The
Categorization and Disambiguation of Biblical Typology
Franz Sigel Shroy
Chapter 1
Introduction
The study of biblical typology first requires
that
the student
believe that the teacher exists. Without this prerequisite, biblical
typology
would at best be a linguistic or literary quirk. Man is the student and
God is
the teacher.
Knowledge of the facts must make a difference to one’s actions. Suppose you found a man on the point of starvation and wanted to do the right thing. If you had no knowledge of medical science, you would probably give him a large solid meal; and as a result your man would die. That is what comes of working in the dark.
C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology
and Ethics
One must always be open to that which may be possible, to that which is
directed by God, and to that which is in the scriptures.
Psalms 119:130 tells us – "The
unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the
simple.
Some things are scientifically provable while other things are not. Other things may not be disproved and can only be accepted by faith.
The predictions of quantum mechanics have never been disproved after a century of experiments.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics)
I shall take the same approach as science in this regard, since it is doubtless that some will attempt to attack my typology premise based on science, in regards to my first point that typology exists and was created by God.
If the scientific theory of Quantum Mechanics can be accepted as a viable theory because a century of investigation "has not disproved" the theory, then certainly these same minds can accept the existence of God, since God has been investigated for centuries upon centuries and God also "has not been disproved". The only requirement these scientific minds need possess to understand the ideas that I present in this paper is a sense of fairness in applying the same universal rules to all questions. That is to say, they cannot logically accept some ideas simply because they cannot be disproved, while also claiming this option is not valid when considering the possibility that God exists. To do so is blatantly dishonest.
Those of the "negative theology" school of thought, also known as the "Via Negativa", or "Apophatic theology ", will claim that we cannot truly know God, and therefore we cannot truly understand His word. We do struggle to understand the mysteries of the Bible, but at the same time, we certainly can perceive His hand in the writing of the Bible, which is God's attempt to present information to us. I use the word "attempt" not, because God is unable, but rather because man is usually unwilling to pay attention to what God is telling us.
To forego our pursuit of biblical understanding because God is complicated ignores the fact that God provided this information to us in the first place. If we truly cannot know God, it is then preposterous to take the place of God and ignore what He is showing us in His word. Rather than giving up, we should rather, be obedient.
My
religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior
spirit who
reveals
himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail
and feeble mind.
Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)
Our purpose (as the created) is to discover who God
is (as the
creator), not to demand that God present Himself to us in a manner that
we
prescribe.
Kolmogorov's first axiom of probability states(1) –
For any
set
i.e., for any event,
This axiom states that the probability of an event (in this case typology) is a non-negative number.
(The
underlying set O, a sigma-algebra
F of subsets of O, and a function P
assigning real numbers to members of F. The members of F are those
subsets of O
that are called "events".)
Kolmogorov's second axiom of probability states –
This axiom states that the probability that some elementary event (typology) in the entire sample set (divine, inspirational authorship of the Bible) will occur is 1, and there are no elementary events outside the sample set.
Kolmogorov's third axiom of probability states –
Any countable
sequence
of pairwise disjoint events E1,E2,...
satisfies 
.
This axiom states that the probability of an event set which is the union of other disjoint subsets is the sum of the probabilities of those subsets, this being known as
s-additivity. (If there is any overlap among the subsets this relation does not hold)
These axioms may help facilitate the probability predictions regarding typologies, but I seriously doubt it. Most people are more familiar with prophecies in the Bible than typologies in the Bible. For this reason, a look at the statistical probability of random fulfillment of biblical prophecy will help provide an idea of scale when it comes to biblical typology.
The Bible has 8,362 currently discovered
prophecies.
Josh
McDowell calculates the odds that one person would fulfill just 8
prophecies of
the 324 prophecies regarding the birth, life, and death of Jesus at 1
in
100,000,000,000,000,000. (2) (3)
It is said that the
chance
of only
2,000 biblical prophecies becoming reality without error has a
statistical
probability of about 1 in 102000. (4)
There are many thousands more incidents of typology in the Bible than incidents of prophecy. Prophecy is a more simplistic pattern than typology also, in that there is usually one prophecy and one fulfillment, while typology, especially typology seriatim has dozens of typological nodes that appear throughout the entire Bible.
This means that the probability factor that already exists for prophecy of 1 in 102000 would increase by many millions of times, which clearly eliminates the possibility of either collusion or random chance. The only statistically possible explanation is that God created this complex pattern of patterns.
