What do you think?
Rate this book
Figured Out: Typology and Providence in Christian Scripture
All of our attempts to find the historical backgrounds to texts have led us to believe that we have "figured out" the Bible. Steering a course between modernity's obsession with historical readings and fundamentalism's compulsion for ahistorical readings, Christopher Seitz recovers a figural/typological approach to both the Old and New Testament that shapes a theological understanding of Scripture. Figured Out examines the loss of figural assumptions and models another way forward.
- GenresTheology
228 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Christopher R. Seitz
38 books13 followersChristopher R. Seitz (PhD, Yale University) is senior research professor of biblical interpretation at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario. He previously taught at the University of St. Andrews and Yale University. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including The Character of Christian Scripture, Prophecy and Hermeneutics, The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets, and commentaries on Isaiah 1-39 and 40-66. Seitz is also an ordained Episcopal priest.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 6, 2012
This is a book about typology and providence, but not only about those things. It is about how typology and providence in the Scriptures unite the Two Testaments of the Bible and still have relevance for the Church today.
The book is a collection of essays that Christopher Seitz had written, with essays arranged into two major sections. The first section is titled "Christian Scripture, Figured Out," and contains two essays dealing with how to navigate the theological crisis a two-testament Bible has had in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is followed by three essays dealing with how Anglicanism has handled these topics in recent publications. Seitz is an active theologian in the Anglican church, and I am not an Anglican myself, and really did not gain too much from these three essays, but I can at least appreciate the fact that Seitz is concerned about the theological direction his denomination is taking.
The second section is titled, "Two Testaments, One Scripture, One God," and deals far more with biblical material (six essays) than Anglicanism (one essay). Essays focus on the book of John and the picture of Jesus in the Gospels; Jesus and the book of Isaiah; the Rule of Faith and interpretation of the Old Testament; the name of YHWH in the Old and New Testaments; Christian Scripture and Mission; and Prayer in the Old Testament.
This book certainly isn't your go-to book on the basic definitions of "typology," or "figuration," or "providence," but it is a book that makes you think about some of the more difficult areas of biblical interpretation once you have read something about those basic concepts. Seitz' style of writing is fairly dense, but packed with important insights. It is probably not the book for the beginner, but if you want a book that isn't afraid to think critically about trouble spots in Christian interpretation, then this is your book.
Most of this review has to be credited to "Andy" from "Toronto" and was found at Christianbook.com
The book is a collection of essays that Christopher Seitz had written, with essays arranged into two major sections. The first section is titled "Christian Scripture, Figured Out," and contains two essays dealing with how to navigate the theological crisis a two-testament Bible has had in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is followed by three essays dealing with how Anglicanism has handled these topics in recent publications. Seitz is an active theologian in the Anglican church, and I am not an Anglican myself, and really did not gain too much from these three essays, but I can at least appreciate the fact that Seitz is concerned about the theological direction his denomination is taking.
The second section is titled, "Two Testaments, One Scripture, One God," and deals far more with biblical material (six essays) than Anglicanism (one essay). Essays focus on the book of John and the picture of Jesus in the Gospels; Jesus and the book of Isaiah; the Rule of Faith and interpretation of the Old Testament; the name of YHWH in the Old and New Testaments; Christian Scripture and Mission; and Prayer in the Old Testament.
This book certainly isn't your go-to book on the basic definitions of "typology," or "figuration," or "providence," but it is a book that makes you think about some of the more difficult areas of biblical interpretation once you have read something about those basic concepts. Seitz' style of writing is fairly dense, but packed with important insights. It is probably not the book for the beginner, but if you want a book that isn't afraid to think critically about trouble spots in Christian interpretation, then this is your book.
Most of this review has to be credited to "Andy" from "Toronto" and was found at Christianbook.com
Displaying 1 of 1 review