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Christianity in the Early Literature of England

Christianity in the Early Literature of England

The Christian religion had a profound impact on the early literature of England. Generally, Christianity had little hold in Britain before the Fourth Century and Salway argues that toleration of pagan practices lasted for a long time after the initial introduction of Christianity (46-47). However, such toleration was gradually withdrawn despite opposition from the Roman aristocracy who saw the old religion as central to Rome (Salway 47). Therefore, there existed in England, for a time, and literature such as "Beowulf" demonstrates, the co-existence of Christianity and the old pagan Roman religion. Salway notes, however, that starting in the Fourth Century, the hunting of heresy by the State began to add a new dimension to the politics of loyalty (47). Consequently, from the fourth century on, it was generally in an author's best interest to claim allegiance to Christianity.

M.H. Abrams states that the typological mode of interpreting the Bible was inaugurated by St. Paul and developed by the early Church Fathers as a way of reconciling the Jewish history and laws of the Old Testament with the Christian revelation of the New Testament (89). He quotes St. Augustine's expression of the principle: "In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed" (Abrams 89). This means that in typological theory, the key persons, actions, and events narrated in the Old Testament are viewed as "figurae" that are historically real themselves, but also "prefigure" those later person, actions, and events in the New Testament that are similar to them (Abrams 89). The Old Testament figures are called types and their New Testament correlatives are called antitypes (Abrams 89). This paper argues that, for the most part, early Christian literature in England can be interpreted typologically.

"Beowulf" was probably composed in England around...

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Christianity in the Early Literature of England. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:53, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682055.html