Rigney Prospectus
Joe Rigney
Prospectus
My paper will explore two interrelated issues: the formation of the English people in and through the writings of Bede and the identification of Christendom as a historical phenomenon. Specifically, I will argue that, for Bede, the English are a geographically-defined, ethno-linguistic people group. English identity is not political (though it contains bodies politic) or ecclesiastical, but cultural and ecclesial. Bede seeks to narrate the baptism of the English nation and its entrance into a broader Christendom that is centered on sacred texts (including the Scriptures, the writings of the fathers, and the lives of the saints), united by a shared imagination and ecclesial culture (including common liturgy and music), marked out by the presence of God’s power through saints and their relics, and identified by the conversion of rulers, who kiss the Son and bring their glory into the New Jerusalem. In my conclusion, I will argue that this conception of Christendom is biblically faithful and suited to historical inquiry. Such a Christendom is divisible into various levels of Micro-Christendoms (such as the Celtic Mediterranean and, beneath that, the English people). Christendom is not co-extensive with the kingdom of God, but is a central public, historical, cultural, and political manifestation of the kingdom.
Chris Schlect
Viable paper here; this is a sound prospectus. Your claim is clearly stated, meaningful, and something that can be proven within the constraints of the assignment. But watch out for run-on sentences!
CRS