The Early Church read the Scriptures with the conviction that (in the words of St. Augustine), "The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. "Drawing inspiration from how both the Apostles and Christ himself read the Old Covenant as referring to the New (cf. Luke 24:27, 1 Peter 3:20-21, 1 Corinthians 10:1-5), the Church found the Old Testament to be rich with figures, or "types," that foreshadowed both the mysteries of the life of Christ and the mysteries, or sacraments, of the New Covenant.

And yet, in modern times the study of...