Unique
among all books ever written, the Bible accurately foretells specific
events-in
detail-many years, sometimes centuries, before they occur.
Approximately 2500
prophecies appear in the pages of the Bible, about 2000 of which
already have
been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. (The remaining 500 or so reach
into the
future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.) Since the probability
for any
one of these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance averages less
than one
in ten (figured very conservatively) and since the prophecies are for
the most
part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies
having been
fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 102000
(that is 1 with 2000 zeros written after it)!
Hugh
Ross, Ph.D., Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of
the Bible (4)
The mere fact that typologies exist throughout the Bible, in continuous logical threads, even though thirty-three different authors (through divine inspiration) wrote these different books is an amazing probability factor with which to contend. This is further compounded by the fact that these same writers came from different countries, from a time-period of over 1,500 years, they spoke different languages, were from different cultures, and had different positions in life. The probability of typology being random is absurd. The probability of typology being created by man is also not only improbable but statistically impossible. Now compound this impossibility by adding the factors, one, many of the writers did not have access to the materials being written by other writers, and two, the circumstances, which are historical fact, could not have been manipulated by any of the writers, or any person, other than God.
The possibility of collusion between these writers has been eliminated by time alone. The circumstances of the writings also eliminate the possibility of collusion as some of the writings were written in prison, and by people living in a country under an occupying force. The educational levels of each of these writers also eliminates the possibility of both randomness and collusion due to cultural bias, tradition, or unconscious patterning as these writers included kings, shepherds, craftsmen, fishermen, prisoners, prophets, etc.
Clearly, if these patterns can be isolated, there is no other explanation other than God.
Most Christians have never heard of biblical typology. Those that have heard the term are confused as to what actually constitutes typology, both historically and biblically and wonder if the imbroglio is worth exploration. Most of this confusion is caused by poor categorization structures, a lack of understanding of cognitive processes, and the incorrect belief that typology is a means of biblical interpretation.
Almost all theological studies of the Bible include some mention of "types and antitypes", or "type and shadow", although many times one must search for this information. This is not to say that all theological writers agree upon what typology really is. The disciples Matthew and John, and even Jesus used typology as a teaching tool. Later, Calvin and Luther mentioned the existence of typology in their writings.
Matthew uses typology to connect Jesus'
journey into
After
they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph
saying, “Get
up, take the child and his mother and flee to
When
Why is this cross reference by Matthew to be considered typology and why was this idea not developed further?
The
use of the quotation is intended to call the reader’s attention to the
wider
Old Testament context or theme and might be referred to as a “pointer
quotation”. In first-century
Judaism where large portions of Scripture were known by heart, it was
customary
to quote only the beginning of a passage even if its continuation was
to be
kept in mind. (7)
John uses typology when he compares the Word with water (8), bread (9), and meat (10). (11) It should be noted that in each of these passages, John is quoting Jesus.
Paul frequently uses typology in a similar fashion as John in several instances such as his demonstration of Adam prefiguring Jesus in Romans 5:12-21.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
But
the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass
of the
one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the
grace of
the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God
is not
like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and
brought
condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought
justification.
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one
man, how
much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and
of the
gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Consequently,
just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so
also the
result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life
for all
men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were
made
sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be
made
righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But
where sin
increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned
in death,
so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life
through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)
Paul continues using this typology again in 1 Corinthians 15:22, and again in 15:45-49.
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Corinthians 15:22 (NIV)
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 (NIV)
Paul also mentions the rock in the wilderness in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Corinthians 10:1-4 (NIV)
Jesus uses typology (12) when He compared His death with seeds falling on the ground and dying to bring forth fruit (13). Jesus also used typology when He referred to Jonah's experience of being in the belly of a huge fish as a typological prefiguring (14)of His three days in the tomb.
Many
consider the possibility that the Old Testament is typical and the New
Testament is antitypical. There are examples where this may be true,
but to
dismiss the history, narratives, genealogies, the law, etc of the Old
Testament
in favor of only a typical view is not wise. Some, like Marcion (in the
second-century) have attempted to do away with the Old Testament all
together,
because it was "unworthy of the religion of Jesus." (15)Timothy
George, Disciples Study Bible
The typologies surrounding the crucifixion would not be complete without the mention of Adam's sleep. God made Adam fall asleep while He made Eve from his side. This pattern is complete as Jesus went to sleep on the cross and remained in sleep (death) while God made the Church from the wound in His side. Just as Eve's creation came from the side of Adam, the Church's creation came from the side of Jesus.
