Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 26:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Covenants And Typology: An Extended Review Of Mitchell L. Chase, 40 Questions About Typology And Allegory
Author: Brent E. Parker

SBJT 26:1 (Spring 2022) p. 188

Covenants And Typology: An Extended Review Of Mitchell L. Chase, 40 Questions About Typology And Allegory1

Brent E. Parker

Brent E. Parker is the Assistant Editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. He earned his PhD in Systematic Theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He is the co-editor of Covenantal and Dispensational Theologies: Four Views on the Continuity of Scripture (IVP, 2022) and Progressive Covenantalism: Charting a Course Between Dispensational and Covenantal Theologies (B&H, 2016).

The 40 Questions Series list of books, edited by Benjamin Merkle, continues to grow—now past several—with this latest volume by Mitchell Chase. In the introduction, Chase, who is preaching pastor of Kosmosdale Baptist Church and assistant professor of Boyce College and Southern Seminary, lays down his desire for rightly understanding the big story of the Bible and that his work would aid people to be more faithful readers of Scripture. Accordingly, typology and allegory are vital “tools” for reading Scripture (12). Chase is right about the significance of this topic, typology and allegory are important not just for biblical hermeneutics, but rightly understanding typological patterns is crucial for doing biblical theology and formulating theological conclusions properly while understanding allegory is important for rightly interpreting those passages of Scripture that feature that genre. To address the topic of typology and allegory, Chase divides his work into four parts. Part 1 revolves around biblical theology by answering the questions of what story the Bible tells and secondly, how it does so. Parts 2 and 3 on typology

SBJT 26:1 (Spring 2022) p. 189

and allegory, respectively, represent the bulk of the book and each is divided into three parts: understanding the nature of typology/allegory, their place in the history of interpretation, and identifying them in Scripture. Part 4 rounds out the work by answering the fortieth question on why interpreters should care about typology and allegory. For the purposes of this review, I will summarize each part of the book and then make observations and critiques before proceeding to the next part of the book. Naturally, the emphasis will be placed on part 2 (Questioning Typology) and part 3 (Questioning Allegory) since this is the critical material for Chase’s presentation of typology and allegory. Afterwards, I will offer a brief overall assessment.

In part 1, Chase provides a brief overview of the storyline of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible centers on the person of Jesus. In the next question on how the story is t...