Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: An Examination of Three Approaches (Part 3)
The Christotelic Approach
This series of posts comes from a research paper I wrote for a class at Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.
This is the final approach to Christ in the Old Testament that we are examining. If you need to catch up, you can go to the archives and access parts one and two.
The Christotelic Approach
The “Christotelic” approach finds itself holding the tension between the other two. While it treats the Old Testament according to its original context, it also seeks the illumination of Christ from the text. This approach states that “Christ is the goal (the telos) of the Old Testament”[1] and that “a proper understanding of Christ in the Old Testament requires that the Christian interpreter read an Old Testament text twice.”[2]
The first reading would seek to understand the original context along with its practical message for God’s people. The second reading would then seek to understand the text’s messianic vision along with its theological fulfillment in Christ. Tremper Longman III describes it succinctly when he says,
“Christian interpreters should start by reading an Old Testament text in its original setting (first reading)…learning from the rich message of the text…Christians should then read the Old Testament in the light of the fuller revelation of the New Testament, fully expecting to see how the passage or book anticipates the coming of Christ.”[3]
Strength
The strength of this approach is in its ability to unite the other two views. The “First Testament” and “Redemptive-Historical” approaches trade off on strengths and weaknesses. By combining their strengths, the “Christotelic” approach is able to avoid their weaknesses. It states that one can exalt Christ while also maintaining the original Old Testament context. Conversely, one is able to examine the authorial intent of the text without losing its messianic vision.
It is expressed well in Augustine’s well known saying, “The New is hidden in the Old and the Old is revealed in the New.”[4] The fact that the “New is hidden in the Old” shows us that it is indeed there. Christ truly is proclaimed in the Old Testament. However, we need the New to reveal the Old. There are plenty of practical truths to be drawn from the original context of the Old Testament. Throughout all of those practical truths there is a continuously running thematic thread.
That thread is the person and work of Christ. We need both the practical context and the messianic thread if we wish to do justice to the Old Testament message.
Weakness
There is a potential weakness that can be argued against this approach. Though it does unify the strengths of the other two approaches, one may wonder if it leads to a divided hermeneutic. Are we really to interpret Scripture twice, and in two different ways? If that is the case, then why two interpretations? Why can’t we have three or four? It would seem to complicate any understanding of a text if we propose that it can have multiple different meanings.
The argument can be leveled against this approach that it is a case of trying to “have your cake and eat it too.” One could also oppose this approach from a practical standpoint. If the preacher is to have two different readings of the text, does that mean he must preach two different sermons from every Old Testament passage? This may also lead to the faulty understanding that the preacher may choose which “sense” of the text he wants to handle.
Example
We will return to the example of Isaiah 41 in order to see how the “Christotelic” approach might affect the preacher. The preacher with this approach is likely to begin with the original author, context, and audience. Much like those who hold to the “First Testament” approach, he is going to bring out the practical message that was given to the original audience.
He will emphasize God’s promise to be with His chosen people and His reassurance in the face of their fear. However, unlike the “First Testament” approach, he is going to develop the message of the text toward its messianic fulfillment. At some point in the sermon, Matthew 12:17-21 will probably be referenced along with an emphasis that Christ is the fulfillment of the text in Isaiah. Then, after emphasizing both points, he may close by linking them both together. God’s promised presence and comfort to His people is fully realized through Christ with us, and in us. He may say that “My servant…whom I have chosen” (Is. 41:8) is referring to both Christ and God’s people. He can do so because Christ is our representative and we are in Him.
Under this preaching, the congregation will leave with both a greater appreciation for the centrality of Christ in Scripture and practical takeaways for their daily life in light of it.
Next week, I will conclude by giving a brief, personal interaction with each approach and state my own position. Stay Tuned.
[1] Tremper Longman III, “Christotelic Approach,” in Five Views of Christ in the Old Testament: Genre, Authorial Intent, and the Nature of Scripture, ed. Brian J. Tabb, Andrew M. King, and Stanley N. Gundry, Counterpoints: Bible and Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2022), 74.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., 126.
[4] Augustine, Questions on the Heptateuch 2.73, in Writings on the Old Testament, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, trans. Joseph T. Lienhard and Sean Doyle (New York: New City Press, 2016), 125 (Exodus, 73).