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From Shadows to Reality: Studies in the Biblical Typology of the Fathers
From the first centuries of its existence, the Church has interpreted the historical events recounted in the Old Testament as being "types" or "figures" of the events of the New Testament and of the sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ. Jean Cardinal Danielou, one of the foremost Catholic scholars of the twentieth century, and a theologian especially concerned with the relationship between history and the Christian revelation, examines in this book the typological interpretation of the Fathers of the Church and their contemporaries during the first three centuries of the Christian era. Among examples he discusses are the crossing of the Jordan by the Israelites as a type of baptism, Rahab as a type of the Church, and the fall of Jericho as a figure of the end of the world. The complex interpretations of Adam, the flood, and the sacrifice and marriage of Isaac are also described in full and commented on. The work is divided into five books entitled "Adam in Paradise," "Noah and the Flood," "The Sacrifice of Isaac," "Moses and the Exodus," and "The Cycle of Joshua". Each book is divided into chapters discussing the various types and the interpretations of Irenaeus, Clement, Gregory of Nyssa and their contemporaries, including Philo. (Ex Fontibus Co.)
296 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2011
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About the author
Jean Daniélou
127 books42 followersJean Daniélou S.J. (1905–1974) was a theologian, historian, cardinal and a member of the Académie Française.
Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, son of Charles and Madeleine (née Clamorgan). His father was an anticlerical politician, several times minister, and his mother an educator and founder of institutions for women's education. His brother Alain (1907–1964) was a noted Indologist.
Daniélou studied at the Sorbonne, and passed his agrégation in Grammar in 1927. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1929, becoming an educator, initially at a boys' school in Poitiers. He subsequently studied theology at Fourvière in Lyon under Henri de Lubac, who introduced him to patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. He was ordained in 1938.
During World War II, he served with the Armée de l'Air (Air Force) in 1939–1940. He was demobilised and returned to civilian life. He received his doctorate in theology in 1942 and was appointed chaplain to the ENSJF, the female section of the École Normale Supérieure, at Sèvres. It was at this time that he began his own writings on patristics. He was one of the founders of the Sources Chrétiennes collection. In 1944 he was made Professor of Early Christian History at the Institut Catholique de Paris, and later became dean. Beginning in the 1950s, he produced several historical studies, including The Bible and the Liturgy, The Lord of History, and From Shadows to Reality, that provided a major impetus to the development of Covenantal Theology.
At the request of Pope John XXIII, he served as an expert to the Second Vatican Council, and in 1969 was consecrated as a bishop and made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. He was elected to the Académie Française on 9 November 1972, to succeed Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant.
His unexpected death in 1974, in the home of a prostitute, was very diversely interpreted. He died on the stairs of a brothel that he was visiting. It turned out he was bringing her money to pay for the bail of her lover. Thanks to a group including Henri Marrou, his reputation was cleared.
Jean-Guenolé-Marie Daniélou was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, son of Charles and Madeleine (née Clamorgan). His father was an anticlerical politician, several times minister, and his mother an educator and founder of institutions for women's education. His brother Alain (1907–1964) was a noted Indologist.
Daniélou studied at the Sorbonne, and passed his agrégation in Grammar in 1927. He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1929, becoming an educator, initially at a boys' school in Poitiers. He subsequently studied theology at Fourvière in Lyon under Henri de Lubac, who introduced him to patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. He was ordained in 1938.
During World War II, he served with the Armée de l'Air (Air Force) in 1939–1940. He was demobilised and returned to civilian life. He received his doctorate in theology in 1942 and was appointed chaplain to the ENSJF, the female section of the École Normale Supérieure, at Sèvres. It was at this time that he began his own writings on patristics. He was one of the founders of the Sources Chrétiennes collection. In 1944 he was made Professor of Early Christian History at the Institut Catholique de Paris, and later became dean. Beginning in the 1950s, he produced several historical studies, including The Bible and the Liturgy, The Lord of History, and From Shadows to Reality, that provided a major impetus to the development of Covenantal Theology.
At the request of Pope John XXIII, he served as an expert to the Second Vatican Council, and in 1969 was consecrated as a bishop and made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. He was elected to the Académie Française on 9 November 1972, to succeed Cardinal Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant.
