Why is the world as it is and what is the meaning of past events? There are many ways of looking at this issue, only one of which is to investigate developmental trends for chains of events and the evolution of society over time. As modern historians it is acutely important to be aware that the past may have been examined by earlier writers for very different purposes and understood in very different ways to those we might expect initially. Early Christians were certainly interested in chronologies and histories, but many writers expressed a diVerent focus of concern by analysing narratives of events and descriptions of scenes and images for their timeless symbolism. The key idea behind this was that holy power transcended human time and that spiritual qualities were of undying potency and relevance.

In the important early Christian tradition of biblical exegesis it was of more significance to answer these questions than it was simply to describe what had happened. Biblical scholars understood that God's creation and its history were littered with His symbols. Time was dominated by the descriptions and predictions of Scripture from Genesis to the Apocalypse. The diagnostic tool for understanding this sacred and profane chronology was allegorical and typological reading, which acted to reveal universal symbols of goodness and evil from within the ancient narratives of Scripture.