticism
  5. Reading a critical apparatus and a translation footnote

Module 4: Reading Responsibly: Exegesis and Method

  1. Exegesis and eisegesis with worked examples
  2. Source, form and redaction criticism: what each asks
  3. Strengths and limits of the historical method
  4. Literary and canonical reading

Module 5: Meaning Beyond the Surface: Typology, Allegory and Genre

  1. Typology in the New Testament and the fathers
  2. Allegory and its critics: Alexandria and Antioch
  3. Reading by genre: narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, gospel and letter
  4. Setting, authorship and audience as questions to ask of any passage

Module 6: Christian Approaches to Interpretation

  1. The fourfold sense of Scripture in the medieval church
  2. Reformation principles: Scripture, clarity and the grammatical and historical sense
  3. Orthodox and Catholic approaches: Scripture within Tradition
  4. Historical scholarship and theological interpretation in conversation

Module 7: Writing an Exegesis

  1. Choosing a passage and framing a question
  2. Observation and context: what the text says and where it stands
  3. Using commentaries and reference works without being led by them
  4. Writing up, checking conclusions and revising

All courses

Program / Course 4: Biblical Studies and Hermeneutics / Lesson 5.1

What you will learn

  • Define typology, type and antitype in plain terms.
  • Identify typological reading in the New Testament and give examples.
  • Describe how early Christian writers extended typology.
  • State the main tests used to judge whether a typological reading is sound.

The big idea

Typology is a way of reading in which real persons, events and institutions in the Old Testament are seen as patterns that point forward to Christ and the church. The earlier thing is called the type, and what it points to is called the antitype. The New Testament uses typology often, and the church fathers developed it widely. It keeps the historical reality of the Old Testament story while finding in it a deeper shape. Christians agree that it is a legitimate way of reading, but differ on how far it may be extended beyond what the New Testament itself says.

Key terms

Type
From a Greek word meaning an imprint, mark or pattern. An Old Testament person, event or thing that foreshadows something greater.
Antitype
The reality to which a type points, usually found in Christ or the church.
Fulfilment
The completion or realization of what an earlier text or event pointed toward.
Recapitulation
A word used by Irenaeus for Christ summing up and renewing the human story, repeating at a higher level what went wrong in Adam.
Prefiguration
The act of foreshadowing. Also a word for the type itself.
Sensus plenior
A Latin phrase meaning the fuller sense. The idea that a text may have a deeper meaning, intended by God, beyond what the human author saw.
Figural reading
A term used by some scholars for reading in which events are seen as figures of later events while remaining real in themselves.

Background

Typology starts from a conviction that God acts in history in patterns. The exodus is a story of rescue from slavery, and the Bible returns to it again and again as a picture of what God does. The prophets promise a new exodus. The New Testament writers see in Christ a rescue greater than the exodus. The idea is that the earlier event was real and meaningful in itself, and also stood as a promise of what was to come.

The New Testament uses the Greek word typos in this way. Paul calls Adam “the figure of him that was to come” (Romans 5:14). He says that the events of the exodus happened as “ensamples” for later believers (1 Corinthians 10:11, King James Version). The letter to the Hebrews calls the tabernacle a copy and shadow of heavenly things (Hebrews 8:5). These passages give the Christian practice its words and its authority.

The topic matters because it shapes how Christians read the Old Testament as Scripture. It is also one of the places where Christians and Jews read the same text differently, and where Christians of different traditions give different answers about method.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: See the pattern in the New Testament

Several clear cases appear in the New Testament itself. Jesus says that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up (John 3:14). Paul says that Christ our passover is sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). Matthew reports that Jesus compares his own burial to the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:40). The first letter of Peter relates the waters of the flood to baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21). The letter to the Hebrews develops the largest set of types: the priesthood, the sacrifices, the tabernacle and the figure of Melchizedek, all pointing to Christ.

In each case there is a real person or event and a real fulfilment. The serpent was lifted up, the lamb was killed, Jonah was in the fish, and the ark was carried through the water. The New Testament adds the claim that these happenings had a purpose that reaches forward.

Step 2: Follow the fathers

The fathers took up the practice with enthusiasm. Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho, finds Christ in many Old Testament scenes. Irenaeus describes Christ as repeating and healing the story of Adam, and Mary as the new Eve in contrast to the first Eve. Melito of Sardis, in a sermon on Passover, treats the Passover lamb and the exodus as a pattern for Christ’s death. Augustine summed up the unity of the two Testaments by saying that the New is hidden in the Old and the Old is made clear in the New.

Not all the fathers were equally restrained. Some saw types in nearly every detail of the Old Testament, such as the scarlet cord in Rahab’s window as the blood of Christ. Writers of different schools drew different lines, as the next lesson shows.

Step 3: Learn the tests

How can a reader tell a sound typology from an arbitrary one? Several tests are widely used. First, historical reality: the type must be a real event or person, not just a symbol. Second, correspondence: there should be a genuine likeness between type and antitype, in structure and meaning, not just a shared word. Third, escalation: the fulfilment is greater than the type, as Christ is greater than Moses. Fourth, control: the reading should be disciplined by the New Testament’s own usage and by the faith of the church, so that it does not run wild.

These tests do not settle every case. Some of the fathers’ readings pass them and some do not. A student can apply the tests as questions, and report where a reading is strong and where it is speculative.

