Using Shadows to Illustrate the Light of the Gospel
The Use of Shadows to Illustrate the Light of the Gospel
The concept of using shadows to illustrate the light of the Gospel is rooted in biblical imagery and has been developed throughout Christian tradition. The idea is that just as shadows are cast by objects in the presence of light, the Old Testament and its institutions can be seen as shadows or types that point to the reality and light of Christ and the Gospel [2].
In the New Testament, the author of Hebrews explicitly uses the metaphor of shadow to describe the relationship between the Old Testament worship and the reality of Christ. The law is described as having "a shadow of the good things to come" (Hebrews 10:1), indicating that the rituals and institutions of the Old Testament were not the reality itself but rather a foreshadowing of the true substance found in Christ [2].
The early Church Fathers also employed this imagery. For instance, Gregory Thaumaturgus is quoted as saying that "the law is indeed the figure and the shadow of an image, that is, of the Gospel" [4]. This understanding is echoed in the writings of John Calvin, who notes that the Gospel has brought light to those who were previously in darkness, fulfilling the promises made in the Old Testament [5].
The imagery of light and shadow is not limited to the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. It is also used to describe the effect of the Gospel on those who are in spiritual darkness. The Gospel is described as a light that shines in the darkness, guiding those who are lost [1, 3]. This light is not just a metaphor for knowledge or understanding but represents the very presence and salvation of God.
In the Gospel of Luke, Zechariah's prophecy about his son John the Baptist includes the image of light shining in darkness: "to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:79) [1]. This prophecy is fulfilled in Christ, who is the true light that has come into the world.
The use of shadows to illustrate the light of the Gospel also involves the understanding that the Old Testament institutions and rituals were not ends in themselves but were meant to point to a greater reality. Calvin notes that the ceremonies of the Old Testament were abrogated not in effect but in use, as they have been fulfilled in Christ [6]. This understanding is crucial for grasping the continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments.
The contrast between shadow and reality is a recurring theme in Christian theology, highlighting the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old. As Calvin puts it, the Gospel confirms the Law and proves that everything it promised is fulfilled in Christ [7]. This perspective underscores the idea that the shadows of the Old Testament find their substance and fulfillment in the light of the Gospel.
The patristic tradition further develops this idea. Augustine, for example, discusses the concept of shadow in relation to the understanding of Christ's death and resurrection, emphasizing that the events of the Old Testament were types or shadows that prefigured the reality of Christ [9].
The Baptist/Reformed tradition, as represented by John Gill, also engages with this imagery. Gill interprets the spreadings of the clouds in Job 36:29 as a metaphor for God's workings, which can be seen as analogous to the way the Gospel brings light into the world, dispelling the shadows [8].
Sources
- Luke “to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.” -- Luke 1:79”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shadow — Used in Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1 to denote the typical relation of the Jewish to the Christian dispensation.”
- Job “Job 12:22 (BSB) — He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into light.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius, Julius Africanus, Methodius, Arnobius — CHAP. II.--FIGURE, IMAGE, TRUTH: LAW GRACE, GLORY; MAN CREATED IMMORTAL: DEATH BROUGHT IN BY DESTRUCTIVE SIN.: And let these things be said for the sake of example, showing that the Jews have wonderfully fallen from the hope of future good, because they consider things present to be only signs of things already accomplished; whilst they do not perceive that the figures represent images, and images are the representatives of truth. For the law is indeed the figure and the shadow of an image, that is, of the Gosp”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 45: light through the Gospel,” ( 2 Tim. 1:10 ). Paul does not mean by these words that the Fathers were plunged in the darkness of death before the Son of God became incarnate; but he claims for the Gospel the honourable distinction of being a new and extraordinary kind of embassy, by which God fulfilled what he had promised, these promises being realised in the person of the Son. For though believers have at all times experienced the truth of Paul’s declaration, that “all the promises of God in him are yea and amen,” inasmuch as these”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 43: not be, all our lifetime, subject to bondage, having our consciences oppressed with the fear of death. Meanwhile, it must ever remain an indubitable truth, that the Law has lost none of its authority, but must always receive from us the same respect and obedience. 16. The case of ceremonies is different, these having been abrogated not in effect but in use only. Though Christ by his advent put an end to their use, so far is this from derogating from their sacredness, that it rather commends and illustrates it. For as these ceremoni”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 45: the slightest failure. This Paul does when showing that we are freely accepted of God, and accounted righteous by being pardoned, because that obedience of the Law to which the reward is promised is nowhere to be found. Hence he appropriately represents the righteousness of the Law and the Gospel as opposed to each other. But the Gospel has not succeeded the whole Law in such a sense as to introduce a different method of salvation. It rather confirms the Law, and proves that every thing which it promised is fulfilled. What was shad”
- Job (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Job 36:29: Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds,.... Or "of a cloud" (l), a thick cloud, a single one; which sometimes at the beginning is very small, about the size of a man's hand, Kg1 18:44; and which in a little time spreads all over the heavens, and covers them with black clouds and darkness; none can understand, describe, and tell by what means so small a cloud at first appearance is spread to such a prodigious extent; and which is done partly for the use of God himself, to be a pavilion or tent around him, Psa 18:11; and partly for the use of men, either to ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 1: Augustine — Confessions, Letters — CHAP. V. -- 14. Wherefore let us most firmly hold that which faith, resting on authority established beyond all question, maintains: "that Christ died according to the Scriptures," and that "He was bu (part 1): 15. Consider, however, I pray you, whether all that the Apostle Peter says concerning spirits shut up in prison, who were unbelieving in the days of Noah, may not after all have been written without any reference to hell, but rather to those times the typical character of which he has transferred to the present time. For that transaction h”