Abstract
Connecting the Church with its Medieval Roots
Ian Christopher Levy, Philip D.W. Krey and Thomas F. Ryan (trans & eds), The Letter to the Romans: The Bible in Medieval Tradition (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2013. $34.00, pp vii + 329. ISBN: 978-0-8028-0976-6).
The Letter to the Romans marks the second installment in The Bible in Medieval Tradition (BMT), a new series devoted to connecting the Church with its exegetical forebears in the medieval period. The Romans volume (like the Galatians one before) is divided into two parts. Part one consists of an introductory essay that surveys pre-reformational Romans interpretation with special attention to developments within the commentary genre. The scope and clarity of this introduction is impressive; one would be hard pressed to find a better concise treatment of the history of patristic and medieval exegesis. The point that stands out as particularly relevant for contemporary readers is the way in which these early Christian scholars presented their works as implicit dialogues with the long line of interpreters which preceded them. This emphasis stands in stark contrast to the method of many modern commentators, who face pressure to engage primarily with current debate partners.
In part two, the editors present new translations of chapters from Romans commentaries penned from the ninth through the fourteenth centuries, many of which had been previously unavailable in English. These include the following authors and works (in order of appearance): Peter Lombard, the anonymous ‘Cambridge Commentary’, William of St. Thierry, Peter Abelard, Peter of John Olivi, Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Lyra and the anonymous Commentator of Mont Saint-Michel. Certain commentators have been given more of a voice than others. In fact, the works of three scholars comprise eleven of the sixteen chapters. Though some might view this as a negative, the editors provide clear and compelling rationale for their choices, and the arrangement successfully meets their broad aim of providing readers with ‘a glimpse of the exegetical catena’ (p. 58) that linked the patristic and reformation periods.
While the volume is generally well conceived, it stands to benefit from a minor change in formatting. It would be helpful if the featured authors and works were introduced immediately before the texts rather than in the introduction, as those less familiar with the medieval period will find themselves constantly flipping back to gain context for studying the chapters. Nonetheless, the present entry and the series to which it contributes promise to be a valuable resource for helping introduce, or reacquaint students, scholars and pastors with the rich exegetical practices and hermeneutical approaches in the medieval tradition.
ERIC LEWELLEN
St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews