Proving Types

[Montie_Claunch]

I was looking through www.scripturecatholic.com and I noticed, especially in the Eucharistic section that there were a lot of types, allusions to a certain New Testament Dogma in the Old Testament. How would you prove that theses types are real things to be taken into consideration and not an attempt to throw some random Old Testament Passages together to “prove” something that is preceived by objectors to have no New Testament proof? Thanks and God bless.

 

[Liberian]

Montie,

Speaking as an aerospace engineer, I would say that you don’t. I don’t think this sort of thing can be proven as one proves a mathematical theorem or as one demonstrates a scientific phenomenon. There’s a good bit of “eye of the beholder” there, in my experience.

• Liberian

 

[matthew1624]

I was looking through www.scripturecatholic.com and I noticed, especially in the Eucharistic section that there were a lot of types, allusions to a certain New Testament Dogma in the Old Testament. How would you prove that theses types are real things to be taken into consideration and not an attempt to throw some random Old Testament Passages together to “prove” something that is preceived by objectors to have no New Testament proof? Thanks and God bless.

You may want to pick up a copy of Scott Hahn’s book Letter & Spirit. He covers typology quite well in this book. Is there a particular type/foreshadowing that you’re having difficulty with? If so, would you mind sharing?

BTW, I’m not sure you’ll be able to prove all types just as we are not able to prove that all subtle references to a Triune God (i.e. “Let us make man in our image…”) are in fact a proof of a God consisting of three persons yet still one.

Also, you may want to check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 117 which states the following regarding the spiritual sense of scripture (two senses: literal and spiritual)

The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.

An additional resource is The Interpretation of Scripture in the Church (Pontifical Biblical Commission) available on EWTN.

Hope this helps…

 

[Franciscan]

I was looking through www.scripturecatholic.com and I noticed, especially in the Eucharistic section that there were a lot of types, allusions to a certain New Testament Dogma in the Old Testament. How would you prove that theses types are real things to be taken into consideration and not an attempt to throw some random Old Testament Passages together to “prove” something that is preceived by objectors to have no New Testament proof? Thanks and God bless.

I think what you really mean to question is the divine Authorship of scripture, whether the Bible is the Word of God. Or whether types can be used as a proof of God as author(divine Inspiration, and canonicity).Types are a proof of His divine Authorship.Jesus himself led us into the study of types. He referred to the Temple as a type of His body, and the bronze serpent as a type of his crucifixion. And on the road to Emmaus He instructed the two men about how the Old Testament referred to him.
St. Paul also uses typology -Noah’s flood and Baptism, Jesus and Adam etc. So in a way typology is a proof of God’s Authorship of both scripture and in a mysterious way life itself.