| What is typology in simple terms? |
| The term typology refers to studying, examining, classifying, or analysing things or concepts according to different types or categories. |
| In biblical typology, a type is an event, person, or object in the Old Testament that foreshadows a corresponding reality in the New Testament, known as the antitype. The antitype is the fulfilment or ultimate reality that the type points towards. Essentially, the type serves as a symbolic precursor to the antitype. Here’s a breakdown: |
| Type: A prefiguration or symbolic representation found in the Old Testament. |
| Antitype: The reality or fulfilment of the type, often found in the New Testament. |
| Examples: |
| The Passover lamb in the Old Testament is a type, while Jesus Christ, who is seen as the ultimate sacrifice, is the antitype. |
| Jonah’s experience of being swallowed by the fish and emerging three days later is a type, while Jesus’ death and resurrection are the antitype. |
| The bronze serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness is a type, and Jesus on the cross is the antitype, according to Carolina Messenger. |
| Typology is a way of understanding how the Old Testament anticipates and prepares for the New Testament, particularly in relation to the person and work of Jesus Christ. |
|
| Type and antitype Meaning |
| Foreshadowing and fulfilment in the Bible: In biblical interpretation, particularly within Christian theology, “type” and “antitype” describe a relationship between two entities, often from the Old and New Testaments, |
| 1. Type |
| The type is an Old Testament person, event, institution, or object that serves as a foreshadowing or prefigurement of something to come in the New Testament. |
| It’s a “shadow cast on the pages of Old Testament history by a truth whose full embodiment or antitype is found in the New Testament revelation,” notes Christian Courier. |
| Examples include the Passover lamb, which prefigures Christ’s sacrifice, and Noah’s Ark, which can be seen as a type for baptism. |
| 2. Antitype |
| The antitype is the New Testament fulfilment or reality that corresponds to the Old Testament type. |
| It’s the substance to which the type (the shadow) points. |
| For instance, Christ as “our Passover lamb” is the antitype of the Passover lamb in the Old Testament, and baptism is the antitype of Noah’s Ark, according to Bible Hub. |
| 3. Key characteristics |
| Correspondence: There’s a significant resemblance and connection between the type and antitype. |
| Historical grounding: Typology is rooted in real historical events and people, distinguishing it from mere allegory. |
| Intensification / escalation: The antitype often represents a greater, more profound, or intensified fulfilment than the type. |
| Divine design: Typological connections are understood as divinely intended patterns within the biblical narrative, according to Logos Bible Software. |
| In essence, typology helps demonstrate the unity and coherence of the Bible, showcasing how God’s plan of redemption unfolds and culminates in Jesus Christ. |
|
| What is the antitype of baptism? |
| Peter then draws out a typological relationship between the flood and baptism: the flood is the type and baptism the antitype, the latter of which “now saves you” (verse 21). Just as Noah and his family were delivered by means of the ark “through water,” so Christians are delivered by means of Christ through baptism. |
| Noah’s salvation was a type (figure) of our salvation from sin. Note Peter’s precise language: “there is also an antitype which now saves us – baptism.” Baptism is the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26) that now saves us. |
|
| What does type met antitype mean? |
| The concepts of type and antitype express the organic relationship between the events of the OT and those of the NT: the former pattern and foreshadow their fulfilment in the latter. The heart of the antitype in the NT is the person and work of Jesus Christ, and especially the resurrection. |
|
| Is Jesus type or antitype? |
| It appears as antitype in 1 Peter 3:21 NKJV, and as copies in Hebrews 9:24. Jesus is always an antitype and all his shadows are identified in the New Testament. |
|
| Antitype meaning in the Bible |
| In biblical studies, an antitype refers to the fulfilment or reality of a symbolic representation, known as a type, found in the Old Testament. Essentially, it’s the person, event, or object in the New Testament that corresponds to a symbolic foreshadowing in the Old Testament. Here’s a more detailed explanation: |
| Types: Types are symbolic representations or prefigurative events, people, or objects in the Old Testament. They hint at a greater reality that is revealed later in Scripture. |
| Antitypes: Antitypes are the actual fulfilment of these symbolic types. They are the reality that the type pointed to. |
| Examples: |
| The Passover Lamb: The Passover lamb, sacrificed in Exodus, is a type. Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the antitype, fulfilling the symbolic sacrifice. |
| Jonah and the Fish: Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish is a type. Jesus’s death and resurrection is the antitype, fulfilling the pattern of death and new life. |
| Adam and Christ: Adam’s disobedience brought sin and death (a type), while Christ’s obedience brought salvation and life (the antitype). |
