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 EXEGESIS

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EXEGESIS

adherents of the Greek Schism, but their exegetical works deser\'e attention. — The above-named compila- tions are technical!}' called catenae. They furnish con- tinuous exi^lanations of various books of Scripture in such a way that they give after each text the various patristic explanations either in full or by way of a s>'nopsis, usually adding the name of the particular Father whose opinion they transcribed. Several of these catena- have been printed, such as Nicephorus, on the Octateuch (Leipzig, 1772); B. C'orderius, on the Pss. (Antwerp, 1643-1646) ; A. Schottius, on Prov. (Lvons. 1633); Angelo Mai, on Dan. (Rome, 1831); Cramer, on the Xew Testament (Oxford, 163S-1640).

(b) The Latin Writers. — The Latin ^Titers of this epoch may be divitled into two classes: the pre- Scholastic and the Scholastic. The two are not of equal importance, but they are too different to be treated under the same heading.

(a) The Pre-Scholastic Period. — Among the many writers of this age who were instrumental in spreading the Biblical expositions of the Fathers, the following are deserving of notice: St. Isidore of Seville (d. 636), the Venerable Bede (d. 735), Alcuin (d. S04), HajTno of Halberstadt (d. 855). Rhabanus Maurus (d. 856), Walafrid Strabo (d. 849), who compiled the glossa ordinaria, Anselm of Laon (d. 1117), author of the glossa interlinearis, Rupert of Deutz (d. 1135), Hugh of St. Victor (d. 1141), Peter Abelard (d. 1142), and St. Bernard (d. 1153). The particular writings of each of these great men will be found under their respective names.

(/3) The Scholastics. — Without drawing a mathe- matical line of distinction between the writers of this period, we may say that the works which appeared in its beginning are remarkable for their logical and theo- logical explanations; the subseq\ient works showed more philological erudition; and the final ones began to offer material for textual criticism. The first of these groups of wTitings coincides with the so-called golden age of scholastic theology which prevailed about the tliirteenth century. Its principal represen- tatives are so well known that we need only mention their names. Peter Lombard rightly heads the Ust (d. 1164), for he appears to be the fu'st who full}' intro- duced into his exegetical work the scholastic divisions, distinctions, definitions, and method of argimienta- tion. Xext follow Card. Stephen Langton (d. 122S), author of the chapter-divisions as they exist to-day in our Bibles; Card. Hugh of Saint-Cher (d. 1260), au- thor of the so-called "Dominican Correctory", and of the first Biblical concordance; Blessed Albertus Mag- nus (d. 12S0); St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274); St. Bonaventure (d. 1274); Raimondo Martini (d. 1290), who -nTOte the polemical work known as " Pugio Fidei" against the Moors and Jews; a number of other names might be added, but they are of less importance. — In 1311 Pope Clement V ordained, in the Coimcil of Vi- enne, that chairs of the Oriental languages were to be erecte<l in the principal universities, so that the Jews and Mohammedans might be refuted from their own sources. The philological results of this enactment may be seen in the celebrated "Postilla" of Nicholas of L}Ta (d. 1340), a work which received notable addi- tions by Paul of Burgos (d. 1435). Alphonsus Tosta- tus, called also Abulensis (d. 1455), and Denys the Carthusian (d. 1471), returned to the more scholastic method of interpretation; Laurent itis Valla (d. 1457) applied the results of his Greek .studies to the explana- tion of the Xew Testament, though he is unduly op- posed to the Latin Vulgate. — Not to insist on the less illustrious exegetcs of this period, we may pass on to those who applied to Scripture not merely their philo- logical erudition, but also their aciunen for textual criticism in its incipient .state. .\ag. Justiniani edited an Octapla of the Psalter ((ienoa, 1516); Card, Xiin- enez finished his Complutensian Polyglot (1517); Erasmus published the first edition of his Greek New

Testament (1517); Card. Cajetan (d. 1535) attempted an explanation of the Scriptures according to the origi- nal texts; Santes Pagninus (d. 1541) translated the Old and the New Testament anew from their original texts; a number of other scholars worked in the same field, publishing either new translations, or scholia, or again commentaries in wlrich new light was shed on one or more books of the Sacred Scriptures.

