Preaching and Theology in Anglo-Saxon England: Aelfric and Wulfstan by Milton McC. Gatch

Abstract

R E V I E W S Milton McC. Gatch, Preaching and Theology in Anglo-Saxon England: Aelfric and Wulfstan (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977). 266. $15.00 Professor Gatch has been for some time one of our prominent scholars and writers in the field of Anglo-Saxon studies, particularly in the area of the homily. This book is fundamentally an analysis of certain aspects of the homilies of Aelfric and Wulfstan, coupled with an examination of the manner and use of the homily in Carolingian and Anglo-Saxon times. Let me say at once that this is a most learned book, thoroughly docu­ mented in both primary and secondary sources. The wide range of biblio­ graphical reference and the exhaustive notes supplementing every pronounce­ ment are a measure of the work that went into the making of this book. While it is not a book for the ordinary reader, no person seriously interested in Anglo-Saxon homilies is entitled to proceed without a careful reading of Preaching and Theology in Anglo-Saxon England. One of the most valuable parts of the work is the chapter on the manner of preaching and the construction and use of the homily in the early medieval Church, Professor Gatch is most emphatic in calling into question most of the accepted views about who preached, when, where, and how. His final word is on the excellence of the Anglo-Saxon achievement in this field: It is my hope that this chapter has demonstrated that we ought to speak more carefully and rather differently than has been our custom about the uses for which the Anglo-Saxon homilies were designed and to which they were put. It demonstrates also, I believe, that a very strict analysis of the source materials will increase our respect for the achievements of the English homilists. (P. 58) I must confess, however, that on one or two points of Professor Gatch’s settled views I am uneasy and unconvinced. For one thing, it seems here that everything that refers in any way to the good of the soul and the life here­ after is described as eschatological. One is accustomed to hear a good deal E n g l is h S tu d ies in C anada, vi, i , Spring 1980 about eschatology in connection with Anglo-Saxon homilies and poems, for there are lurid descriptions of the end of the world and the last judgment. But surely not all views on the transitory nature of this world (such as the ubi sunt motir in the Seafarer and the Wanderer) are eschatological (pp. 6263 ). Even Beowulf, with its many reflections on God’s providence, is subject to “perplexing” eschatological allusions: The poet resorts frequently to the reflections that God controls the destiny of all men, whether or not they are Christians, and that, although life in the world is transitory and unpredictable, there is a future and stable existence for those who meet the standards of the Ruler. (P. 63) There is little to be gained by taking this all-encompassing meaning of the term, for it would seem that it would be difficult to find any serious aspect of the Christian life which would not be eschatological, since “ My kingdom is not of this world.” The other point is perhaps more debatable and even personal on my part: Professor Gatch constantly praises Aelfric and Wulfstan at the expense of the “ anonymous” homilists — those, for example, who produced Blickling and Vercelli homilies. These latter works are described as lacking in order and inconsistent, particularly on the question of what happens to the human soul after death, as we wait Judgment Day. We are referred to Gatch’s article on “Eschatology in the Anonymous Old English Homilies,” (Traditio, 21 [1965], 117-65) for confirmation of this view. On p. 147 of this article, for example, he finds contradiction between a statement in Vercelli 1 that after the harrowing of hell, no just man needed to go to hell henceforth (Forster p. 23, lines 9-12) and another in Homily v that those rescued by Christ at the harrowing would have to suffer death again (Forster p. 123, lines 3...