Biblical Typology, or Typological Interpretation

[Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Religion —> Typological Interpretation of the Bible]

Credits

Directions

Notes

Works Frequently Cited

Quotations from these editions are identified in the main text by author, title of work, and, following the passage quoted, citation within parentheses of volume and page number:

Thomas Carlyle, The Works "Centenary Edition", ed. H. D. Traill, 30 vols. London, 1896-9 .

Patrick Fairbairn, The Typology of Scripture viewed in connection with the whole series of . . . The Divine Dispensations, 2 vols. Grand Rapids, 1975, reprint of N. Y., 1900 edition .

Thomas Hartwell Horne, An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, 7th ed., 4 vols. London, 1834.

John Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year, 7 vols. Oxford, 1879-80 .

John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, 8 vols. London, 1891.

John Ruskin, The Works 'The Library Edition', eds. E. T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, 39 vols. London, 1903-12.

John Charles Ryle, Knots Untied. Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion, from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman , 13th edn. London, 1891.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Sermons, 20 vols. London, 1856.

The Victorian Web is a project funded by the University Scholars Program, National University of Singapore

What is Typology (and Why Should We Care?)

• Definition
• Introduction

Forms

• historical,
• legal,
• prophetic,
• extended,
• secularized

Cultural Context

• Victorianism
• Pre-Raphaelitism

Literary Examples

• Literary Techniques, Genres and Modes OV
• Specific Genres or Techniques
  • Sage-Writing
  • Narration & Point of View
• Characterization
  • Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
  • George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life
  • R. Browning, "The Bishop Orders His Tomb"
  • R. Browning, The Ring and the Book

Symbolism and Imagery

• The Cornerstone
• The Brazen Serpent
• Bruising the Serpent's Head
• Melchisedek
• Moses Striking the Rock, or the Smitten Rock
  • Moses Striking the Rock, or the Smitten Rock
  • Henry Mevill's sermon, "The Death of Moses"
  
• Henry Mevill's sermon, "Simon the Cyrenian," 1843
• Noah's Ark
• The Pigsah Sight
• The Rainbow
• The Scapegoat

Related Materials

• Victorian Types, Victorian Shadows; Biblical Typology in Victorian Literature, Art, and Thought. Boston and London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980 [full text]
• "Shadows of Shadows: Biblical Typology and English Literature." Review 7 (1984 [a review of books by Paul J. Korshin, Herbert L. Sussman, and Leslie Tannenbaum -- full text]

---

Print version published 1980; web version 1998; last updated 13 August 2001;
thanks to Martha J. Smith for catching broken links.