In this volume of the Ancient Christian Texts series, William Weinrich renders a particular service to readers interested in ancient commentary on the Apocalypse by drawing together significant Latin commentaries from Victorinus of Petovium, Caesarius of Arles, Apringius of Beja and Bede the Venerable.

In this volume of the Ancient Christian Texts series, William Weinrich renders a particular service to readers interested in ancient commentary on the Apocalypse by drawing together significant Latin commentaries from Victorinus of Petovium, Caesarius of Arles, Apringius of Beja and Bede the Venerable.

In this volume of the Ancient Christian Texts series, William Weinrich renders a particular service to readers interested in ancient commentary on the Apocalypse. He translates in one volume the only two major commentaries on Revelation to come out of the Greek tradition, the early sixth-century commentaries of Oecumenius and Andrew of Caesarea.

Many commentaries on the Apocalypse were produced in the early Middle Ages. This book provides translations of two Apocalypse commentaries from the seventh and eighth centuries. On the Mysteries of the Apocalypse of John is part of a large one-volume "Reference Bible" composed about 750. Written probably by an Irish teacher residing in northern France, it answers difficulties arising from the biblical text. The Handbook on the Apocalypse of the Apostle John, attributed erroneously to Jerome and written before 767, contains brief moral and allegorical interpretations of particular words and phrases of the Apocalypse. The introduction highlights the unique features of each commentary and the interrelationship of the three texts.

Alcuin of York (735 - 804), was a famous scholar and theologian, who starting at a young age was educated at the cathedral school at York, where he became a monk and teacher, and served as a deacon. He would become the head of the school and even travelled the continent of Europe to acquire books for the great library which the cathedral school of York was widely known for. He would later become an advisor on religious scholarship and education for Charlemagne, and joined the royal court in 781. The commentary on Revelation by Alcuin draws highly upon Ambrose Autpert and the Questions and Answers Manual draws upon the Venerable Bede. Both of these works have been translated into English from the Latin for the first time and made available in this volume. The Latin version of the Questions and Answers Manual is provided in this volume as well.

This is a new critical edition, with translation and commentary, of the Scholia in Apocalypsin, which were falsely attributed to Origen a century ago. They include extensive sections from Didymus the Blind's lost Commentary on the Apocalypse (fourth century) and therefore counter the current belief that Oecumenius' commentary (sixth century) was the most ancient. Professor Tzamalikos argues that their author was in fact Cassian the Sabaite, an erudite monk and abbot at the monastery of Sabas, the Great Laura, in Palestine. He was different from the alleged Latin author John Cassian, placed a century or so before the real Cassian. The Scholia attest to the tension between the imperial Christian orthodoxy of the sixth century and certain monastic circles, who drew freely on Hellenic ideas and on alleged 'heretics'. They show that, during that period, Hellenism was a vigorous force inspiring not only pagan intellectuals, but also influential Christian quarters.