Bede and the final analysis - Part I

FRIEDRICH, Caspar David. Drifting Clouds.
c. 1820. Oil on canvas. Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

Professor Schlect comments on Bede's narrative style: "Most of Bede’s writings are commentaries on the Bible, many of which still survive today. We in our day are fascinated with his historical writing and easily forget that he saw himself primarily as a commen- tator on Scripture. In an important respect Bede thought of his Ecclesiastical History as a commentary on Scripture, for in it he narrated how the apostolic message spread after the age of the apostles—a sort of extension of the book of Acts. Therefore we should not be surprised when Bede describes people and events using biblical imagery. For example, when the evangelist Germanus sails the channel from Gaul (the ancient name for France), bringing sound teaching to England, we find him asleep in the ship tossed by stormy seas. After the sailors gave up, Germanus was awakened. He prayed, and the waters calmed (1.17). The story echoes the biblical account of Jesus calming the waters, and Bede writes in a way that underscores the similarities between these events, thereby reminding us that Christ continues to work in His people just as He did when He dwelt among us. Similarly, when Bede writes about King Oswald of Northumbria, he wants to remind us of King David. Thus, by identifying biblical patterns in post-biblical events, Bede’s history is a sort of commentary on Scripture. As a scholar who spent most of his life in a monastery, where the Scriptures were routinely read and chanted several times a day, Bede’s historical outlook was shaped by events recorded in the Bible."

Agenda:

1. Pray
2. Bede Exam - Part I
3. Binder Check
4. Review HW:
1. Be perfect. (Matt. 5:48)