Dear Maddy,
I know that I am biased but I agree with you and Jim Bugslag, and Pat
Sloan and the other list members. There seems to have been a myriad of
meanings used by medieval preachers when discussing saints images. The
example that you raise St Paul and his sword is a case in point. Thanks
to Miriam Gill I have a reference to Mirk's description of St Paul's
sword. In a sermon Mirk describes Paul's sword not as signifying his
martyrdom, rather Paul's sword is an image of Christ's mercy for
sinners as reflected in the act of confession:
All those ... following the example of Paul cut away with the sword of
confession the chains of Deadly sin:
(Rough translation of
Erbe, Theodore. ed., Mirks Festial. A Collection of Homilies.
London: Early English Text Society Extra Series 96, 1905, p. 187.)
Yours,
Carolyn
Dr Carolyn Muessig
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Bristol
Bristol BS8 1TB
UK
phone: +44(0)117-928-8168
fax: +44(0)117-929-7850
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
On Fri, 25 Aug 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
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