Step 4: Understand the differences between traditions

Catholic and Orthodox traditions have kept the broad patristic practice, including its use in liturgy and iconography. Many Protestants, from the Reformers onward, accept typology where the New Testament gives warrant, but are more cautious about extending it. Some warn against finding Christ in every detail, while others defend a wider use that follows the pattern of the New Testament. Critics outside the church ask whether typology reads later meanings into earlier texts, a question that Jewish readers raise with particular force. A careful student can state each view fairly.

  1. Is the type a real person, event or institution?
  2. What exactly corresponds between the type and the antitype?
  3. Does the fulfilment exceed the type?
  4. Does the New Testament itself make this connection, or is it a later extension?
  5. What would the first readers of the Old Testament passage have understood?
  6. Would the reading survive if a skeptic questioned it?

Examples

Adam and Christ

In Romans 5, Paul sets Adam beside Christ. Through one man sin entered the world, and through one man grace came. Adam is called a figure of the one to come. The comparison works by likeness and by contrast: both act for many, but the effects are opposite, and the gift outweighs the fall.

The bronze serpent

In Numbers 21, Israelites bitten by serpents look at a bronze serpent on a pole and live. In John 3:14, Jesus says that the Son of man must be lifted up in the same way. The connection is the lifting up and the saving look. The New Testament makes the link itself, which gives a firm base for the type.

A debated case

Some fathers read the binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 as a type of the sacrifice of Christ: a beloved son, wood carried, a mountain, a ram provided. The Letter to the Hebrews mentions the event in relation to resurrection (Hebrews 11:17-19). Many Christians accept the typology broadly. Others point out that the New Testament does not state it directly, and Jewish readers see in the story a different meaning.

Different perspectives

Orthodox

Orthodox tradition reads the Old Testament through Christ and sees types widely, in the fathers, the hymns of the church and the icons. The Old Testament readings in worship are chosen for their fulfilment in Christ, and the Theotokos is seen in many types, such as the burning bush.

Catholic

The Catechism teaches that typology is a legitimate way of reading, based on the unity of God’s plan. It describes the types of the Old Testament as prefiguring Christ, and holds that the spiritual senses are founded on the literal sense. Catholic liturgy and art draw on the same patterns.

Protestant

Protestants accept typology that the New Testament authorizes, and many extend it with care. Reformed writers such as Calvin used it but warned against fanciful allegory. Some modern evangelical scholars defend a wide use grounded in the unity of Scripture, and others limit it to what the New Testament itself names.

Jewish

Jewish readers generally do not read the Tanakh as pointing to Jesus. They read Genesis 22, Isaiah and the exodus in the light of Israel’s own history and the covenant, and they note that typology depends on the prior belief in Jesus as Messiah. They also point out that Jewish tradition has its own patterns of reading events as echoes.

Critical scholarship

Scholars debate whether typology is a method or a theological conviction expressed as reading. Some, like Erich Auerbach, described figural reading as a major pattern of Western literature. Others stress that it presupposes a view of history in which God guides events to a goal.

Why it matters

Typology is at the heart of how Christians read the Old Testament and how the church prays. Hymns, sermons, art and the liturgy are full of it. To read them with understanding, and to judge them fairly, a student needs to know what typology is, what it claims and how it differs from reading that ignores history. It is also a point of real disagreement between Christians and Jews, and between Christian traditions.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Typology treats Old Testament stories as mere symbols.

Correction: Typology holds that the stories are historical and meaningful in themselves. The pattern is added to the history and does not replace it.

Misunderstanding: Typology and allegory are the same thing.

Correction: They are related but different. Typology links real events across time. Allegory finds a hidden meaning in the words and may set the history aside. The next lesson explains the difference.

Misunderstanding: The New Testament invented typology.

Correction: Jewish writers already saw patterns in Israel’s history, such as the prophets’ hope of a new exodus. The New Testament builds on these patterns and applies them to Christ.

Misunderstanding: Any resemblance counts as a type.

Correction: Sound typology needs more than a surface likeness. The tests of history, correspondence, escalation and control guard against arbitrary readings.

Knowledge check

Define type and antitype.

A type is a real person, event or institution in the Old Testament that foreshadows something greater. The antitype is the reality it points to, usually found in Christ or the church. For example, Adam is a type and Christ is the antitype in Romans 5.

Give two New Testament passages that use typology.

Examples are Romans 5:14 on Adam as a figure of the one to come, 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 on the exodus as an example, John 3:14 on the bronze serpent, Matthew 12:40 on Jonah, and Hebrews 8:5 on the tabernacle. Any two, with a brief explanation, are correct.

What four tests help to judge a typological reading?

Historical reality of the type, a genuine correspondence between type and antitype, escalation in which the fulfilment is greater, and control by the New Testament’s own usage and the church’s faith. These tests do not settle every case but help sort strong readings from speculative ones.

How do Jewish readers typically respond to Christian typology?

They generally read the Tanakh in light of Israel’s own history and covenant and do not see it as pointing to Jesus. They note that Christian typology depends on the prior belief that Jesus is the Messiah, so the dispute concerns that belief as well as method.

Think it through

  1. Why might a believer find it natural to read the Old Testament in the light of Christ?
  2. How would you answer a Jewish friend who says that typology reads the New Testament back into the Old?
  3. Which of the four tests do you find most useful, and why?
  4. How does the unity of God’s action in history affect the plausibility of typology?

Independent assignment

Test a type

Choose one type named in this lesson, such as Adam, the bronze serpent or the Passover lamb. In your notebook, read the Old Testament passage and the New Testament passage that refers to it. Apply the four tests and write 350 to 500 words saying how strong the connection is and what a critic might say. Note whether the New Testament makes the link or whether it comes from a later writer. Keep your work in your notebook.

Further study