| Purpose: Typology, the study of types and antitypes, helps us understand the overarching narrative of the Bible and the significance of Jesus Christ as the culmination of God’s plan. It demonstrates how God has been working throughout history to bring about His redemptive purposes. |
|
| What is an antitype in the Bible? |
| In the Bible, an antitype is a fulfilment or completion of an earlier truth revealed in the Bible. An antitype in the New Testament is foreshadowed by a type, its counterpart in the Old Testament. |
| Our terms type and antitype in this situation largely stem from the word tupos in the Greek New Testament. Tupos originally referred to the mark of a blow, like a stamp, and by extension was used to refer to a copy or image, a pattern, or, in many cases, a type. One might say that types have the stamp of the antitype. |
| One example of type and antitype in the Bible is seen in the theme of the two Adams. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Here, Christ is the antitype, and Adam is the type. Just as death from sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and thus cursed all of humanity, life entered the world through one man, Jesus, and became available to all who would believe. The first Adam is the type fulfilled by the second Adam, Jesus. |
| Another example of type and antitype is the bronze serpent in the wilderness and the cross. When the Israelites spoke against God in the desert, He sent venomous snakes among them, and many were bitten and died. But upon the prayers of Moses, the Lord provided salvation. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live” (Numbers 21:8–9). This parallels and foreshadows the cross. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). |
| Sometimes in the Bible, types are referred to as “shadows” of antitypes (Hebrews 10:1). In this way, one might think of the types in the Old Testament as shadows cast by their antitypes in the New Testament—sometimes distorted in scope and shape, but an indication of something to come. |
| One can find dozens of types and antitypes in the Scriptures. Often, New Testament writers point out these correlations with language we typically translate into English as “just as” paired with “so.” For example, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish was a type of Jesus’ time in the tomb. Jesus is again the antitype of something in the Old Testament. |
| Types and antitypes can be people, events, ceremonies, objects, positions (e.g., the priestly office), or even places. The sacrificial lamb foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrifice, bondage in Egypt mirrored bondage to sin, and the flood of Noah is used by Peter as a metaphor for the waters of baptism (1 Peter 3:20–21). Not all things in the Old Testament can be construed as a type, but the Bible does reveal that many elements in the Old Testament were meant as a prophetic foreshadowing of the antitypes to come. |
|
| In Biblical typology, types are symbolic representations or fore-shadowings of future realities, while antitypes are the corresponding fulfilments of those types in later events, persons, or institutions, typically in the New Testament. These concepts are used to understand the Bible’s narrative unity and demonstrate how the Old Testament foreshadows the New. Here’s a breakdown of types and antitypes: |
| Types: |
| A type is a person, object, event, or institution in the Old Testament that anticipates a greater reality in the New Testament. |
| Examples include Adam, the bronze serpent, and the Passover lamb. |
| Typology is not allegory; it relies on real historical events and figures to point to a greater fulfilment according to Christ Church, Vienna. |
| Types are not meant to be interpreted in isolation but in light of their antitypes. |
| Antitypes: |
| An antitype is the person, object, event, or institution in the New Testament that fulfils or corresponds to the type. |
| For example, Jesus Christ is the antitype of Adam, the bronze serpent, and the Passover lamb. |
| Typology helps Christians see the unity and interconnectedness of the Bible. |
| Examples of Types and Antitypes: |
| Adam: A type of Christ (Romans 5:14), representing humanity’s fall and need for redemption through Christ’s sacrifice. |
| The Bronze Serpent: A type of Christ (John 3:14-15), where the serpent on the pole saved those who looked at it, just as Christ saves those who believe in him. |
| The Passover Lamb: A type of Christ, whose blood was shed to save the Israelites from death, foreshadowing Christ’s sacrifice for the redemption of humanity. |
| Manna: A type of Christ, where the physical bread from heaven pointed to the spiritual and eternal bread that is Jesus (John 6:49-51). |
| Isaac: A type of Christ (Genesis 22), where Abraham’s willingness to offer his son as a sacrifice foreshadows God’s sacrifice of his Son. |
| Key Points: |
| Typology helps Christians understand how the Old Testament points to the person and work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. |
| It highlights the unity and overarching narrative of the Bible. |
| While types are real historical events and figures, they are not to be stressed for their own sake, but for what they foreshadowed. |
| The Bible itself is the best interpreter of typology, as it reveals the antitypes. |
