The Red Sea Crossing and Christian Baptism: A Study in Typology and Liturgy

The aim of this thesis is to present a case for the importance of typology, both in the relationship between Scripture and sacrament and for the inclusion of the Christian believer into the drama of redemption. I endeavour to demonstrate the theoretical possibility of an account of the operation and efficacy of baptism for which typology is integral. Exploring canonical and historical uses of the biblical narratives of Exodus and the Red Sea crossing, I give examples of the scriptural resources afforded to such an account and of the shapes that it might take. In the opening chapter of the thesis, I build on the methodological foundation of Louis-Marie Chauvet’s account of the symbolic efficacy of the sacraments, developing his position in a direction that places a greater accent upon temporality. Within my second chapter, I present a theological account and defence of typological hermeneutics. In the two chapters that follow, I trace the contours of Exodus and Red Sea crossing typology within the Old and New Testaments. Chapters 5 and 6 advance an integrated account of Scripture, the Church, the sacraments, and the body, drawing together the various threads of my argument to that point. I argue that typology provides a means by which we can mediate between elements of Christian faith and practice that are often disjointed. In Chapter 7, I discuss the use of Red Sea crossing typology within baptismal liturgy and teaching in the first four centuries of the Church. I reflect critically upon the liturgical piety of the fourth and fifth centuries. My final chapter employs the work of Charles Taylor to frame our current crisis of liturgical piety. I conclude that a recovery of typology provides us with invaluable resources with which to address the particular problems that Christian liturgy currently faces.