A Biblical Vision, Part I: Mastering the Old Testament Witness to Christ

Session 3 The History of Israel as Type and Analogy in the Old Testament’s Witness to Christ

Think about the relationship of the Old Testament to the New . . .

• What is the doctrine of recapitulation, and how does it help us to understand the structure and style of the Old Testament related to the New?

• In what specific ways does the story of the people of Israel help us to understand the hope of the promised Messiah in the New?

• How do the types in the Old Testament enable us to see the person and work of Christ in story, ceremony, event, and person?

Jesus Embodies Adam, Israel, and Human History: The Doctrine of Recapitulation

The doctrine of recapitulation (Latin recapitulation; Greek, anakephalaiosis ; a “summing up”) was derived from Eph. 1.10. It is especially associated with Irenaeus, although later authors picked up its themes. There are two principal interpretations of the meaning which Irenaeus gave to recapitulation: 1) Christians retraced the steps of Adam and humanity, an interpretation which accords with Irenaeus’s presentation of Christ’s career; 2) Christ comprehended or brought to a head in himself the whole of humanity, an interpreta tion which better accords with the meaning of Eph. 1.10. Irenaeus elaborated the parallels between Adam and Christ. Adam was made of virgin soil, was tempted by Satan, and brought sin and death into the world through disobedience at the tree. Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, resisted temptation by Satan, and overcame sin by obedience to death on the cross. Irenaeus further suggested that Christ passed through all ages of life–infant, child, youth, and old man–in order to sanctify all who are born again to God through him. He became what we are in order to make us what he is. As a result of his life, death, and resurrection all that was lost in Adam is regained in Christ. The human race was given a new start, and saved humanity is gathered together as one in Christ. Christ also summed up and completed in himself the revelation of God. The doctrine of recapitulation was important in the context of the Gnostic controversy because it secured the reality of the incarnations, the unity of man kind, and the certainty of redemption. ~ E. Ferguson. “Recapitulation.”

Evangelical Dictionary of Theology . Ed. Walter Elwell. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984. pp. 916-17.

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