It is said in The
History of the Christian Church, Seventh Period, History of Modern
Christianity, the Reformation | Book 3 – The Reformation in French
Calvin accused those that allegorize the Bible of having the view that the plain historical view of the Bible was too mean and too poor yet was praised for his "bold conjectures". I believe Calvin failed to understand typology completely.
Still, there are others mentioned in The
History of the Christian Church, Seventh Period, History of Modern
Christianity, The Reformation | Book 3 – The Reformation in French
Luther
denounced mystical and allegorical interpretations as "trifling and
foolish fables, with which the Scriptures were rent into so many and
diverse
senses, that silly poor consciences could receive no certain doctrine
of any
thing. (19)
Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture
It seems that nearly every early Christian writer had their own opinion of what typology was, and that they could recognize typology, but didn't really know what to do about it, or with it.
This is clearly a confusing discussion of what constitutes "types"", antitypes", and "typology", and this confusion goes back nearly two thousand years. As confusing as it is, clearly, typology does exist.
If we began our Bible studies with a CRP (Cognitive Reference Point ) that includes information that demonstrated to us that the study of typology is too complicated for us to understand, we may be tempted to acquiesce to our previous defeat and not attempt this type of study again. Nevertheless, as we continue through our biblical studies, and as our spiritual acumen develops, the study of biblical typology can become an extremely valuable source of spiritual understanding to anyone willing to remain open to it.
Typology offers us a special kind of cognitive understanding much like the literary device of parallelism offers us a special kind of grammatical understanding. Parallelism, such as in the case of Psalm 18:8
"Smoke went up from his nostrils / and devouring fire from his mouth / glowing coals flamed forth from him" Psalm 18:8 (NRSV).
This verse offers us several similar, yet not identical meanings of the same scene, which combine to build a more complete understanding of what is being said than a shorter and singular statement would have provided. The understanding of typology does this by creating a mental picture in the mind of the reader that can be maintained and expanded on while reading subsequent verses. We can read about Adam being created from the dust of the earth, and having God breathe life into him. We can read further, where the Spirit of God is symbolized by water, and add this understanding to the first verses we read. In this way, we can create a mental picture in our mind of clay being made of dust and water, that contributes to a fuller understanding of subsequent verses we read. As we continue to read, we read verses that call God the "potter" and man "pots", which continues to develop the mental picture and adds still yet to a further understanding of the lesson being presented.
Because of the simplistic nature of these typological mental pictures, this paper will not use "Christianese" terms while describing typology, nor will any special lexicography be required. Typologies in the Bible are clear and simple, and this quality is part of their beauty. This writer will not presume to complicate matters or detract from the pure cognitive association between elements within typologies. The cognitive association between typological elements in the mind of the reader should become natural and unconscious after reading just a few examples.
Is
the study of typology dangerous?
"The
Bible furnishes abundant evidence
of the presence of types and of typical instruction in the Sacred Word.
The New
Testament attests this fact. It takes up a large number of persons and
things
and events of former dispensations, and it treats them as adumbrations
and
prophecies of the future. A generation ago a widespread interest in the
study
of typology prevailed; latterly the interest has largely subsided,
chiefly
because of the vagaries and extravagances which attended its treatment
on the part
of not a few writers. Pressing the typical teaching of Scripture so far
as to
imperil the historical validity of God’s word is both dangerous and
certain to
be followed by reaction and neglect of the subject." The
International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The title of this dissertation includes two specific words: categorization and disambiguation. I chose these two words for several reasons, but did not include the word "mystery" in the title. I would like to add this word now, to the reader's mind, with the twofold purpose of maintaining an element of mystery to this subject throughout this paper, and to clarify my use of these words.
I intend to explain the categorization of Biblical typology, not only according to the cognitive categorization structure models of man, but also to demonstrate that the actual word "typology" is a term we have also given to describe the recognition of an incredibly complex and wholistically divine cognitive structure.
Two extremes, however, should be avoided. First, The extravagance of some of the early Fathers, as Origen, Ambrose, Jerome (revived in our time by Andrew Jukes and his imitators). They sought for types, and of course found them, in every incident and event, however trivial, recorded in Scripture. Even the most simple and commonplace circumstance was thought to conceal within itself the most recondite truth. Mystery and mysticism were seen everywhere, in the cords and pins of the tabernacle, in the yield of herds, in the death of one, in the marriage of another, even in the number of fish caught by the disciples on the night the risen Saviour appeared to them—how much some have tried to make of that number, 153! The very serious objection to this method is, that it wrests Scripture out of the sphere of the natural and the historical and locates it in that of the arbitrary and the fanciful; it tends to destroy the validity and trustworthiness of the record.
