Theological Poetics: Typology, Symbol and the Christ

By

Warren Austin Gage, Th.M., J.D., Ph.D.

Fort Lauderdale: Warren A. Gage, 2010

www.saintandrewshouse.com

© 2010 Warren Austin Gage

For a new generation of theological poets,

whose songs of freedom will cheer the Spirit and the bride,

whose proclamation will be the covenant faithfulness of the Bridegroom-God,

and whose hearts will herald the way of the Lord,

making straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Table of Contents

Chapter

1. The Crisis in Protestant Biblical Theology

2. Introduction to Typology, Symbol and the Christ

3. The Typology of Jesus: Christ Uniting God and Man

4. The Typology of Time: Christ Uniting the Beginning and the End

5. The Typology of Space: Christ Uniting Heaven and Earth

6. The Typology of the Bridegroom: Christ Uniting Male and Female

7. The Typology of the Cross: Christ Knowing Good and Evil

8. The Typology of the Resurrection: Christ Overcoming Death With Life

9. The Typology of the Gospel: Christ Uniting Jew and Gentile

Chapter 1

The Crisis in Protestant Biblical Theology

In a very few years we Protestants will celebrate the 500th anniversary of our Reformation. The passing of such a milestone will have our now worldwide community celebrating many astonishing accomplishments. In retrospect it is clear that a virtual fountain of liberty, both spiritual and political, broke forth from the nail-pierced door in Wittenberg. The gospel of free grace was recovered in 1517, resulting in a robust proclamation of spiritual freedom justified by an appeal to Scripture alone. This gospel of liberty was restated by Luther and the Reformers in a message so powerful that many multitudes of Europeans, both in their home countries and later in their many colonies around the world, ascribed salvation from the bondage of sin to the singular work of God, who raised Christ Jesus from the dead in order to make His people free.

The foremost achievement of the Reformation was to give the Bible to the common man.1 In order to disciple the nations to the teaching of the Scripture, men and women had to be taught to read. As a consequence, schools were founded in Protestant communities in Europe and North America. The resulting increase of popular literacy enabled enlightened and liberal communities to emerge in the aftermath of the Reformed missionary and in response to the pulpit of the Reformed pastor. Moreover, the Bible gave the Protestant church an eschatological vision which required a teleological understanding of the world and a linear understanding of historical progress. Based upon the affirmation of the rule of reason in the natural order, which such doctrines implied, the natural world was understood to be capable of purposeful progress. Consequently, it was the Reformation that provided new impetus for Western economic2 and scientific progress,3 both of which have done so much to relieve the natural conditions of human suffering.

Moreover, the Protestant divines announced ...