Christ Prefigured in the Old Testament
The theme of Christ hidden and prefigured throughout the Old Testament -- in events, types, and prophecies -- who is the soul and purpose of all history, perceived dimly under figures by the prophets and clearly only in the Gospel.
Pope Clement VIII, Jerome's Prefaces, On Worship
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II. JEROME TO PAULINUS.
— Christ was predestined and prefigured in the Law and the Prophets; Abraham saw his day and rejoiced.
"predestined and prefigured in the Law and the Prophets. Whence the Prophets are also called seers, because they saw him whom the rest did not see. Abraham saw his day and rejoiced."
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II. JEROME TO PAULINUS.
— David sounds forth Christ on the lyre and raises up the risen one from the underworld.
"David, our Simonides, our Pindar and Alcaeus, our Horace too, Catullus and Serenus, sounds forth Christ on the lyre, and on the ten-stringed psaltery raises up the risen one from the underworld."
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ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— From the first page of Scripture, under the shades of paradise, the Savior is announced; events are preparation and prefiguration.
"From the very first page, under the stirring shades of the earthly paradise, it announces to us the coming of the Savior of men."
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ON THE WORSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE SCRIPTURES.
— In Moses and the historical books, Christ hides beneath events; in the psalms and prophecies the veil falls and His person takes shape.
"Considered in the books of Moses and the history of the Hebrew people, Jesus Christ hides beneath events; He is their soul and their purpose, but in a hidden manner that appears only through the revelation of times and of facts."
Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses
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Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch
— Christ is called Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, and the Orient -- names signifying what he will be
"Thus in Isaiah 7:14, Christ is called Emmanuel"
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Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch
— The Prophets signify Christ's redemption through paired names of slaughter and salvation
"Moses and the other Prophets are accustomed to signify the redemption of Christ by a twofold name"
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Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch
— The temporal liberations from Egypt and Babylon prefigured Christ's spiritual liberation
"Christ therefore slew nations and men, and raised up others — indeed the very same ones"