Second, the undue contraction of the typical element. “Professor Moses Stuart expresses this view as follows: “Just so much of the Old Testament is to be accounted typical as the New Testament affirms to be so, and no more.” This opinion assumes that the New Testament writers have exhausted the types of the Old Testament, while the fact is that those found in the later Scripture are but samples taken from the storehouse where many more are found. If they are not, then nothing is more arbitrary than the New Testament use of types, for there is nothing to distinguish them from a multitude of others of the same class. Further, the view assumes that divine authority alone can determine the reality and import of types—a view that applies with equal force against prophecy. This rule may be safely followed: wherever the three characteristics of types are found which have been already mentioned, there is the type.
Weighty
are the words of one equally eminent for his piety as for his learning:
“That
the Old Testament is rich in types, or rather forms in its totality one
type,
of the New Testament, follows necessarily from the entirely unique
position
which belongs to Christ as the center of the history of the world and
of
revelation.
Van Oosterzee
describes the "extremes" and the
"extravagance" of seeing "mystery" "in every incident
and event, however trivial, recorded in Scripture". Yet Mark 4:11
speaks
of "the mystery of the
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
1 Conrinthians 2:6-9
These verses speak of a mystery, which is the wisdom of God that is hidden within the scriptures that the wisdom of the rulers of this age can't understand. Van Oosterzee would claim this to be an "extreme" view however, which contradicts the words of the Bible.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
Van Oosterzee would have us remain in the quiet, non-mysterious world of man's logic, such as the logic of the rulers of the world.
The Bible also speaks of the mystery of God in –
1 Corinthians 15:51
Ephesians 1:9, 3:3, 3:4, 3:9, 6:19
Colossians 1:26,27, 2:2, 4:3
2 Thessalonians 2:7
1 Timothy 3:9, 3:16
Revelation 1:20, 10:7, 17:5, 17:7
Since we have ended up in the book of Revelation regarding the mystery of God, and with issues of interpretation of scriptures, it is only fitting to mention the warning in Revelation
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Revelation 22:18-19
These verses offer us as stern a warning as we can be provided in scripture to be especially careful in matters of the scriptures and their interpretation. However, simply removing the "mystery" contained in the words of the Bible is just as dangerous and works against numerous verses which were written to preserve this "mystery".
I also take great exception in Van Oosterzee's statement "in every incident and event, however trivial, recorded in Scripture" in that the Bible speaks directly against this attitude when it states that the smallest letter of scripture will not pass away until the earth and the heavens have passed away. This concept of minute detail is also reiterated in the statement that God knows number of hairs on our very heads. This faulty reasoning presents the Bible as a writing that contains great truths along with trivial and common incidents. This leaves us to contend with the burden of deciding which of the scriptures are important and which are trivial. I insist that none of the scriptures are trivial or common.
We do not live in a world ruled by kings any longer, but this fact does not negate the respect due to this position. I would not presume to be in the presence of a king, to listen to His words, and then leave His presence attempting to determine which of His words to dismiss as trivial. This is especially true if this king is God. How arrogant in deed!
2. http://www.emjc3.com/prophecy101.htm
3. Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, (San Bernadino: Here's Life Publishers, 1979)
4. Hugh Ross, Ph.D., Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible, (
5. Hulitt Gloer, Holman Bible Dictionary, (broadmanhplman.com: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1991)
6. NET Bible, (Biblical Studies Press, 2003)
7. Gloer, Holman Bible Dictionary
8. John 4:14
9. John 6:51
10. John 6:55
11. Gloer, Holman Bible Dictionary
12. John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck, ed., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament Ed. 3, (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991)
13. Matthew 12:39-42
14. Timothy George, Disciples Study Bible, (broadmanholman.com: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2003)
15. John 12:23-24
16. Walvoord, The Bible Knowledge Commentary
17. Matthew 12:39-42
18. George, Disciples Study Bible
19. Patrick Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture, (Grand Rapids: Kregal Publishers, 1989)
20. Williston Walker, History of the Christian Church, (New York: Scribner, 1985)
21. Ibid
22. Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture