First published 2002 by Routledge.
Focusing on the famous Medieval commentator Nicolas of Lyra and the anonymous Middle English biblical adaptation of the Gospel of John, the 'Cursor Mundi', this book examines the development of the analytical tools of biblical literary criticism showing how late Medieval commentators negotiated the paradoxical interdependence of the literal and spiritual senses, as transmitted by traditional and inherited vocabularies, through a focus on narrative structure. Mark Hazard combines an enlightening account of the actual practice of professional commentators, the history of Gospel interpretation and cultural history to reveal that remarkable shift in the treatment of the Bible that modern scholars would regard as having laid the groundwork for the historical-critical methods in biblical research. As such this book sheds light not only on the 14th century practice of biblical interpretation, but will also be of value to those currently engaged in reading and writing about the bible.
Author(s): Mark Hazard
Series: Studies in Medieval History and Culture, 12
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: 228
City: London
Acknowledgments
Preface
Note on Abbreviations
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Nicholas of Lyra and the Narrative of John's Gospel
The Gospel's Visionary Basis
The Narrative Quality of the Gospels
John's Visionary Authority
Methods
Gospel Structure and Literal Meaning
Circumstances: the Wedding at Cana
Psychology and the Literal: the Samaritan Woman
Narrative Control and History
The Logic of Narrative Incident: the Woman Taken in Adultery
Miracles and Divine Rhetoric: Lazarus
Structure, History, and the Teaching Purpose of Christ: the Pool at Bethesda
Incarnate Meaning and the Legend of the Cross
The Meaning of Christ's Weakness
Chapter Three: The 'Cursor Mundi', Narrative, and Sacred History
Religious Purpose and Esthetic Pleasure
Narrative and the History of the Universe
Peter Comestor, Eden, and the Tree of Life
The Vision of the Wands
Allegories
The Legend of the Cross
The Infancy Miracles and the Harshness of the Visible Presence
The Ministry of Christ, the Gospel of John, and Herman of Valenciennes
The Passion and Self-Revelation
Judas and the Prophesying Chicken
Chapter Four: The Four Daughters of God, the Last Judgment, and the Scope of the Real
The Last Judgment and Literalism
The Four Daughters of God and Wisdom Literature
The 'Meditationes vitae Christi' and Apocrypha
The English Mystery Cycles and the Gospel of John
The Towneley Last Judgment
The Mixed Mode of 'Piers Plowman'
Notes
Bibliography
Index
