New Essay on Scripture in Fulgentius
An essay entitled “Scripture in Fulgentius of Ruspe” was recently published by DeGuyter as Chapter 15 in the book The Bible in Christian North Africa, Volume 2, edited by Jonathan Yates and Anthony Dupont. For a link to the book, click here.
Fulgentius was a bishop in North Africa in the early sixth century. The chapter first discusses his life and writings, and the latest scholarship on them. Next, I explain the books of Scripture that he regarded as canonical and the Latin version of the Bible that he used. I then treat how Fulgentius understood the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Fulgentius did not write any biblical commentaries, per se, but has many writings on theological topics like the Trinity, Christology, and grace. From these writings, I illustrate his use of Scripture as “testimonia” to both confirm “orthodox” beliefs on these subjects and defend against heresies. Fulgentius’ figurative use of Scripture and his employment of biblical typology is elaborated upon, as well as how he solved biblical difficulties. Finally, I discuss the influence of Augustine upon Fulgentius and where more research is needed in Fulgentian studies.
This is a unique study, in that no scholarship before this has examined his entire corpus to explain his use of Scripture. The volume is rather pricey, so if out of your budget, you may want to type the book in Worldcat, which will show you the libraries nearest you which have it on their shelves.
An Anonymous Irish Gloss on the Apocalypse
Three early medieval commentaries on the Book of Revelation used a “lost” commentary written about 700 AD. My forthcoming book, entitled An Anonymous Irish Gloss on the Apocalypse, reconstructed this lost commentary from those three witnesses and provides the Latin with facing English translation. It also includes a comprehensive introduction that discusses previous scholarship on the lost gloss, the reconstruction process, the gloss’s style, purpose, content, use of Tyconius, Irish features, eschatology, sources, and date. Appendices in the book include an informative essay on other lost Apocalypse commentaries from the second through eighth centuries, an essay discussing what the lost beginning of Tyconius’s Apocalypse commentary contained, an English translation of an early medieval prologue to the Apocalypse by pseudo-Isidore, and a section on the seven seals of the Apocalypse found in an Irish gloss on the Gospel.
An Anonymous Irish Gloss on the Apocalypse has been submitted, revised, and accepted for publication in the Brepols Library of Christian Sources series. It is expected that it will be available sometime in 2024.
Ruined Sinners in a pseudo-Augustine Treatise on Predestination
This essay explores the pseudo-Augustinians treatise On Predestination from the early fifth-century. It may have been written by Prosper of Aquitaine. The essay focuses on what the text says about the effects of sin on the human will. It also contains the first English translation of a significant portion of the text. It will be published as a chapter in a book entitled Ruined Sinners to Reclaim edited by David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson.
Unconditional Election in the Tenth-Century Romans Commentary of Atto of Vercelli
After introducing Atto’s life and writings, this essay analyzes Atto’s exegesis of Romans 9:11-26, explaining his belief that the cause of divine election is God’s decree not foreseen faith, works, or merits. It ends with a translation of that passage from the commentary, along with some selections from the commentaries of Haimo of Auxerre. It will be published as a chapter in a book called Chosen Not for Good in Me edited by David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson.
Two Chapters in the Oxford Handbook to the Pelagian Controversy
I had the privilege of contributing two chapters for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook to the Pelagian Controversy edited by Anthony Dupont, Giulio Malavasi, and Brian Matz. The first chapter is entitled “An Anonymous Treatise on Predestination from a Controversy in the Early-Sixth Century.” It discusses the theology, provenance, and probable date and author of the text On Predestination and Grace, which was published among the works of Augustine and Fulgentius in Patrologia Latina, but belongs to neither author. The second chapter is “Appendix: Four Previously Untranslated Texts from the Pelagian Controversy.” It contains first English translations of the Faith of Rufinus, Testimonies against the Heretic Pelagius, the Manifesto of Aquileia, and Anti-Pelagian Summaries of the Epistles of Saint Paul.
Two Early Medieval Hiberno-Latin Texts on the New Jerusalem: Introduction, Transcription & Translation
This essay introduces and provides translations of two early medieval Hiberno-Latin texts on the New Jerusalem: a fragment of a question-and-answer treatise and a portion of a large homily. The introductions to the texts discuss the manuscripts in which they are found, the editions, contents, sources, and contexts. It will be published in New Jerusalem: Conceptions of the Revelation’s Holy City in Late-Antique Christianity edited by Nathan Betz.