Innovation and Tradition in the Writings of the Venerable Bede

Summary

Works prior to this book focused on Bede as not only a European, but also as an English scholar, historian, scientist, or a biographer of saints, and have used a traditional approach towards his explanation of the Bible. Bede’s interpretation of his work, its continuous progress, and the reasons behind his hurried appointment to an authority almost as high as the Church Fathers are all topics examined within the text. Essays are by Roger Ray, Faith Wallis, Calvin B. Kendall, George Hardin Brown, Scott DeGregorio, Arthur G. Holder, Lawrence T. Martin, Walter Goffart, and Joyce Hill.

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: The New Bede
• Who Did Bede Think He Was?
    Roger Ray
• Bede And The Ordering Of Understanding
    Alan Thacker
• Si naturam quaeras: Reframing Bede’s “Science”
    Faith Wallis
• The Responsibility of Auctoritas: Method and Meaning in Bede’s Commentary on Genesis
    Calvin B. Kendall
• Bede’s Neglected Commentary on Samuel
    George Hardin Brown
• Footsteps of his Own: Bede’s Commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah
    Scott DeGregorio
• Christ as Incarnate Wisdom in Bede’s Commentary on the Song of Songs
    Arthur G. Holder
• Bede’s Originality in his Use of the Book of Wisdomin his Homilies on the Gospels
    Lawrence T. Martin
• Bede’s History in a Harsher Climate
    Walter Goffart
• Carolingian Perspectives on the Authority of Bede
    Joyce Hill
• Bibliography
• Contributors

Author

Scott DeGregorio is Professor of Medieval Renaissance, Classical, and Biblical Literature at the University of Michigan-Deerborn. Besides Innovation and Tradition, he has also been involved with Bede: On Ezra and Nehemiah and Bede, the Monk, as Exegete: Evidence from the Commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah, among others.

Reviews

“Innovation and Tradition in the Writings of the Venerable Bede demonstrates the vitality of current scholarship 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 new essays was a leading light not only of early England, but also of medieval European culture at large.”
Christopher A. Jones, Ohio State University

“This collection of essays (together with an excellent, up-to-date bibliography running to over thirty pages) is testament to the strength and vitality of Bedan studies.”
Deborah McGrady, Speculum