Scattered Bones and Miracles – The Cult of Saints, the Resurrection of the Body and Eschatological Thought in the Works of Gregory of Tours

Abstract

Gregory of Tours ’ position on the time remaining until the Last Judgment has been interpreted in very different ways among recent scholarship. These contradictory readings are due to an apparent contrast between the bishop ’ s calculations of the number of years since Creation, and the gloomy tone of the tenth book of his Histories . While the numbers seem to express that there was still time, the last book of the Histories is full of prodigia pointing to the Apocalypse. Numbers and signs notwithstanding, it is the underlying concept of the cult of saints in his works that offers an intriguing insight into Gregory ’ s eschatological thinking. To him, the cult of the saints and their relics served as a preview of the Last Things and made tangible fundamental Christian doc-trines such as the afterlife of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and the Last Judgment. By bringing the Last Things into the here and now, the cult of the saints reminded believers of the imminence of the end. ideas afterlife, resurrection saints ’ inconsistent thoughts eschatological