Kregel Academic has added another wonderful addition to their 40 Questions series. This one is titled 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory, and it is authored by Mitchell Chase and edited by Benjamin Merkle.
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This is an excellent book that is sure to be helpful to the church! Both typology and allegory are often misunderstood, and this will certainly affect the nature of our biblical interpretation. As Christians, we desire to rightly understand and apply God’s Word, and this means that we must be familiar with these two topics of typology and allegory. Too often, these literary devices are either completely ignored or improperly dealt with. Chase’s book seeks to help the reader benefit from these literary devices which are sure to deepen understanding of and appreciation for the Word of God.
The 40 Questions Series
I am a big fan of this 40 questions series! Here are just a few of the reasons why I appreciate the format of this book/series:
- Question and Answer format: This is a proven method for effective teaching.
- Short chapters: If one utilizes this book as a resource, you can easily find your question/answer for a quick study.
- Summaries: In addition to what I just mentioned, each chapter has a summary section at the end. Sometimes I will just read the summary, and if I feel the need for further teaching or elaboration, I’ll dive into the entire chapter.
- Reference: Though I typically enjoy reading books from cover to cover, these types of books are such valuable resources that can be referenced again and again, and as mentioned above, it’s very user-friendly.
I not only love this series by Kregel, but I also greatly enjoyed this particular book by Chase. As I read this book, I couldn’t help but picture the author smiling as he wrote this work. Due to the nature of typology and allegory and how these literary devices can point us to Jesus Christ, you could sense the joy in the writing tone, and that made it a joy to read. Chase did an excellent job defining/articulating both typology and allegory. I feel like I have a much better grasp of both of these devices as a result of reading this book.
I love that Chase placed a section on Church History in both the typology and allegory sections of the book. This was a great aspect of the writing! Perhaps the sections that I will go back to time and time again are the sections on “Identifying Types” and “Identifying Allegories”. This will be especially helpful for pastors and teachers of God’s Word! The author literally works through the whole canon and deals with some of the types and allegories that we find throughout Scripture. Between this section and the one on Church History, I simply cannot commend this book enough to you. I have enjoyed many of the books in this series, but I think that this one is currently my favorite volume. I gladly recommend this book to you!
Tolle lege, take up and read!
Disclaimer: My thanks to Kregel Academic for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book on behalf of an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Other Book Reviews in the “40 Questions” Series:
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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