Resurrection of the Body: Eleventh–Century Evidence from the Sermons of Ademar of Chabannes

Abstract

The matter of the resurrection of the body was an issue of central concern to medieval Christians, as Carolyn Bynum and others have shown. Most scholars, however, have neglected to consider attitudes around the year 1000. The sermons of Ademar of Chabannes (989–1034) provide insight into early eleventh–century beliefs, and therefore this paper examines his understanding of the resurrected body. Ademar was drawn to the matter of the resurrection for several reasons, including a sense that he was living in the last days and his failure in the debate over the apostolicity of Saint Martial. His understanding of the nature of the resurrected body was also shaped by traditional church teaching, especially the Apostles’ Creed, which he defended in sermons against his perception of the denial of the material world by the “Manichaeans” of Aquitaine. Ademar also used the cult of the saints to demonstrate the reality of the physical resurrection of the body.