Christian Latin literature
Christian Latin literature has a long history with its foundations being laid during the 4th and 5th centuries. They included the church fathers Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Ambrose, and the Christian poet, Prudentius.
History
The earliest language of the Christian Church was koine Greek, which was the language of the Eastern Roman empire in the 1st century AD. However, as Christianity spread through other parts of the Roman empire where Latin was used, a growing body of Latin literature was produced.
The earliest Latin Christian writings were translations of portions of the Bible. These have not been preserved, but are cited by Tertullian and Novatian in Rome. A distinction is made between ‘North African’ and ‘European’ translations on the basis of differences which appear in the authors from the respective locales.[1]
Until the end of the 3rd century, the main genre was
For a long time there was an idea of opposition between Christian documents and other Profane (religion) literature and some Christians were encouraged to study the Bible alone and ‘give up the idle talk of the school’. Others, such as Augustine and Ambrose, encouraged the use of non-Biblical literature as a means to understanding God better.[3]
Other forms of literature were blossoming, with the emergence of Commodian, the first Christian poet.[4]
In the Middle Ages, Latin was still the main language for literature in Western Europe. Plays written in Latin were often part of medieval Easter celebrations, and there were other forms of drama in Latin. Latin was also used for religious lyric poetry and epic verse such as
Jesuit poet
Notable writers
- Ambrose (Aurelius Ambrosius), archbishop of Milan and theologian
- Augustine of Hippo, author of Confessions and theology
- Christian Bibleinto Latin
- Coelius Sedulius (c.450)
- Romanos the Melodist (ca. 490 — 556)
- Venantius Fortunatus (530 - 609)
- Jacob Masen, German author of poetry, drama, history, and theology
- Prudentius, poet
- Walafrid Strabo, Frankish writer of poetry, theology, and history
- Tertullian, author of theological works
- John Scotus Eriugena, (c.1485 – 1566)
- Thomas Aquinas, he is known within the scholastic tradition
- Renaissance humanist, and Latin poet dubbed "The Christian Virgil".
- Marco Girolamo Vida (c.1485 - 1566)
- Jesuit priest and Latin playwright
- prosody
- lexicographer, whose devotional works of Christian poetry in Latin have since been translated into English by Louisiana-based American poet David Middleton.
References
- ^ Cambridge University Press, “The beginnings of Latin Christian literature” by Ronald Heine (2008)
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ^ EWTN website (Global Catholic Network
- ^ New Advent website
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- ISBN 9780631236115.
External links
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .