Introduction to the Coptic Catechism
What is the difference between Allegory and Typology?
Q55 · The Holy Bible
The Bible uses at least three types of allegory:
- a. Figurative allegory.
- b. Narrative allegory.
165 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Corinthians 7:4 (NPNF I/12: 312–313) amended. 166
See Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty, The School of Alexandria Before Origen , (Pope Shenouda III Coptic Theological College, 1995; Arabic edition, 1980).
167 In A New Catholic Commentary on the Holy Scripture , eds. R. C. Fuller, L. Johnston, and C. Kearns (Nelson, 1969): p. 15.
c. Typological allegory.
The Apostle Paul’s hymn on love in 1 Corinthians 13, and the depiction of Wisdom in Proverbs 8 are two examples of figurative allegory .
In some parables, such as the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35) and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32), the kind of allegory used is narrative allegory .
But the dominant mode in the gospel is typological allegory , which is “a New Testament exegetic method which treats events and figures of the Old Testament as combining historical reality with prophetic meaning in terms of the Gospels and the Christian dispensation.”168
As Joseph Trigg explains: “Some scholars distinguish ‘allegory’ defined as a method in which earthly realities are interpreted symbolically to refer to heavenly realities, from ‘typology,’ in which one historical reality is interpreted as foreshadowing another, especially the person and work of Christ.”169
J. N. D. Kelly also presents a basis for distinguishing between allegory and typology: “In allegorical exegesis the sacred text is treated as a mere symbol, or allegory, of spiritual truths. The literal, historical sense, if it is regarded at all, plays a relatively minor role, and the aim of the exegete is to elicit the moral, theological or mystical meaning which each passage, indeed each verse and even each word, is presumed to contain …
“ Typological exegesis worked along very different lines. Essentially it was a technique for bringing out the correspondence between the two Testaments, and took as its guiding principle the idea that the events and personages of the Old were ‘types’ of, i.e., prefigured and anticipated, the events and personages of the New. The typologist took history seriously; it was the scene of the progressive unfolding of God’s consistent redemptive purpose.”170
Jean Daniélou also says, “the typology of the Fathers was based on the continuity which exists between the Old and New Testaments.”171