Medieval Christianity: Bede

The closely Bede's career is studied,the more amazing it appears.In him two streams of spiritual influence seemed to meet and blend- the evangelistic passion of the Celtic missionaries,and the disciplined devotion of the Benedictine monks.He was near enough to the original conversion to have personal links with those who had companied with the missionaries from Iona,and to feel the thrill of their triumphant enthusiasm: and yet he was remote enough to have grown up in another atmosphere,and to have been shaped by the system which disallowed and replaced theirs. He was too near not to know their merits; too generous not to recognize them;too religious not to revere their sanctity; too wise not to perceive their defects.So he stood at the point of new departure-a Benedictine monk in the yet living tradition of Celtic piety,an English student in the rich treasury of Celtic learning,a disciple of Rome inspired by the intellectual passion of Ireland.

"In a short span this book contrives to be a masterly introduction to one of the major figures of early English history,in all aspects of his scholarship and personality.Students and general readers will find it invaluable,while professional scholars, not least those interested in Bede the historian,will be very grateful for the survey of his scriptural writings.Sister Benedicta combines good judgement with an almost preternatural sympathy for her subject.Her style is lucid and readable,her choice of quotations inspired."-Prof.Henry Mayr-Harting

From the eight to the fifteenth centuries, Bede's authority as a scriptural exegete was second only to that of the Doctors of the Latin Church. His influence was enormous. Yet modern readers associate this remarkable scholar-monk only with his "History of the English Church and Nation" and ignore the works he saw as his chief accomplishment. His commentary of the Acts of the Apostles, one of his earliest works, was also one of his most popular. It reflects the breadth of Bede's mind and the great diversity of his interests.

Surveying the fragmented and illiterate state of pagan Britain after the Anglo-Saxon conquests,the author traces the steady growth of Christianity and the rise of the various monastic orders that transformed their nation's character.He writes of the influence of such great church figures as Caedmon,Abbess Hilda,Wilfred, Ceolfrith,and many others.Mainly,though,he writes of Bede,conveying not only the importance of the monumental "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum",but the manner of the man himself.Bede was many men:the scholar who never spared himself in the search for the truth; the endearingly humble man whose homely imagery only heightened the sharpness of his insight.Peter Hunter Blair has created a compelling portrait of Bede and the turbulent,seminal time in which he lived and worked.

This book in its original form was an Essay for the degree of Bachelor in Divinity in the University of Cambridge.It was published in 1879 by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, in their series of "The Fathers for English Readers".It has had a steady sale and has been reprinted from time to time.Its main purpose was to deal with the personal and historical parts of Bede's writings.-Rt.Rev.G.F. Browne ,D.D.

One might also ask, how can this monk, writing in an age characterized by a profound belief in God's activity in nature and human affairs, and convinced of his Christian mission to document that divine direction, appeal to the student of today? Ideally, the reader should meet Bede on his own ground and in his own milieu, but for a non-medievalist that is a large order. Still, an examination of Bede's writing, despite its antiquity and antiquated assumptions (especially about the miraculous), soon reveals his enduring, splendid qualities: his candor, clarity, style, control, erudition, and reasonableness. Whether he is creating his own text in prose or verse, or assembling various sources and quotations in a unified commentary, or discoursing on poetry and metrics, on chronology and calculation, on scripture or history, Bede works with a sure artistic hand. Guided by a profound and humble commitment to truth tempered by a wise discretion, he makes it all his own.

The figure of Bede dominates the intellectual history of the early medieval West, and it is to him, his works, and the world in which he lived that these papers are devoted. The first Jarrow lecture was in 1958, on the 1273rd anniversary of the dedication of St Paul's Church. Since then these annual lectures have come to make a fundamental contribution to our understanding of Bede and his place in the history of Anglo-Saxon England and medieval Christianity.

"Innovation and Tradition in the writings of the venerable Bede" provides a well-balanced and concise overview of interpretative issues that have moved to the fore in Bedan studies sonce Gerald Bonner's "Famulus Christi" (1976): How did Bede understand his own activity? What continuities or changes of perspective mark the course of his career? Why and how did his writings so quickly attain the status reserved for texts of the exalted "Church fathers"?DeGregorio's collection demonstrates the vitality of current scholarship on these questions and testifies to a remarkable unity-in-diversity of critical perspectives on Bede the exegete,"scientist",social reformer and pedagogue as well as historian.The Bede who emerges from these essays was a leading light not only of early England but of medieval European culture a large.- Christopher A. Jones,Ohio State University

The volume follows upon an earlier study of Gregory the Great,and focuses largely on the same issues,including Bede's understanding of the natural realm and the order it possesses,his view of the purpose of miracles both in the New Testament and in his view of the purpose of miracles both in the New Testament and in his own times,the degree of scepticism or credulity with which he viewed modern wonders,and the truth value that he attached to the miracle stories he judged worthy of narrating.-William D.Mcready.