IMC 2009: Sessions

The discussion will open with a paper exploring the varied ways in which several late antique authors interpreted Scriptural and apocryphal writings to support concepts of a dual antichrist. In doing so, it will examine the origins of such beliefs, the disparate forms they could take, and the relationships between them and other lines of thinking in eschatological exegesis (Kitchen). The following paper will explore the different emphases that Gregory the Great places on the end of the world across his different works, much of which can be accounted for by genre and audience. It will look at his tendency to combine discussion of the apocalypse with discussion of each individual's mortality, and will discuss his overall message that whilst its date is unknown, the end of the world approaches, although one's own date of death is even more imminent (Kingston). Gregory the Great was a decisive influence upon Bede's eschatological thought, especially in Bede's maturity and old age. The last paper will consider the influence of Gregory upon Bede's eschatological thought, with specific reference to Bede's adaptation of the World-Ages model. The World Ages doctrine, which Bede inherited from St Augustine and Isidore of Seville, features prominently throughout Bede's exegetical works and it provides the theoretical structure for his two World Chronicles. This paper will demonstrate that Bede made subtle, but significant alterations to an established theoretical tradition to incorporate a Gregorian perception of the present age into the World-Ages scheme (Darby).