Christianity Today 2019 Book Award Winner This introductory guide, written by a leading expert in medieval theology and church history, offers a thorough overview of medieval biblical interpretation. After an opening chapter sketching the necessary background in patristic exegesis (especially the hermeneutical teaching of Augustine), the book progresses through the Middle Ages from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, examining all the major movements, developments, and historical figures of the period. Rich in primary text engagement and comprehensive in scope, it is the only current, compact introduction to the whole range of medieval exegesis.

All participants in late medieval debates recognized Holy Scripture as the principal authority in matters of Catholic doctrine. Popes, theologians, lawyers-all were bound by the divine truth it conveyed. Yet the church possessed no absolute means of determining the final authoritative meaning of the biblical text-hence the range of appeals to antiquity, to the papacy, and to councils, none of which were ultimately conclusive. Authority in the late medieval church was a vexing issue precisely because it was not resolved. Ian Christopher Levy's book focuses on the quest for such authority between 1370 and 1430, from John Wyclif to Thomas Netter, thereby encompassing the struggle over Holy Scripture waged between Wycliffites and Hussites on the one hand, and their British and Continental opponents on the other. Levy demonstrates that the Wycliffite/Hussite "heretics" and their opponents-the theologians William Woodford, Thomas Netter, and Jean Gerson-in fact shared a large and undisputed common ground. They held recognized licenses of expertise, venerated tradition, esteemed the church fathers, and embraced Holy Scripture as the ultimate authority in Christendom. What is more, they utilized similar hermeneutical strategies with regard to authorial intention, the literal sense, and the appeal to the fathers and holy doctors in order to open up the text. Yet it is precisely this commonality, according to Levy, that rendered the situation virtually intractable; he argues that the erroneous assumption persists today that Netter and Gerson spoke for "the church," whereas Wyclif and Hus sought to destroy it. Levy's sophisticated study in historical theology, which reconsiders the paradigm of heresy and orthodoxy, offers a necessary adjustment in our view of church authority at the turn of the fifteenth century.

This is the second volume of The Bible in Medieval Tradition (BMT), a series that aims to reconnect the church with part of its rich history of biblical interpretation. Ian Levy, Philip Krey, and Thomas Ryan's Letter to the Romans presents the history of early and medieval interpretations of Romans and gives substantial translations of select medieval commentaries. Written by eight representative medieval interpreters between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, these commentaries have never been translated into English before. This valuable book will enhance contemporary reading of the Bible even as it lends insight into medieval scholarship. As Levy says, the medieval commentaries exhibit "qualities that many modern commentaries lack: a spiritual depth that reflects their very purpose, namely, to read Holy Scripture within the sacred tradition under the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

Galatians is the inaugural volume in an exciting new commentary series, The Bible in Medieval Tradition, which seeks to reconnect today's Christians with a rich history of biblical interpretation. In this book Ian Christopher Levy has brought together commentaries on Paul's Epistle to the Galatians written by six medieval theologians spanning the ninth to the fourteenth centuries. Levy provides clear, readable translations of these significant texts which have never before been available in English or, in most cases, any modern language. He sets these works in historical and theological context through his in-depth introduction, locating each author within the broad sweep of medieval scholarship. These remarkable Medieval commentaries, written from a deep and pervasive faith, aimed not only to increase knowledge but, more vitally, to enhance and deepen Christian belief and piety an object of everlasting relevance to the Church.

All participants in late medieval debates recognized Holy Scripture as the principal authority in matters of Catholic doctrine. Popes, theologians, lawyers--all were bound by the divine truth it conveyed. Yet the church possessed no absolute means of determining the final authoritative meaning of the biblical text--hence the range of appeals to antiquity, to the papacy, and to councils, none of which were ultimately conclusive. Authority in the late medieval church was a vexing issue precisely because it was not resolved.Ian Christopher Levy's book focuses on the quest for such authority between 1370 and 1430, from John Wyclif to Thomas Netter, thereby encompassing the struggle over Holy Scripture waged between Wycliffites and Hussites on the one hand, and their British and Continental opponents on the other. Levy demonstrates that the Wycliffite/Hussite "heretics" and their opponents--the theologians William Woodford, Thomas Netter, and Jean Gerson--in fact shared a large and undisputed common ground. They held recognized licenses of expertise, venerated tradition, esteemed the church fathers, and embraced Holy Scripture as the ultimate authority in Christendom. What is more, they utilized similar hermeneutical strategies with regard to authorial intention, the literal sense, and the appeal to the fathers and holy doctors in order to open up the text. Yet it is precisely this commonality, according to Levy, that rendered the situation virtually intractable; he argues that the erroneous assumption persists today that Netter and Gerson spoke for "the church," whereas Wyclif and Hus sought to destroy it. Levy's sophisticated study in historical theology, which reconsiders the paradigm of heresy and orthodoxy, offers a necessary adjustment in our view of church authority at the turn of the fifteenth century. "In "Holy Scripture and the Quest for Authority at the End of the Middle Ages," Ian Christopher Levy reveals the crux of a late medieval quandary regarding ecclesial authority. He perceptively shows how theologians and the Catholic Church were mired in a nearly intractable constellation of issues involving scriptural interpretation, appeals to tradition, development of doctrine, the question of concrete, visible instruments of authority, and the role of canon law and university theologians. This highly original contribution treats themes and issues at an immensely complex and important juncture in the development of early modern religious thought and practice, the ramifications of which are still very much with us today." --Boyd Taylor Coolman, Boston College