His unexpected death in 1974, in the home of a prostitute, was very diversely interpreted. He died on the stairs of a brothel that he was visiting. It turned out he was bringing her money to pay for the bail of her lover. Thanks to a group including Henri Marrou, his reputation was cleared.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 9, 2023
This was a fantastic read and full of insights. In addition to the numerous typological interpretations I found persuasive and sanctifying (there were plenty I could not assent to), the real substance of this book was Daniélou's showing the difference between typological and allegorical interpretation in the Fathers. He shows how many of the Fathers made this important distinction, and how many of them rejected the allegorical method.
Daniélou argues that Philo, though he sought to present a biblical philosophy which corrected a Greek philosophy, was ultimately unsuccessful and influenced later Christian interpreters such as Origen and Ambrose away from the realm of exegesis. Whereas beforehand there is a consistent and universal stream of typological interpretation, the Alexandrian school, influenced greatly by Philo, mixed allegorical interpretation with typological interpretation. And at this point, the streams of biblical exegesis (typology) and allegory merged. Finally, Daniélou even argues that Philonian influence in Alexandrian exegetes like Clement and Gregory of Nyssa is responsible for the entire via negative of Mystical Theology. If Daniélou is correct, then the Christian Platonists of our day have quite a hole in their thesis.
My favorite chapters were:
-Adam and Christ in St Ireneaeus
-The Paradise of Virtues
-The Typology of the Exodus in the Old and the New Testament
-The Typology of the Exodus in the Teaching of Apostolic Times
Daniélou argues that Philo, though he sought to present a biblical philosophy which corrected a Greek philosophy, was ultimately unsuccessful and influenced later Christian interpreters such as Origen and Ambrose away from the realm of exegesis. Whereas beforehand there is a consistent and universal stream of typological interpretation, the Alexandrian school, influenced greatly by Philo, mixed allegorical interpretation with typological interpretation. And at this point, the streams of biblical exegesis (typology) and allegory merged. Finally, Daniélou even argues that Philonian influence in Alexandrian exegetes like Clement and Gregory of Nyssa is responsible for the entire via negative of Mystical Theology. If Daniélou is correct, then the Christian Platonists of our day have quite a hole in their thesis.
My favorite chapters were:
-Adam and Christ in St Ireneaeus
-The Paradise of Virtues
-The Typology of the Exodus in the Old and the New Testament
-The Typology of the Exodus in the Teaching of Apostolic Times
May 21, 2014
Overall I think this book is really good. It ranks up high along with his other work, The Bible and the Liturgy. I appreciated Danielou's clear distinction between typology and allegory, although not all of the typological connections are as convincing as Danielou claims, but that isn't surprising at all coming from a Roman Catholic Patristic scholar. If you want to learn the difference between the use of typology among the early Church Fathers in a manner distinguishable from allegorical exegesis, and the development of the former into the latter, this is a great primer. It's too bad the book is not currently in print anywhere. I received my copy from a library at a nearby Episcopal seminary.
September 8, 2021
Originally published in France in 1950 as "Sacramentum Futuri: Etudes sur les Origines de la Typologie Biblique," this outstanding work on biblical typology by Jesuit Jean Danielou is one of the most learned and expansive works on the subject from the last century.
Type is from the Greek "tupos" (typos) which means, "pattern, form, mold, impression." In biblical theology it denotes an Old Testament individual, event, or institution that is a pre-figurement of a future Christological, sacramental, or eschatological reality.
The chief achievement of this book is that Danielou manages to give a robust demonstration of typology through a survey of patristic typological interpretation. Unlike his teacher, Henri de Lubac, Danielou draws a harder distinction between typology and allegory; typology is the prefiguring of New Testament or ecclesiastical realities in the stuff of the Old Testament; allegory is the timeless, mystical reading of Scripture which does not depend on Heilsgeschichte or New Testament antitypes.
There are numerous passages in the book that opened my eyes to the beauty, subtlety, and brilliance of patristic exegesis. I'll end this review with some of my favorites, and I'll include some of Danielou's learned reflections:
- The essence of typology is to "show how past events are a figure of events to come. The past is recalled as a foundation of future hope" (12).
