Figural Reading of the Old Testament and Christian Formation

Abstract

Paul's reading of Israel's scriptures in Galatians 4:19-31 is a christologically ruled reading motivated by the theological grammar of the Law and the Prophets. The exegesis of Old Testament scripture is a mode of catechesis and Christian formation for Paul, rather than a preparatory step on the way to formation, along with allegory understood as theological insight (theoria) into the historical deeds (gesta) narrated in Genesis 21 and Isaiah 54. Paul's christological reading of the Law and the Prophets reflects his conviction that the Old Testament does more than point to Christ in an eschatological sense, but also discloses Christ on its own semantic level. The early church did not depart from this conviction once Israel's scriptures were brought into relation with the New Testament, but continued to read the Old Testament as a witness to Christ in its own right, as is evident from the Nicene Creed and Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho. The voice of the Old Testament and its built-in riches arise from its original relationship to Christ and give birth to New Testament surplus and the expansion of God's marriage covenant with Israel to the Gentiles. In this salvation-historical expansion from Israel's election to the adoption of the Gentiles, the Old Testament continues to speak its christological notes alongside the New Testament, rather than behind it, and its role in catechesis remains essential to Christian formation in the church.