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Jerome: His life, writings, and controversies

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It is difficult to imagine a more challenging task for a church historian to undertake than to write a biography of St. Jerome in only 353 pages. J.N.D. Kelly's biography is magnificent in the amount of material it covers, in very readable style, in so short a length.

The difficulty of the biography is inherent in the diversity of Jerome's life. He spent time living in both the eastern and western empires, and he lived through a remarkable series of transitions in church and empire. He was educated in Rome in the middle of the fourth century. He spent two years with the desert fathers in Syria. He lived in Antioch during the time when the church in Antioch was divided among three factions. Returning to Rome, he became Bible teacher and spiritual advisor to a group of highly educated upper class Roman women. From there, he returned to the east, establishing a new monastery in Bethlehem, where one of the women he knew in Rome (Paula) established a convent. His life spanned a time frame from 331 to 420, ranging from a time of persecution, through controversy over the views of Arians, Origen and Pelagius, and through the siege of Rome in 410. He held opinions about St. Ambrose (whom he hated), St. John Chrysostom (a follower of a different bishop in Antioch and thus an adversary), and St. Augustine (who sought out Jerome through letters, taking great care to avoid offending the temperamental but warm hearted Jerome, and who encountered conflict nonetheless but eventually became a close friend and ally against the Pelagians).

Kelly did an admirable job of assembling information from Jerome's extensive writings and from other historians' earlier work about Jerome. His book is remarkably well written and detailed, and it is nonetheless concise.

However, in the process of covering Jerome's life and thought in so few pages, Kelly necessarily omitted much background material. Some of Jerome's life would seem almost nonsensical without knowing more of the historical context than is given in this biography. For example, Kelly described Jerome as moving into a Syrian desert monastic community with his ever expanding library and a group of copyists. To someone with a familiarity with the Egyptian desert hermits, thinking of them as solitaries who only interacted with each other on Sunday, that might sound preposterous. However, the Syrian monks of the same era were more communal than those in Egypt, meeting together every day for prayer. Kelly did not offer the pages of explanation of the desert fathers and mothers that would have helped to make sense of that.

Similarly, Kelly devoted limited space to background information about the Roman education system. Kelly explained that Jerome would have studied rhetoric, and that he probably learned little Greek and little philosophy while in Rome. Later, Kelly discussed Paula, Marcella, and other upper class Roman ladies who were educated in the Latin and Greek poets and the Bible, and at least some of whom decided to learn Hebrew so that they could chant the Psalms in the original language. A more thorough discussion of the Roman education system of that day would have helped to make more sense of both Jerome's and the women's lives.

Similarly, Kelly provided fairly limited information about monasticism in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and about the siege of Rome in 410.

However, if Kelly had included background material to explain fourth and early fifth century Rome, Antioch, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, desert fathers and mothers, and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, he would have produced a book of at least the length of Peter Brown's biography of St. Augustine or Homes Dudden's 2 volume biography of St. Ambrose. Whether there would have been a market for another such lengthy biography of a fourth century saint is uncertain.

Kelly's work is complete and detailed in covering information unique to Jerome. The absence of background material is not disappointing if it is read together with - or after - other authors who have covered that background. Some of these can be found in Kelly's detailed footnotes. Others include biographies of other fourth century church fathers, including Peter Brown's biography of St. Augustine and Homes Dudden's biography of St. Ambrose. Other helpful sources of background information include recent books about desert monasticism, such as Joseph Patrich, "Sabas, Leader of Palestinian Monasticism: A Comparative Study in Eastern Monasticism, Fourth to Seventh Centuries" (Dumbarton Oaks Studies, No 32, 1995).

It's hard to imagine a more thorough treatment of the events in Jerome's life, and it's quite readable despite the author's overuse of parenthetical phrases. But at times I found myself wishing Kelly had spent less time speculating on details like the exact location of Jerome's monastery in Bethlehem, and more on the historical and religious context. For instance, the theological issues in the controversies that Jerome became embroiled in are hardly discussed at all, as it is the personal elements of the controversy that seem to have interested Kelly most. Also, despite the fact that most of our knowledge of Jerome comes from his own writings, they are never quoted except in brief snippets. Extended quotes would have made the portrait of the man -- one of the most interesting and outspoken characters of late antiquity -- far more vivid. This book should probably be read with a selection of Jerome's letters nearby, perhaps along with a survey of early Christian thought.

The Hendrickson edition, by the way, is a very nice reprint, with a gorgeous cover.

Having known Jerome as famous translator of Bible into Latin, this text intrigued because of subject and author. Neither disappointed.

Jerome is fascinating and complex individual. Into himself, and wanting recognition, as we all do, Jerome realizes success and admiration from some circles, but resistance from others.

His consistent ties to celibacy and monasticism were fascinating as well as his history with Origen.

There is much to explore here in this well written work: the ties with Augustine and Pelagius are fascinating, as well as his commentaries.

The student of early church history will find this intriguing and enlightening work to contemplate and encourage continued ventures into this period of church history.

Kelly is major contributor of our times in this valuable area.

This is a biography on the Church Father, Jerome. I wanted to read about one of my namesakes. Jerome was a great scholar and exegete, as well as a master of Greek and Hebrew. He is, of course, the one who translated the Latin Vulgate from the Hebrew and Greek.

Jerome was also quite prickley. He heaped verbal abuse on his opponents that made me cringe. And his exegesis tended toward plagiarism of Origen and heavy allegory. I don't have any of his commentaries, but since I'm not a big fan of Origen or allegory, I probably wouldn't like them.

Still, it interesting to read about such an important and influential historical figure. If you want to learn about Jerome, I recommend this book.

It is sad to say that there are not very many studies covering the life and works of St Jerome in the English language. However, the author of this work, J.N.D. Kelly, has done much to fill this disappointing void. Jerome: His Life, Writings and Controversies, is a detailed work that shows Kelly's profound knowledge of early church doctrine and polemic. Anyone who possesses this work will have in possession nearly everything significant to the life of St Jerome and also of the Church during the late fourth and early fifth centuries.

Having known Jerome as famous translator of Bible into Latin, this text intrigued because of subject and author. Neither disappointed.

Jerome is fascinating and complex individual. Into himself, and wanting recognition, as we all do, Jerome realizes success and admiration from some circles, but resistance from others.

His consistent ties to celibacy and monasticism were fascinating as well as his history with Origen.

There is much to explore here in this well written work: the ties with Augustine and Pelagius are fascinating, as well as his commentaries.

The student of early church history will find this intriguing and enlightening work to contemplate and encourage continued ventures into this period of church history.

Kelly is major contributor of our times in this valuable area.

Kelly's "Jerome" is a very readable biography written in vivid, contemporary English. The main character with all of his abilities, handicaps, and sexual peccadillos is well illustrated. A worthwhile glimpse of an influential fourth-century theologian and translator.

I purchased this book for my twenty-three year old son for a gift, and he absolutely loved it.