| Summary: | This thesis examines the use of Matthew the Evangelist and his Gospel in the writings of Bede (673-735), a theme which is unexplored in Bedan scholarship. An original quantitative methodology is employed to trace Bede’s interest in Matthew’s Gospel across the Bedan corpus. It is argued that Matthew is the most important book of scripture to Bede. This is within the context of Matthean primacy in patristic writings and Insular culture, but this thesis demonstrates that Bede adeptly shaped Matthew and his Gospel to suit his contemporary religious environment. Section one of this study establishes the context for Bede’s understanding of Matthew and his Gospel by assessing evidence of textual representations of Matthew in patristic writings (Chapter 1) and visual representations in Insular illuminated manuscripts (Chapter 2). Chapter 1 identifies that Augustine was the primary influence on Bede’s understanding of Matthew, moving away from scholarly emphasis on Bede’s debt to Gregory the Great.
Section two analyses specific Matthean pericopes, which were identified by the quantitative methodology as significant passages in Bede’s engagement with the Gospel. Chapter 3 identifies the importance of the perfecti to Bede’s understanding of the faithful in his society and, in a departure from scholarly consensus, suggests a benevolence in Bede’s approach to the salvation of ordinary Christians outside of the monastic hierarchy. Chapter 4 highlights that Bede’s understanding of Petrine authority was removed from contemporary ideas of Petrine-derived papal primacy. Chapter 5 analyses the ending of Matthew’s Gospel, which, in its function as a distillation of the whole gospel message, hones the overarching importance of Matthew’s Gospel as a building block of the faith to Bede. The centrality of Matthew to Bede’s overarching spirituality is a novel contribution to Bedan scholarship. Above all, this thesis proposes that Matthew’s conversion from tax collector to disciple is essential context to Bede’s engagement with the Gospel. In light of Bede’s concerns about spiritual degradation in eighth-century Northumbria, Matthew and his Gospel acted as crucial guides for contemporary Christians to progress in the faith. Ultimately, in highlighting Bede’s pastoral application of Matthew, this thesis offers a new reading of Bede.
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