Medieval writers read current events as episodes in God’s plan

Evidence

Bede appends several chapters on the Antichrist and the last judgment, which are meant to dissuade apocalyptic speculation on the part of his readers; nowhere in the events he describes does Bede see the signs of the end. Bede narrates the occasional military and political event succinctly, saving most of his efforts for the recounting of the doings of saints, popes, bishops, missionaries, heresiarchs, and church councils. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 450 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Innocent and his thirteenth-century correligionaries were heirs to the Christian vision of history set forth in the works of Augustine, Isidore, and other authors. Like their predecessors, they used this schema of history to help explain the events of their own day: the Bible and exegesis were the filters through which they could best perceive the world around them, best explain new and unusual events. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1002 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early medieval historians read current events against apocalyptic speculation — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 450; Medieval Christians filtered current events exclusively through biblical exegesis when explaining them — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1002; Creation stories function as prophecy and self-diagnosis of present conditions — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1256

Broader Connections

• Early medieval historians read current events against apocalyptic speculation #responds-to (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 450
• Medieval Christians filtered current events exclusively through biblical exegesis when explaining them #complicates (0.85) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1002