Biblical Exegesis and Mystical Theology in the Venerable Bede

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.

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.