Editing Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (section)

== Friday, Sept 13: Typology ==
What do we Christians make of the Old Testament? There are various approaches to it across denominations, but there can be only one basic understanding, which comes from the Lord himself in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?17 Matthew 5:17]:<blockquote>“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."</blockquote>Much to discuss there, especially given the larger context of the verse in the Beatitudes. However we can take directly from it the notion of "typology" -- that the Old Testament "prefigures" Christ who "fulfills" it. 

Saint Augustine has been quoted or paraphrased with the brilliant observation, <blockquote>''The New is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed by the New.'' </blockquote>That is to say, when we read the Old Testament, we are reading a preview of the Gospel, which reveals the true meaning of the Old Testament. Here we run into a huge issue for those who lived through the Old Covenant: what did they really experience? What were they supposed to believe?   

God's "Plan of Salvation" answers this question. He chose Abraham to establish the people by whom that plan would play out. He didn't choose them because they were special; they were special because he chose them. And, of course, like Adam and as Adam's descendants, the screwed it up constantly, all the while revealing through God's agents, the way he wants us to live, and how to get there, which is fully and finally revealed in Christ.  

We will review a few examples of New Testament ("New Covenant") fulfillment, starting, as we touched upon briefly on Sept 6, with Christ as the New Adam.  

Something to consider is why does God need to "reveal" himself at all? Why not just tell it straight? Therein we have the problems of free will, the Fall, the limits of reason, and our inherent concupiscence. When God chose Abraham, he gave him only that information Abraham could process, because God needs not our fullest comprehension but our fullest faith.   

Besides, we're dumb, full of ourselves, and slow to change - - stiff of neck and hard of heart. God reveals out of our necessity not his.