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The Idea of Evangelisation

‘Mission’, Theology and Scripture from the Early Church to the Age of Bede

Samuel Cardwell (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

280 Seiten

2026
The British Academy (Verlag)
978-1-80596-578-7 (ISBN)

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The evangelisation of the peoples of western Europe to Christianity was arguably the single most important historical development of the early Middle Ages, shaping not only the beliefs and religious practices but also the social, political, cultural and intellectual landscape of the last 1,500 years. Although much has been written on the conversion period, little has been done to understand the development of the Christian impulse to spread the Gospel ‘to the ends of the earth’. When and why did Christians develop the idea of the evangelisation of all peoples? When and why did they begin to express this idea by deliberately setting out to evangelise pagan peoples? How did the conception or expression of the idea of evangelisation change over time? How did authors interpret key scriptural texts to justify or explain their views on evangelisation? This book offers the first book-length, diachronic study of these questions. Through contextualised close readings of authors writing mostly in Latin between the fourth and the eighth centuries (including Augustine, Patrick, Gregory and Bede), it argues for a gradual but fundamental transformation in Christian thinking about evangelisation. This in turn provides new insights into the origins of Christian mission.

Samuel Cardwell is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Nottingham, where he is working on the history of biblical interpretation in the early medieval kingdom of Northumbria. He received his PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto in 2023 and was awarded the Governor-General’s Gold Academic Medal. He holds an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic as well as undergraduate degrees from Monash University and the University of Melbourne.

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Is ‘Mission’ the Right Word?

Defining Evangelisation

Historiography and Methodology

Chapter Outline and Scope

From the Early Church to Augustine The Pre-Constantinian Church Tempora Christiana ‘Missionaries without a Mission’ Augustine Conclusion

Prosper, Palladius and Patrick Prosper, Leo and Palladius Patrick Patrick, Scripture and Evangelisation Patrick, Paul and Apostleship Conclusion

Gregory and his Successors Gregory the Great Gregory’s Idea of Evangelisation England and the Seventh-Century Papacy Conclusion

The Peregrini, Irish and Frankish Columba, Aidan and Fursa Columbanus and his Successors Conclusion

How the English Interpreted Their Own Evangelisation Gregory ‘our Apostle’ The Sin of Failing to Evangelise Evangelisation and Exegesis in Bede’s Commentaries on Acts The Work of the Word Conclusion

Conclusion

Bibliography Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	28.5.2026
Reihe/Serie	British Academy Monographs
Zusatzinfo	1 Maps
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Mittelalter
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Kirchengeschichte
ISBN-10	1-80596-578-6 / 1805965786
ISBN-13	978-1-80596-578-7 / 9781805965787
Zustand	Neuware