The Liber Regularum, written by Tyconius in the Fourth Century A.D., was the first system of biblical interpretation proposed by a Latin theologian. Augustine was very interested in this work and included an extraordinary summation of it in his De doctrina christiana. Although this treatment insured the preservation of the work and its lasting fame, Augustine's summary became better known than the original. Pamela Bright's The Book of Rules of Tyconius: Its Purpose and Inner Logic reintroduces this neglected classic of early church literature. Bright asserts that although Augustine was greatly influenced by the Liber Regularum, his philosophical differences caused him to misunderstand its meaning. Bright reexamines the meaning of “prophecy” and “rule” from Tyconius's perspective and reveals that the purpose of the book was not to provide a general guide to scriptural interpretation, but rather a way to interpret apocalyptic texts. She cites Tyconius's intense concern with evil in the church as the genesis of his interest in the apocalypse and subsequently the meaning of the scripture concerning it. Tyconius speaks of the “seven mystical rules” of scripture that with the grace of the Holy Spirit reveal the true meaning of prophecy. If an interpreter follows the “logic” of these rules, the nature of the church as composed by both good and evil membership is revealed. Bright argues that Tyconius was not illogical or incompetent in the work's composition as many critics have claimed but rather that he organized his material in a concentric pattern so that Rule Four, the center of the seven rules, is also the central development of his theory. Of interest to theologians, students of biblical interpretation and of Augustine, The Book of Rules of Tyconius focuses attention upon a work that had great influence on the understanding of the nature of the church, on interpreting scripture, and its meaning for the Church of its day.

"In Tyconius' Book of Rules Matthew R. Lynskey explores the church-centric interpretation of ancient biblical exegete Tyconius in his hermeneutical treatise Liber regularum. Influential within his Donatist tradition and the broader context of early North African Christianity, Tyconius wrote one of the earliest works on exegetical theory and praxis in Latin Christianity. By investigating five key concepts undergirding Tyconius's theology of church, Lynskey demonstrates how Tyconius' ecclesiology shaped his hermeneutical enterprise. Through careful readings and close analysis of Liber regularum, this study seeks to describe Tyconius' exegesis on its own terms, reflecting on notable historical, theological, formational, and missiological implications of his ecclesial exegesis as it concerns the ancient and contemporary church"--

This book explores the church-centric interpretation of ancient biblical exegete Tyconius in his hermeneutical treatise Liber regularum, highlighting how his underlying ecclesiology shaped his hermeneutical enterprise

The Exposition of the Apocalypse by Tyconius of Carthage (fl. 380) was pivotal in the history of interpretation of the Book of Revelation. While expositors of the second and third centuries viewed the Apocalypse of John, or Book of Revelation, as mainly about the time of Antichrist and the end of the world, in the late fourth century Tyconius interpreted John’s visions as figurative of the struggles facing the Church throughout the entire period between the Incarnation and the Second Coming of Christ. Tyconius’s “ecclesiastical” reading of the Apocalypse was highly regarded by early medieval commentators like Caesarius of Arles, Primasius of Hadrumetum, Bede, and Beatus of Liebana, who often quoted from Tyconius’s Exposition in their own Apocalypse commentaries. Unfortunately no complete manuscript of the Exposition by Tyconius has survived. A number of recent scholars, however, believed that a large portion of his Exposition could be reconstructed from citations of it in the aforementioned early medieval writers; and this task was undertaken by Monsignor Roger Gryson. Gryson’s edition, a reconstruction of the Expositio Apocalypseos of Tyconius, was published in 2011 in Corpus Christianorum Series Latina. The present translation of that reconstructed text, with introduction and notes, exhibits Tyconius’s unique non-apocalyptic approach to the Book of Revelation. It also shows that throughout the Exposition Tyconius made use of interpretive rules that he had laid out in an earlier work on hermeneutics, the Book of Rules, strongly suggesting that Tyconius wrote his Exposition as a companion to his Book of Rules. Thus, the Exposition served as an exemplar of how those rules would apply to interpretation of even the most intriguing of biblical texts, the Apocalypse.

Tyconius Afer, a Donatist of the latter half of the fourth century, was an influential figure in the struggle between the Donatist and Catholic Churches in Africa and writer of at least two important exegetical works: the Book of Rules, published in 1894 in the third volume Texts and Studies by F. C. Burkitt and the Commentary on the Apocalypse here restored in a critical text by the late Francesco Lo Bue. Tyconius' Commentary is generally thought to survive only in the work of other writers but it is Dr Lo Bue, using critical techniques, who can be said to have restored something like the original text and, what is more, to have proved the ascription to Tyconius beyond reasonable doubt.

Arguing from scripture is one of the ways that Christians test their moral judgments. But are all methods of appealing to the Bible equally valid and effective? In this book Charles Cosgrove looks at the churchs long tradition of moral debate and analyzes five important hermeneutical rules that guide contemporary use of scripture in ethical argument. After introducing the nature of moral arguments generally, Cosgrove devotes one chapter to each of the five rules of biblical interpretation that make ethical appeals to scripture persuasive. He sets forth each rule's rationale, provides examples of its operation, and subjects it to critique. Based not only on the work of biblical scholars and Christian ethicists but also on Cosgrove's own experience with debates in classrooms, churches, and other Christian contexts, this volume is a valuable aid to readers who employ moral reasoning in real-life settings.

In this interesting and insightful work, Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, the leading expert on Andrew of Caesarea and the first to translate his Apocalypse commentary into any modern language, identifies an exact date for the commentary and a probable recipient. Her groundbreaking book, the first ever written about Andrew, analyzes his historical milieu, education, style, methodology, theology, eschatology, and pervasive and lasting influence. She explains the direct correlation between Andrew of Caesarea and fluctuating status of the Book of Revelation in Eastern Christianity through the centuries.

Based on the acclaimed French volume Saint Augustin et la Bible, this translation with additional selections honors the beautifully wrought monument to the scholarly research of Anne-Marie la Bonnardière and her colleagues. Editor Pamela Bright offers the first English-language edition of this volume in the highly regarded series Bible de Tous les Temps, published by Beauchesne Editeur in Paris. This volume presents the findings of eminent scholars on the Bible in Augustine’s letters, in his preaching, in polemics, in the City of God, and as a source for Christian ethics, following the chronological order of Augustine’s works from the mid-380s to just before his death in 430. Part I examines what can be known of the stages of Augustine’s encounter with the biblical texts and which texts were formative for him before he assumed his ministry of the Word. Part II is devoted to a very different kind of encounter—Augustine’s grappling with the hermeneutical method originating in the province of Africa. Part III describes Augustine’s first foray into the field of biblical polemics when he opposes the Manichees, the very group who first introduced him to a study of the “obscurities” of the biblical text. And in Part IV, the reader encounters the most familiar voice of Augustine—that of the tireless preacher of the Word. Contributors include: Anne-Marie la Bonnardière, Mark Vessey, Michael Cameron, Pamela Bright, Robert A. Kugler, Charles Kannengiesser, Roland J. Teske, S.J., Gerald Bonner, Joseph Wolinski, Michel Albaric, O.P., Constance E. McLeese, and Albert Verwilghen.