(iti) Third Period of Exegesis. — A few decades be- fore the Council of Trent, Protestantism began to make its inroads into various parts of the Church, and its results were felt not merely in the field of dogmatic theolog}', but also in Biblical literature. We shall, therefore, have to distinguish after this bet ween Catho- lic and Protestant exegetes.

(a) Catholic Exegetes. — Catholic exegesis subse- quent to the Council of Trent may be divided into three stages: the first may be regarded as the terminus of the Scholastic period; the second forms the transi- tion from the old to the new exegesis; and the third comprises the exegetical work of recent times. The first stage begins about the time of the Council of Trent, and ends about 1660; the second reaches to the beginning of the nineteenth century; and the third deals with our own times.

(a) The Golden Age of Catholic Exegesis, 1546- 1660. — We have spoken above of the golden age of Christian exegesis, as distinct from the exegesis of the Jews; the following period is by some ^Titers called the golden age of Catholic exegesis, as distinct from the Biblical work done by Protestants. During this period more than 350 Catholic wTiters were engaged in Biblical study; we can only classify the work done, and indicate some of the princiiial writers engaged in it. The revised Clementine edition of the Vulgate ap- peared in 1592; the Antwerp Polyglot, in the years 1569-1572; the Paris Polyglot, in the years 1629- 1645. — The introductor}' questions were treated by Sixtus Senensis (d. 1569), Christ. Adrichomius (d. 15S5), Flaminius X'obilius (d. 1590). Ben. Arias Mon- tanus (d. 1598), Petrus Morinus (d. 1608), Lucas Bru- gensis (d. 1619), de Tena (d. 1622), Joannes Morinus (d. 1659), and Franc. Quaresmius (d. 1660). — All or most of the books of Scripture were interpreted bv Sa (d. 1596), Mariana (d. 1624), Tirinus (d. 1636), a"La- pide (d. 1637), Gordon (d. 1641), Menochius (d. 1655), de la Haye (1661). — Select books of both the Old and the X'ew Testament were commented upon by Jan- senius Gandavensis (d. 1575), Maldonatus (d. 1583), Ribera (d. 1591), Serarius (d. 1609), and Lorinus (d. 1634).— Certain books of the Old Testament were explained by Andreas Masius (d. 1573), Forerius (d. 1581), Pradus (d. 1595), Villalpandus (d. 160S), Gene- brardus (d. 1597), Agellius (d. 1608), Pererius (d. 1610), Card. Bellarmine (d. 1621), Sanctius (d. 1628), Malvenda (d. 1628), de Pineda (d. 1637), Bonfrerius (d. 1642), de Muis (d. 1644), Ghislerius (d. 1646), de Salazar (d. 1646), and Corderius (d. 1655). — Finally, all or part of the books of the New Testament found interpreter in Salmeron (d. 1585), Card. Toletus (d. 1596), Estius (d. 1613), de Alcasar (d. 1613), and Ben. Justiniani (d. 1622). It must be noted here that sev- eral of the foregoing writers admit a multiple literal sense; hence they represent various explanations of the same words as equally true.

O) The Transition Period, 1660-1800.— During this period, historical studies were more cultivated than scholastic. It is here that we meet with the father of the historical and critical introduction, Richard Simon (d. 1712). Frassen (d. 1711) adopts more of the scholastic method, but there is a return to the historical in the case of Bern. Lamv (d. 1715), Daniel Huet (d. 1721), and Nat. Alexander (d. 1722). The bil)liography of exegesis was treated by Barto- locci (d. 1687), Imbonatus (d. 1694), Dupin (d. 1719), Lelong (d. 1721), and Desmolets (d. 1760). Old doc- uments belonging to Scriptural studies were edited by