Bedan Archetypes of Ethnicity As a Mystical Map of the Human Condition Integrated in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church
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For the Love of Right Angles: Bedan Archetypes of Ethnicity as a Mystical Map of the Human Condition Integrated in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church by Andrew Murray Adkins A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Historical Department of the Toronto School of Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of Saint Michael’s College © Copyright by Andrew Murray Adkins 2014 For the Love of Right Angles: Bedan Archetypes of Ethnicity as a Mystical Map of the Human Condition Integrated in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church Andrew Murray Adkins Doctor of Philosophy in Theology University of St. Michael’s College 2014 Abstract The Venerable Bede (673–735) was an Anglian priest-monk who appreciated the human condition as a multifaceted reality; and it was the fullness of his appropriation of Christianity that enabled him to admire many types of saint and to project salvific harmony upon Britain. Analysis of his corpus suggests that Bede essentialises Britain’s peoples, interpreting their relations as the interplay of archetypes bearing salvific traits. One may link these traits to Bede’s treatment of religious roles through a heuristic whereby inherited Israelite institutions reflect a Christian hermeneutic. In this way, Bede interprets the apostate and the warmongering isolate, the egalitarian prophet, the network about the rightful king and the priestly hierarchy in sacred idiom as anagogical, tropological, historical/literal and allegorical ways of being. Corroborated by his life’s experiences, and by sources of varied provenance from his own library, Bede assigns literal kingship to his own people as Israel de novo; the prophetic role to the tropological Irish abbots; and the priestly teaching office to transnational Rome, which discerns sound dogma through allegory. The British, as his own people’s mortal enemies, become isolated apostates who so thoroughly embody the death-dealing side of anagogy that they serve as a multifaceted foil to all other archetypes. Finally, as the English mature, they take up the salvific functions of the other peoples to attain the fullness of the life-giving side of anagogy. Deeper analysis of Bede’s treatment of ethnicity further suggests that Bede aspired to the salvific harmony within himself also. For, in secular idiom, a corrollary appears between types of brain function and those ii psychical states and social structures that Bede associates with the peoples collaborating to attain sublime knowledge. Such a corollary illustrates the infusing and incarnating nature of holiness that completes the saint, who becomes a concretisation of oneness, catholicity and apostolicity. Interpreted this way, one can discern and describe several profiles of Bede in scholarly literature. As prophetic moral reformer, he is the righteously indignant, imperative Bede. As apocalyptic harbinger of judgement, he is the aptly apprehensive, subjunctive Bede. As kingly minded missionary statesman and advocate for local identity, he is the nobly cheerful, optative Bede. As priestly doctor of the church and as master of the churchly sciences, he is the sensibly sorrowful, indicative Bede. One also discerns, by contrast, a non-activist profile of Bede as a contemplative soul who admires St. Cuthbert of Farne Island. Bede’s admiration of the anchorite appears rooted in the intuited sense that Cuthbert harmonises ethnicities, religious roles and the antimonies of the human condition as a whole person on intimate terms with the transcendent God. Meditating upon the fullness of Cuthbert’s life in God, Bede actualises within himself Irenaeus’ memorable dictum, Gloria enim Dei uiuens homo: uita autem hominis uisio Dei, as Jesus Christ would have it, who asserts, Ego ueni ut uitam habeant et abundantius habeant.* In sum, Bede finds in the interactive demesne of Britain’s peoples a resolution to his own inner yearnings for shalom so that his love of right Angles provides a mystical map of the human condition integrated in the Holy Church, which is also One and Catholic and Apostolic. * See AH 4.20.7/SC 101.2: 648 and John 10:10. In English translation, these lines read: “For the glory of God is living man: and the life of man is the sight of God (incarnate)”; and “I am come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” (Douay-Rheims). iii Ad Murray Adkins patrem familias, regem in proprii domi causa Christo, spe gloriae Ad Janis Adkins matrem meam, prophetissam propriis paruis causa Iesu, pacifico pacificorum Ad Allan and Annette Drinkwalter antiquos amicos cordis aurei qui, si rogem, abradant mihi castorem niccoleo nummo Canadensi iv Acknowledgements Many thanks to the panel of scholars who evaluated my work: to Dr. George Hardin Brown, Professor Emeritus of English at Stanford University, who, well-versed in the field of Bedan studies, has