When I went to seminary, we didn't speak a lot about Typology and Allegory, so what I knew about the topics was mostly self researched and taught. That is until I had the opportunity to read 40 Questions about Typology and Allegory.
I'll be honest, when I first opened the book I didn't have high hopes, I thought great, another text book, that is going to be dry reading. I was pleasantly surprised at what an easy read this book was. However from the moment I read "This book is an invitation to a kind of reading - a kind of seeing. But I must warn you: once you see the beauty of typological and allegorical readings in the Old and New Testaments, you can't unsee it. And you wouldn't want to, even if you could." I was hooked. Just like the book 40 Questions about Heaven and Hell, the book lays out the most common questions people may have about typology and allegory, giving good, solid definitions of both. I read the book in a little over 8 hours, this isn't to say the book is a super easy read, it is that well written and draws you into seeing the scripture for what it is. Chase truly focuses on one thing at a time, and that makes the book seem like a quick and easy read, but hold on to your hats, because he sure does pack a lot of information into those fairly short chapters!
The author states "My aim in this book is to orient Bible readers to the subjects of typology and allegory, that we might be more faithful readers of the Scripture as we behold more fully the glory of its story." I can't help but think that with this book, and the knowledge I now have, that I will be more focused on the larger story of the scripture and not just the topics that appeal to me as a Christian.
The book is broken up into 3 sections, The Bibles Big Story is part one. This covers a very high view of the Bible's story. Part two and three are Questioning Typology and Allegory, respectively. These two seconds are further broken down into three sections, Understand..., Church History..., and Indentifying. Each of these sections further discusses each topic more in depth and allows you to read answers to many common questions and possibly come up with your own not so common questions.
Over all I found this book to be an easy read all Christians, those with Doctorate degrees, all the way to your common church goer looking for a deeper relationship with scripture, no matter your education level or dedication level you will learn something about the deeper meaning behind scripture.
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