- "The similarities, which are the very basis of typology, are intended to bring into relief the unity of the divine plan... Typology reveals analogies which are a unifying thread of all, bestowing as it were the signature of God on his work, and guaranteeing the authenticity of Scripture" (30).
- "Typology here is the mouthpiece of theology" (44).
- "Allegory is not a sense of Scripture at all: it is the presentation of philosophy and Christian morality under Biblical imagery analogous to the Stoic presentation of morality in a Homeric dress" (61).
- "Typology seeks in the Old Testament not only the type of the realities of the New Testament but also the type of the sacramenta beneath which this reality is expressed and which are themselves sacraments of the realities of the Old Law: for if God has chosen certain signs rather than others, as St Hilary remarks, it is because they constitute a system of 'correspondences' in the course of history, between the different covenants, thus bringing out that they form parts of a whole" (93).
- "It is not casu, 'by chance,' that a single incident is found several times over in Scripture. It is divinely intended, for God does nothing without purpose and significance. Everything works towards its purpose: 'You see how the mysteries of the two testaments harmonize and agree. In the Old, brides are found as you advance to the wells, and it is in the bath of water that the Church is united to Christ. We are overwhelmed by the number of mysteries' (Origen). The Old Testament, the Church, the mystical life, all agree, harmonize in the same ideas" (144).
- "The Old Testament is both a memory and a prophecy. We can go further, and say that it is the prophecy which makes it a memory: the mighty works of the past are recalled only as the foundation of future hope" (154).
- (St Zeno) "[T]here is nothing in the holy and divine Scriptures which has not a primarily spiritual meaning, either in revealing the past, or bringing out the meaning of the present or intimating what is to come" (180).
- "[I]s not the whole Scripture a rehearsal of the great themes of the Pentateuch until their fulfilment in Christ?" (248)
- "So from Rahab to the harlot of Osee, from this latter to Mary Magdalene, whose name is known to the ends of the earth, from Mary Magdalene to the Church of the Nations, the typological chain links up the legal, the prophetic, the Gospel, the Church, the eschatological, in the one theme of the Redemption" (252).
Type is from the Greek "tupos" (typos) which means, "pattern, form, mold, impression." In biblical theology it denotes an Old Testament individual, event, or institution that is a pre-figurement of a future Christological, sacramental, or eschatological reality.
The chief achievement of this book is that Danielou manages to give a robust demonstration of typology through a survey of patristic typological interpretation. Unlike his teacher, Henri de Lubac, Danielou draws a harder distinction between typology and allegory; typology is the prefiguring of New Testament or ecclesiastical realities in the stuff of the Old Testament; allegory is the timeless, mystical reading of Scripture which does not depend on Heilsgeschichte or New Testament antitypes.
There are numerous passages in the book that opened my eyes to the beauty, subtlety, and brilliance of patristic exegesis. I'll end this review with some of my favorites, and I'll include some of Danielou's learned reflections:
- The essence of typology is to "show how past events are a figure of events to come. The past is recalled as a foundation of future hope" (12).
- "The similarities, which are the very basis of typology, are intended to bring into relief the unity of the divine plan... Typology reveals analogies which are a unifying thread of all, bestowing as it were the signature of God on his work, and guaranteeing the authenticity of Scripture" (30).
- "Typology here is the mouthpiece of theology" (44).
- "Allegory is not a sense of Scripture at all: it is the presentation of philosophy and Christian morality under Biblical imagery analogous to the Stoic presentation of morality in a Homeric dress" (61).
- "Typology seeks in the Old Testament not only the type of the realities of the New Testament but also the type of the sacramenta beneath which this reality is expressed and which are themselves sacraments of the realities of the Old Law: for if God has chosen certain signs rather than others, as St Hilary remarks, it is because they constitute a system of 'correspondences' in the course of history, between the different covenants, thus bringing out that they form parts of a whole" (93).
- "It is not casu, 'by chance,' that a single incident is found several times over in Scripture. It is divinely intended, for God does nothing without purpose and significance. Everything works towards its purpose: 'You see how the mysteries of the two testaments harmonize and agree. In the Old, brides are found as you advance to the wells, and it is in the bath of water that the Church is united to Christ. We are overwhelmed by the number of mysteries' (Origen). The Old Testament, the Church, the mystical life, all agree, harmonize in the same ideas" (144).
