What’s the difference between typology and allegory?

A type is a prophetic picture of Christ’s person and work. It is a real person, place, object, event, etc., which God ordained to act as a predictive pattern or resemblance of Christ’s person and work (or of opposition to it). But how does a type differ from allegory or analogy? Here’s a quick primer:

An allegory has three main characteristics:

• It is a story, an object, a person, or an event.
• The story, object, etc., need not be true, real, or factual.
• It has a deeper and different truth than the ordinary reading of the words would suggest.

Example: Allegory is extremely rare in Scripture. However, there are a few isolated examples. In Judges 9:7-21 Jotham used an allegory about trees and bushes to teach his hearers how to view Abimelech’s kingship. The story he told was not true. Trees and bushes did not talk to one another nor bow down to one another. The story was about a much deeper truth than just talking trees. It was about the nature of true kingship. This is a classic allegory.

A type has four main characteristics:

• It is a story, an object, a person, or an event.
• The story, object, etc., is true, real, and factual.
• The same truth is found in both the type and the antitype (the fulfillment of the type).
• The same truth is enlarged, heightened, and clarified in the antitype.

Example: The Passover lamb is a type of Christ. It was real. The truths of substitutionary sacrifice and redemption by blood are found in both the type and the antitype. And, these truths are enlarged, heightened, and clarified in the antitype. The antitype is the God-man – not just a lamb; and He redeems from spiritual and eternal bondage – not just physical and temporary bondage.