graciously offered his time to serve as external examiner; to Dr. Andy Orchard, Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, doctorem affabilissimum et erudissimum, whose gracious consent as an Aldhelmian scholar to direct a study on Bede, and whose lighthearted and gregarious manner, academic hospitality and ocean of knowledge on matters mediæval are most appreciated; to The Rev. Canon Dr. Alan Hayes, Director of the Toronto School of Theology, and Bishops Frederick and Heber Wilkinson Professor of Church History at Wycliffe College, Toronto, who, also kindly deigning to provide direction to me sicut ferrum ferro acuitur, with academic rigour and in varied venues has bestowed masterful insight on method and presentation; to The Rev. Canon Dr. George Sumner, Principal of Wycliffe College, Toronto, and Helliwell Professor of World Mission, whose interest in comparative worldviews supports the effort to evoke Bede, uirem Christianissimum, in terms proper to his own time and to ours; to The Rev. Canon Prof. David Neelands, Dean of Theology at the University of Trinity College, Toronto, for his advice that I should transform coursework on the motivation of missionaries and converts in Anglo-Saxon England into the present work; and to The Rev. Dr. Glen Taylor, Professor of Scripture and Global Christianity at Wycliffe College, Toronto, for his sunny disposition, and for his personable and prayerful presence as Chair of the proceedings on the afternoon of the 18th of December, 2013. Many thanks to others who assisted invaluably, informally and, in some cases, indirectly: to The Rev. Prof. Bernard Marbell, Principal of Maranatha University College in Accra, Ghana, who first piqued my interest in The Venerable Bede during the years that I worked among his faculty, and who afforded me the occasion to discuss matters cross-cultural at the Akrofi- Christaller Memorial Institute with The Rev. Prof. Kwame Bediako, and his guest, The Rev. Prof. Andrew Walls of New College at the University of Edinburgh; to Prof. Bryan Karney, Associate Dean of Cross-Disciplinary Programs at the University of Toronto, and Chair of the Division of Environmental Engineering and Energy Systems, whose perceptive way of framing problems of worldview has inspired the noetic structure of my work; to Associate Prof. Ken Guenter, whose synthetic reflection on the royal, priestly and prophetic covenants of ancient Israel prompted me early to interpret life as a tapestry; to Associate Professor Thomas Reynolds, who, detecting a decided echo of Dame Mary Douglas in the initial stages of my heuristic, directed me to her Natural Symbols; to Dr. Joseph Bryant, Professor of Historical Sociology at the University of Toronto, who exposed me to various authors and concerns in the pursuit of an interdisciplinary view of the human condition; to Dr. Ann Dooley, Professor of Celtic Studies at the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, whose sweet spirit and scholarship on matters Irish abetted my work so well; to The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Professor of Church History at Wycliffe College, Toronto, who provided feedback in the early stages of my proposal; to Dr. Brian Clarke, who, while Chair of the Historical Department at the Toronto School of Theology, expedited my cause; to The Rev. Prof. T. Allan Smith, CSB, who co-supervised my coursework; to Dr. Thomas Power, who participated in my comprehensive examination; and to Mr. Zachary Guiliano of Cambridge University, doctorem in spe, who graciously sent his master’s thesis on Bede to me. v Many thanks to those who have aided me on the level of the intangible: to the retired Prof. John Bowen of Wycliffe College, Toronto, Brettonem qui euangelizet propter amorem Dei et proximi; to Mr. Gregory Constable, fundatorem collegii regis in India, who inspires others to achieve; to Messrs. Gordon Allen, David Buck, Douglas Buck, David Marshall, Inspector Dr. Donald Taylor, Dr. Nigel Wheeler, and to their wives, whose friendship has shaped me for the good; to The Rev. Ken Thomas and Dr. John Gunson Miller, avuncular figures all-too-kind; to The Rev. Michael Morris, a patient listener concerned about the practical impact of theory; to Reader Colin Justin Grimmond, friend and former secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, whose esteem for the saints is inspiring; to Mr. Rorick Hrothgar, doctorem in spe at Trinity College, Toronto, many times a gracious host; to Chairman Arthur Bousfield of the Canadian Royal Heritage Trust, “Uncle Arthur” for his patient ear; to Director Garry Toffoli of the CRHT, who relates readily on topics relevant to my thesis; to Dr. Paul Benoit, who engages me with a comely combination of critique and kindness; to Dr. Alex Roman and Mr. David Garrett, encouragers; to Mr. Gord Loney of Trinity College, Toronto, a barrel-of-monkeys fun; to Dr. Sean Otto and Messrs. José-Luis Avendano-Manzanares, Steve Hewko, Tony Iranji, Aaron Mix-Ross, Dane Neufeld, David Ney, Jeremiah Overland, Kurt Pfund, Lane Scruggs and Rami Tanous as to Messrs.