In the historico-critical paradigm typology was defined in terms of prefiguration and identified with corresponding events in `salvation history. ' In contrast, Frances Young identifies typology as a hermeneutic which has its roots in the literary structure of texts. The object of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of typology within the hermeneutics of the early Church and to assess typology's contribution to the formation of Christian identity and culture. The thesis proposes an integrated approach to the study of type, metaphor and symbol across literary and aesthetic genres, and within a limited context, i. e., Christian initiation. The introduction to the thesis surveys typology within the historical and literary paradigms. Section one considers varied uses of typology in the catechetical homilies of the Fathers. Section two looks at typology in the artistic programmes of some early Christian baptisteries. Section three surveys uses of typology in some prayers of early baptismal liturgies. By redefining typology in terms of mimesis, multi-valence and multi-culturalism we are able to demonstrate the way in which early Christians forged imaginative links between their own worshipping community and the world of Scripture, through typology.