University of Notre Dame Press The Saint's Life and the Senses of Scripture - Notre Dame Press

Explore the deep connection between religious biography and biblical interpretation in The Saint's Life and the Senses of Scripture: Hagiography as Exegesis. Published by University of Notre Dame Press, this scholarly work by Ann W. Astell examines how the history of hagiography changes alongside shifts in biblical studies. From the fourth to the fifteenth centuries, Christian hagiography flourished by using the forms of vita and exempla to illuminate the gospel. This book tracks how these stories of saints served as hermeneutical extensions of the Bible. Astell demonstrates the concept that God authors the saint in the same way God authors the divinely inspired scriptures. By looking at ancient, medieval, and modern Lives of the saints, the text provides a clear view of how dual authorship was understood during the medieval period. This is an essential resource for readers interested in the history of Christian thought, the development of religious genres, and the evolution of scriptural study through the centuries.