Upon This Rock (15): Robbing Christ of His Honor (7)
This article examines the theological question of whether Old Testament believers could have acceptably offered sacrifices to God without consciously understanding them as types of Christ's atoning death. Doezema engages with Rev. Ophoff's critique of Fairbairn's view and Calvin's assertion that all Old Testament ceremonies pointed to Christ, addressing the apparent tension between the necessity of Christ-centered faith and the disciples' own lack of messianic understanding. The piece explores the hermeneutical principles governing typology and the relationship between Old Testament types and New Testament fulfillment in Christ.
Previous article in this series: October 15, 2013, p. 39. Rev. Ophoff -- so we noted last time -- took vigorous exception to Fairbairn's view that the expiatory sacrifice "had a meaning of its own" (that is, apart from its significance as a type), which meaning the ancient worshiper could comprehend and therefore, through it, offer acceptable service to God "whether he might perceive or not the further respect it had to a dying Savior." Ophoff insisted that, in order for a sacrifice to be...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org