The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

It is in the realm of typological relationships, that the fullest range of analogical elements can be seen. And it is the phenomenon of types that, of the four categories discussed in the section, contributes the most to our understanding of the relations between the testaments. A type is usually defined as a divinely ordained prefiguration in the Old Testament of some New Testament reality. Further, the Old Testament entity must be historically real, and so must that in the New Testament. The correspondence relates in some way to the redemptive work of God, and must show evidence of being established by God. This serves to rule out many fanciful correspondence. There is little debate among Bible scholars concerning the existence of at least some typology in the New Testament. It may be that simply calling an Old Testament/New Testament correspondence a type may be too restrictive. Types are only one part of a range of relationships that exists in Scripture because of such things as the unity of the divine program, the constancy of God, and the phenomenon of partial statement followed by fulfillment. The key to the whole matter may be to see the existence of the principle of correspondence in the divine ordering of events [emphasis mine]. What we are asking the students to do in this lesson is to be mindful of the correspondences that are present between the events and experiences of key characters in the OT and the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, called by many scholars the “Christ event.” Karleen offers his own list of suggestions which we ought to keep in mind in the study of types: 1. Identify those New Testament entities that are specifically labeled as having an analogical relation with something in the Old Testament. Sometimes the presence of analogical and perhaps typical relations can be indicated by words such as tupikos (“typologically,” 1 Cor. 10.10), tupos (“type,” “example,” “pattern,” Heb. 8.5), skia (“shadow,” “foreshadowing,” Heb. 8.5; Col. 2.17). 2. Look for the presence of manifest connection between Old Testament and New Testament entities. Does the correspondence show the hand of God in guiding history? ~ Paul S. Karleen. The Handbook to Bible Study . (electronic ed.). New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.