Biblical Exegesis and Mystical Theology in the Venerable Bede: (Variorum Collected Studies)

Biblical Exegesis and Mystical Theology in the Venerable Bede brings together 17 essays by Arthur Holder exploring the theology and spirituality found in Bede’s biblical commentaries and homilies. The volume shows that Bede was both a masterful student of received tradition and a creative thinker concerned to address the needs and interests of his audience of Christian pastors and teachers in the eighth-century Northumbrian church. Although Bede is best known as the author of The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the last half-century of scholarship has demonstrated the sophistication and vast influence of his work in the fields of grammar, biblical interpretation, hagiography, poetry, computus, natural science, and theology. The chapters in this volume show how Bede’s exegesis was integrally connected with his work in all those genres and with the monumental artistic productions of his monastery such as the illuminated bible manuscript known as the Codex Amiatinus. The five parts of the book deal with Bede as teacher and biblical scholar, his interpretations of the tabernacle and the temple, his commentary on the Song of Songs, his attitudes toward philosophy and heresy, and his mystical theology. This book will be of interest to students of Christian theology, mysticism, the development of biblical interpretation, and the history of early medieval England.

Table of Contents:
Introduction PART I Bede as Teacher and Biblical Scholar 1 Bede and the Tradition of Patristic Exegesis Anglican Theological Review 72, no. 4 (1990): 399‑411. Reproduced with permission of Sage Publications. 2 (Un)Dating Bede’s De arte metrica In Northumbria’s Golden Age, ed. Jane Hawkes and Susan Mills (Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 1999), 390-5. Reproduced with permission of The History Press. 3 The Feminine Christ in Bede’s Biblical Commentaries In Bède le Vénérable: Entre tradition et postérité, ed. Stéphane Lebecq, Michel Perrin, and Olivier Szerwiniack (Lille: Université Charles-de-Gaulle Lille III, 2005), 109-18. Reproduced with permission of the press. 4 Bede and the New Testament In The Cambridge Companion to Bede, ed. Scott DeGregorio (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 142-55. Reproduced with permission of the press. PART II Bede on the Tabernacle and the Temple 5 New Treasures and Old in Bede’s De tabernaculo and De templo Revue Bénédictine 99, nos. 3-4 (1989): 237‑49. Reproduced with permission of Brepols Publishers NV. 6 Allegory and History in Bede’s Interpretation of Sacred Architecture American Benedictine Review 40, no. 2 (1989): 115‑31. Reproduced with permission. 7 The Venerable Bede on the Mysteries of Our Salvation American Benedictine Review 42, no. 2 (1991): 140-62. Reproduced with permission. 8 Introduction In Bede: On the Tabernacle, Translated Texts for Historians 18 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1994), xiii-xxv. Reproduced with permission of Liverpool University Press through PLSclear. PART III Bede on the Song of Songs 9 The Patristic Sources of Bede’s Commentary on the Song of Songs Studia Patristica 34 (2001): 370-5. Reproduced with permission of Peeters Publishers. 10 The Anti-Pelagian Character of Bede’s Commentary on the Song of Songs In Biblical Studies in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Claudio Leonardi and Giovanni Orlandi (Florence: SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2005), 91-103, © SISMEL – Edizioni del Galuzzo. Reproduced with permission. 11 Christ as Incarnate Wisdom in Bede’s Commentary on the Song of Songs In Innovation and Tradition in the Writings of the Venerable Bede, ed. Scott DeGregorio (Morgantown: University of West Virginia Press, 2006), 169-88. Reprinted with permission of the press. 12 Bede’s Spiritual Teachings Excerpts from The Venerable Bede: On the Song of Songs and Selected Writings, translated, edited, and introduced by Arthur Holder; Preface by Benedicta Ward, Copyright © 2011 by Arthur Holder. Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ. Reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc. www.paulistpress.com. PART IV Bede on Philosophy and Heresy 13 Using Philosophers to Think With: The Venerable Bede on Christian Life and Practice In The Subjective Eye: Essays in Culture, Religion, and Gender in Honor of Margaret R. Miles, ed. Richard Valantasis in collaboration with Deborah J. Haynes, James D. Smith, III, and Janet F. Carlson (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2006), 48-58. Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, www.wipfandstock.com. 14 Hunting Snakes in the Grass: Bede as Heresiologist In Listen, O Isles, Unto Me: Studies in Medieval Word and Image in Honour of Jennifer O’Reilly, ed. Elizabeth Mullins and Diarmuid Scully (Cork: Cork University Press, 2011), 105-14. Reproduced with permission of the press. PART V Bede as Mystical Theologian 15 Bede’s perfecti, the Vision of God, and the Foretaste of Heaven In Cities, Saints and Communities in Early Medieval Europe: Essays in Honour of Alan T. Thacker, ed. Scott DeGregorio and Paul Kershaw (Turnhout: Brepols, 2020), 265-85. Reproduced with permission of the press. 16 Bede and the Spiritual Senses: The Jennifer O’Reilly Memorial Lecture for 2022 (Cambridge, UK: Iona Press, 2023), 1-30. Reproduced with permission of the press. 17 Co-Heirs of Christ’s Glory: Deification in Bede In Bede the Scholar, ed. Máirín MacCarron and Peter Darby (Manchester University Press, 2023), 33-52. Reproduced with permission of the press.

About the Author :
Arthur Holder is Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, where he served as Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs from 2002 until 2016. He has published translations of Bede’s biblical exegesis, including Bede: On the Tabernacle (1994), Bede: A Biblical Miscellany (with W. Trent Foley, 1999), and The Venerable Bede: On the Song of Songs and Selected Writings (2011). He is a past president of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

Review :
‘Over the course of more than forty years Arthur Holder has made his name as one of the leading scholars of the Venerable Bede. His articles have broken new ground and will continue to feature well in any discussion of Bede’s writings. Holder’s publishers have done the scholarly community a great service by making available in one volume this collection of his articles’ - American Benedictine Review (Volume 75, Number 4, December 2024).