- "The Old Testament is both a memory and a prophecy. We can go further, and say that it is the prophecy which makes it a memory: the mighty works of the past are recalled only as the foundation of future hope" (154).
- (St Zeno) "[T]here is nothing in the holy and divine Scriptures which has not a primarily spiritual meaning, either in revealing the past, or bringing out the meaning of the present or intimating what is to come" (180).
- "[I]s not the whole Scripture a rehearsal of the great themes of the Pentateuch until their fulfilment in Christ?" (248)
- "So from Rahab to the harlot of Osee, from this latter to Mary Magdalene, whose name is known to the ends of the earth, from Mary Magdalene to the Church of the Nations, the typological chain links up the legal, the prophetic, the Gospel, the Church, the eschatological, in the one theme of the Redemption" (252).
January 19, 2012
I really liked this book - a study in the use of typology by the early church fathers. Good insight into Orthodox festal hymns, theology and liturgy. Perhaps because I read a lot in this area, I found it an easy read, but excellent insights and an abundance of quotes from the earlier church fathers up to and in the 4th Century.
November 18, 2021
A survey of the development of different typological interpretations of Scripture. He traces these views from the prophets to the New Testament and Philo, to St Justin, Clement of Alexandria and Origen to Ambrose and Augustine.
This was an excellent book on the early church fathers and their views on biblical interpretation.
This was an excellent book on the early church fathers and their views on biblical interpretation.
May 6, 2020
I have read this book in the Arabic translation by Dr. Adel Zekry .
The most valuable point in it the evolution of the typology interpretation from the old testament and rabbinic writings to the Church fathers . Also the distinction betweentypology & allegory in old testament interpretation .
The most valuable point in it the evolution of the typology interpretation from the old testament and rabbinic writings to the Church fathers . Also the distinction betweentypology & allegory in old testament interpretation .
September 13, 2019
Typology, yes! Allegory, no! Great treatment of patristic exegesis in dialogue with his own professor, Henri de Lubac (Scripture in Tradition/Exégèse Médiévale)
September 5, 2025
From Shadows To Reality Is an excellent summary of the spiritual interpretation of the church fathers covering Adam and Paradise, Noah and the Flood, The Sacrifice of Isaac, Moses and the Exodus, and the Joshua Cycle. However, I think the book would have benefited from a discussion of general and special revelation as well as more examples and teachings on interpretation from the New Testament.
“As the whole earth, according to the Scriptures, was inundated, it is obvious that it was not to the earth that God speaks, but to the people who obeyed him, for whom he had prepared a harbour of rest {avairavuis) at Jerusalem, as it was shown beforehand by all the figures at the time of the Flood; and I mean here that those who themselves prepared by water, faith and wood, and repented of their sins, will escape the future judgement of God. (Dial. CXXXVIII, 2-3)”. P.91
****
“It is important, however, to note that in the mind of St Justin, as is proved by other passages (Dial. LXXXI,3; cp. Irenaeus, V, 30, 4), the place of rest in Jerusalem indicates the millennium which is to precede the end, when the righteous will enjoy their reward already on earth.” P.95
“As the whole earth, according to the Scriptures, was inundated, it is obvious that it was not to the earth that God speaks, but to the people who obeyed him, for whom he had prepared a harbour of rest {avairavuis) at Jerusalem, as it was shown beforehand by all the figures at the time of the Flood; and I mean here that those who themselves prepared by water, faith and wood, and repented of their sins, will escape the future judgement of God. (Dial. CXXXVIII, 2-3)”. P.91
****
“It is important, however, to note that in the mind of St Justin, as is proved by other passages (Dial. LXXXI,3; cp. Irenaeus, V, 30, 4), the place of rest in Jerusalem indicates the millennium which is to precede the end, when the righteous will enjoy their reward already on earth.” P.95
April 1, 2012
This was a library book that I will (eventually) purchase. Excellent examination of various ancient Christian exegetical traditions and their reception of various biblical texts. The importance of Joshua to the early church, for instance, as a type of Christ, or Noah's ark as a type of the church were eye-opening discussions that built up my spirit. Looking forward to reading more of Danielou.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews