What Is the Difference between Semiotics and Typology?
” This is an excellent question, and goes to the heart of the history of “signs & symbols” as a topic in theology. (Oh Lord, now watch Burgess shift into classroom lecture mode…) A christocentric typological approach to OT exegesis goes way, way back in the Church. Justin Martyr springs to mind as a prime example, and to him this kind of typology is a key aspect of the unity between the old covenant and the new. Even older Christian use of typology can be found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where Christ is the typological fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures. Of course Christ as fulfillment of the scriptures is a common theme throughout the NT and the apostolic church, but in Hebrews the typology angle occupies center stage. The notion of signs also goes way back in the scriptures, with the core notion being an act or a thing, apprehended by the senses (primarily but hardly exclusively by sight), from which a practical conclusion can be drawn regarding the will, or the actions, of G
