Clarence Oddbody: Casting Against Type

Monday, September 17, 2012

Casting Against Type

I'm uncomfortable with analyzing Jesus' ministry in light of Old Testament prophecy and interpretations of types.[1]

Now, that's not because I think that approach has nothing to offer. Indeed, the Apostles, Church Fathers, even Jesus himself, did this as a way to make sense of the events at hand.

But knowing what I know about the ancient Near East, chronologies, redaction, etc, I cannot escape the conclusion that much of what Christians believe to be fulfillment of prophecy is just alignment of more recent events with older ones. Hindsight is 20/20.

Of course, understanding prophecy and Old Testament analogies offer helpful insights, because that is how those around Jesus interpreted his ministry and often how they introduced it to others. If we are to understand them, we must understand how they talked.

They followed an old adage: Know your audience.[2]

cØ

[1]
Eg, Jesus as a type of Adam. For those that may not be aware, there has been a lot of attention paid historically to describing New Testament figures and events as "types" or reflections of Old Testament figures and events. This occurs frequently within the bible as well; eg, Moses and Jesus survive Pharaoh's and Herod's slaughter of infants. As a child reading my bible (which I did daily of my own will), I was often confused by similarities like this and got them mixed up. I'm sure I wasn't the only one having trouble keeping track of all the Marys. Scholars still argue about who's who.

[2]
If you look hard enough, you can find types everywhere. I think that has more to do with the nature of language and perception than it does prophecy.

A classic example is Genesis 3:15, which is often cited as the first instance of messianic prophecy (see the underlined portion):

13 The LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
you are cursed above all livestock,
and above every animal of the field.
You shall go on your belly
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will bruise your head,
and you will bruise his heel.” Gen 3:14-15 (WEBME; emphasis mine. )

Well, I don't see it. Do you? It's there if Eve is a type of Mary, but it doesn't seem compelling to me; it seems more of a slice of mythos regarding the human fear of snakes.

[2012-09-17: Total coincidence - Just happened to hear Scott Hahn talking on this and it’s interesting that this is the only place in the OT (he says) that the phrase “seed” or “offspring” is used of a woman, elsewhere this phase is restricted to men. It’s the beginning of Marian veneration. I’ll let you know if there’s more on that subject that illuminates this verse.]

We sometimes find what we look for. And sometimes ancient scribes "assisted" prophecy. (My opinion.) Which does not reduce the value of these passages. There is often more truth in a fictionalized account than in just the facts, because it captures not only what happened, but the impact on those it happened to.

I would much rather read the accounts of men and women who believe they met God and did their best to tell us about it than read the transcript of a stenographer who was on the scene.