# Christ in the Old Testament



## Reformedfellow (Feb 9, 2012)

Books to help show and explain examples/types of Christ in the Old Testament.


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## A5pointer (Feb 9, 2012)

I think you will find Clowney informative and trustworthy.


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## JP Wallace (Feb 9, 2012)

With the Psalms in mind try 'The Messiah and the Psalms' by Richard P. Belcher.

Also I wouldn't let the 'aimed at preacher' bit put you off unduly - many will not be very technical e.g. "Preaching Christ from the Old Testament' by Sidney Griedanus is very readable (though I believe he takes things a little too far against using the OT characters as examples etc.).

Clowney you will enjoy.

Many Puritan sermons and books will also be very helpful in seeing Christ in the OT.


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## py3ak (Feb 9, 2012)

Colin, there are several books that would prove helpful.

First place, I think, must go to Patrick Fairbairn's _Typology of Scripture_. Sometimes, as Graeme Goldsworthy has remarked, people find Christ in the OT by a sort of a process of free association; while many of those parallels prove heartwarming (like some of the allegorical exegesis of the early church fathers and medieval theologians), they pay insufficient attention to the flow and structure of Biblical revelation. Fairbairn is as close to entirely free of that as anyone could be: and yet without failing to see what is there.
Also useful in this connection is Alfred Edersheim's, _Bible History: Old Testament_. I find it very easy and enjoyable to read, and you will learn a lot from it, as well as having many types succinctly and eloquently highlighted.
Geerhadus Vos' _Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments_ is also excellent and indispensable.
Michael Barrett's _Beginning at Moses_ not only discusses many types in a clear way, it also gives you some guidelines for identifying further types yourself.
And James Adams' _War Psalms of the Prince of Peace_ is a phenomenal book. I think he could have given a bit of a stronger place for contemporary use of the imprecatory Psalms, but that does not change the fact that this is a book that can really open up whole new vistas and impact your reading of the whole OT.


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## JP Wallace (Feb 9, 2012)

From memory Griedanus (and if not him many in a certain strand of Redemptive Historical preaching school of thought) believe we should basically only preach Christ from the Old Testament and not draw moral lessons from the narratives (that's the strongest manifestation of the position at least). I believe this is taking it too far - I think we should do both. (cf. John Carrick 'The Imperative of Preaching'). 

Ruben's suggestions are excellent too by the way especially Fairbairn and Vos; I think the older writers are the best on this subject, but some of the modern books remind us good they were by showing us a methodology which they assumed.


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## Jack K (Feb 9, 2012)

Ed Clowney's books are very good. He was the longtime president of Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, so an influential Bible-believing Presbyterian. In addition to _the Unfolding Mystery_, you might also be interested in his book _Preaching Christ in All of Scripture_. The two books are similar. Both are quite devotional, as they're based on sermons he gave. If you like seeing Christ in the Old Testament, you'll find Clowney's books not only informative but enjoyable. But neither is just about typology. Clowney's technique includes noticing types, but he'll also simply show how Christ is the unfolding of the history begun in the Old Testament without a type necessarily being present.

Michael Barrett (_Beginning at Moses_) is less inclined than Clowney to see Christ everywhere, but will focus more on types, christophanies and prophesies. You might be looking for that.

Others beyond those Ruben has mentioned, which are all excellent, would include Vern Poythress' _The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses_ and Sidney Greidanus' _Preaching Christ in Genesis_. Neither of these focuses exclusively or even chiefly on types, but I consider that to be among their strengths.

Finally, you might consider two reference works which help indirectly:
- Commentary of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament lets you look up any NT verse and see what echoes of the OT it contains. Or use the Scriptue index to accomplish the reverse.
- Dictionary of Biblical Imagery lets you look up any biblical theme and see how it is carried along throughout the Bible.
There are endless biblical theology gems to be mined for oneself with the help of these two works.


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## Curt (Feb 9, 2012)

_Christology of the Old Testament_, Hengstenberg


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## Philip (Feb 9, 2012)

_Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament_ by Christopher J.H. Wright is one that I found helpful (read it for Christology a couple years back).


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## Andres (Feb 9, 2012)

I echo the endorsements for Clowney's book. If you'd like to listen to Clowney's lectures on Christ in the OT, they can be found here. Obviously they are excellent as well.


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## KMK (Feb 9, 2012)

Andres said:


> I echo the endorsements for Clowney's book. If you'd like to listen to Clowney's lectures on Christ in the OT, they can be found here. Obviously they are excellent as well.



Thanks for that, Andrew. I love listening to Clowney.


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## MightyManfred (Feb 9, 2012)

I bought a copy of an old, reliable text on this topic: Typos, by Leonhard Goppelt. It's available on Google Books: Typos - The Typological Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New - Leonhard Goppelt, E. Earle Ellis - Google eBookstore


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## Philip (Feb 9, 2012)

Reformedfellow said:


> I noticed the book you mentioned by Wright before, but thought it was a little "messianic" in leaning? Am I mistaken?
> (I mean, in the messianic Judaism/dispensational sort of way)



Not really---Wright is a British evangelical, and that way of thinking simply isn't a factor there.


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## MightyManfred (Feb 10, 2012)

Reformedfellow said:


> Stuart, thank-you for the suggestion, I will look into that as well.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 08:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 AM ----------
> 
> ...




I will let Voddie know! His book, _What He Must Be if He Wants to Marry My Daughter_, was released just as my daughter told me she was serious about a young man. That book changed my life, and my son-in-law's.


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