Typology Principle

Is a method of biblical interpretation whereby an element found in the Old Testament is seen to prefigure one found in the New Testament.  The initial one is called the type and the fulfillment is designated the antitype.  Either type or antitype may be a person, thing, or event, but often the type is messianic and frequently related to the idea of salvation.  Typological interpretation is specifically the interpretation of the Old Testament based on the fundamental theological unity of the two Testaments whereby something in the Old shadows, prefigures, adumbrates something in the New.  Hence, what is interpreted in the Old is not foreign or peculiar or hidden, but arises naturally out of the text due to the relationship of the two Testaments.