OTHCC Chapter 15: items 281 - 300

The Old Testament in the Heart of the Catholic Church < > All Chapters

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Throughout the history of the Church, the evidence affirms that typology is

a.   always done.
b.   always done well.
c.   rarely done.

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Typology, seeing in God's works in the Old Testament a pre-echo of the works of his Son, began being done in the Church

a.   after Roman civilization collapsed.
b.   as early as the time of the apostles.
c.   beginning in the Middle Ages.

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The first person to teach that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament was

a.   Jesus.
b.   St. Paul.
c.   St. Peter.

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In the Gospel of Luke [Lk 4:16-22], Jesus reads from the book of the prophet Isaiah and says, ''Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'' On the road to Emmaus, the risen Lord shows the two disciples in detail that he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament: ''And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.'' [Lk 24:27]

(You need to know that ''Moses'' in Luke's words, ''And beginning with Moses and all the prophets'' here means ''the books of Sacred Scripture written by Moses'' - traditionally, the first five books of the Old Testament. So, what is meant is that Jesus started at the very beginning of the Old Testament and went all the way through.)

The risen Lord himself shows the importance and value of a detailed typological use of the Old Testament. Typology is not something that the Catholic Church made up, and it is not something that she can ever abandon. The Lord himself showed her that she can not truly see him and believe in him unless she sees that the Old Testament achieves the completeness of its meaning in him and in his works. <<

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The historical record shows that typology has been used by Catholics

a.   to justify the oppression of Jews.
b.   unerringly, with no faults or flaws.
c.   with no sinful motives.

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The meaning that the human authors of Sacred Scripture intended to convey, as discovered by scholarship and as clarified and corrected in the light provided by the Holy Spirit working in and through the sacraments, is called the

a.   allegorical sense.
b.   literal sense.
c.   spiritual sense.

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''All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal.'' [CCC 116, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas.] This means that

a.   every passage in Scripture must be taken literally.
b.   the literal sense of a passage can be ignored.
c.   the literal sense of a passage is always true.

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The historical record shows that when Catholics use typology to find the meaning of the Old Testament, they

a.   always base their typology on the literal sense.
b.   at times trivialize or evade the literal sense.
c.   never base their typology on the literal sense.

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If it could ever be shown that Catholics used typology in a mistaken way,

a.   our weakness would once again demonstrate that Christ himself must continue to protect the true meaning of the Bible.
b.   that would mean that typology is a fundamentally erroneous way to understand the Old Testament and should never be used.
c.   that would mean that all typological meanings ever discerned in the Old Testament are false or at least highly suspect.

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If it could ever be shown that Catholics used typology in a truly sinful way,

a.   our weakness would once again demonstrate that Christ himself must continue to protect the true meaning of the Bible.
b.   that would mean that typology is a fundamentally erroneous way to understand the Old Testament and should never be used.
c.   that would mean that all typological meanings ever discerned in the Old Testament are false or at least highly suspect.

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Typology is seeing in God's works in the Old Testament a pre-echo (prefigurement) of the works of his Son. Since you already know that a Catholic bishop, Catholic priests, and Catholic theology professors caused an extraordinary, brave, and utterly faithful nineteen-year-old girl, St. Joan of Arc, to be burned at the stake as a heretic, it won't surprise you to learn that typology has not always been done well. At times Catholics have used typology to oppress the Jews and to trivialize the literal sense of the Old Testament.

Catholics do not look at bishops and popes as if they were better than other mere men. They look at our Lord, and how he has promised to be with his one-and-only Bride, his very Body, the Catholic Church, forever. He will never mislead her. Finding typological meanings in the Old Testament is something the Church must do, and she does do it perfectly, but of course, only perfectly within the sacraments.

So don't believe in typology to see that the sacraments are real. Believe that the sacraments are real, to understand that beginning with the apostles themselves, the Catholic Church saw typological meanings in the great saving events of the Old Testament, such as the Passover, the call of Abraham, the sacrifice of Isaac.

Actually, that is a little white lie. It didn't start with the apostles. Jesus himself used typological meanings. He himself said that the Scriptures had been fulfilled in him. And, on the road to Emmaus, it was the risen Lord himself who showed the disciples the typological meaning of what we now call the Old Testament.

Yes, interpreting the meaning of the Old Testament through typology has been done poorly by Catholics. It has even been done sinfully by Catholics. Yet the Catholic Church can do no other than to use typology to understand the true, full meaning of the Old Testament. For typology is nothing but seeing Christ as the complete fulfillment of the Old Testament, and Christ himself taught his Church to do this.

Man is not done finding meaning in the Old Testament, whose meaning is ''inexhaustible.'' [CCC 129] Thus (however you protest), there is a chance that you yourself will one day find part of that meaning, including its typological meaning. Yet man continually needs the help of the definitive judgments of the Pope and bishops united with him to give man what he needs to study the truth of the Bible. And man gets just that. You can be certain that the typological meanings of the Old Testament professed in the Catechism and in other solemn teachings of the Catholic Church, and those expressed in her worship, are true and absolutely reliable.

Once again, it comes down to the question: are the sacraments real? Everything changes, if they are. <<

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Before proceeding, it's now time to read the first three chapters of the book of Genesis. [Gen 1-3].

The readings of the Easter Vigil, the most solemn of all the Church's liturgies, at which she calls to mind the full mystery of her Lord and Redeemer, begin with the account of

a.   the Creation.
b.   the Last Supper.
c.   the Passover.

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Creation is [CCC 280]

a.   a metaphor for God's love for us.
b.   of subsidiary importance to human life.
c.   the foundation of all God's saving plans.

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Creation [CCC 280]

a.   exists apart from the history of salvation.
b.   reaches its fulfillment and conclusion in Christ.
c.   tells us how and when the universe arose physically.

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The mystery of Christ [CCC 280]

a.   hides the purpose for which ''in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.''
b.   partially reveals the purpose for which ''in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.''
c.   reveals the purpose for which ''in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.''

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At the Creation, God [CCC 280]

a.   already had in mind and saw the glory of the new creation in Christ.
b.   failed to see that everything has its final purpose in the new creation in Christ.
c.   had no intention of completing everything in the new creation in Christ.

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The account of Creation [CCC 284]

a.   does at least necessarily tell us how and when man appeared.
b.   does tell us exactly how and when the universe arose physically.
c.   does not necessarily tell us how and when the universe arose physically.

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The account of Creation

a.   does not tell us the meaning of existence.
b.   is evasive about the meaning of existence.
c.   tells us the meaning of existence.

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The account of Creation

a.   does not tell us the origin of evil and whether there is any liberation from it.
b.   is evasive about the origin of evil and whether there is any liberation from it.
c.   tells us the origin of evil and whether there is any liberation from it.

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The account of Creation tells us that the universe is governed by

a.   a purely random set of accidents.
b.   a set of fixed, deterministic laws.
c.   a transcendent, intelligent, and good being called ''God.''

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