Christian of Stavelot


Christian of Stavelot was a ninth-century Christian monk. He is sometimes referred to as Christian Druthmar or Druthmar of Aquitaine. Christian was a noted grammarian, Biblical commentator, and eschatologist. He was born in Aquitaine, southwestern France, in the early ninth century CE, and became a monk at the Benedictine monastery of Corbie. At some point in the early or mid-ninth century he was sent to the abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy in Liège, to teach Bible to the monks there. It is unknown whether he died at Stavelot, returned to Corbie or was ultimately sent elsewhere.

Career

Christian was called the "Philologist" because of his extensive knowledge of Greek grammar and his ability to comment upon the Gospels in their original Greek. He also likely had some understanding of Hebrew.
Among Christian's works is the commentary Expositio in Matthaeum Evangelistam, in which he discussed the eschatological implications of portions of that Gospel. The traditional date given for the composition of this work is 864; however, some scholars have questioned this and maintained that Christian actually lived decades earlier.
Multiple manuscripts have survived of Christian's commentary on Matthew the Evangelist's gospel, some of which were likely edited by later writers to conform with their own views. Of particular interest to, and considerable debate among, modern scholars is Christian's view of the doctrine of transubstantiation. As Philip Schaff noted:
Christian's writings have also attracted the interest of scholars of Jewish history. A tantalizing reference exists in Christian's work to the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, believed to have occurred in the late eighth or early ninth centuries:
Other works attributed to Christian include Expositio Brevis in Lucam

Works