Bede's aim in De Templo is stated in Chapter I: 'That the building of the tabernacle and the temple signifies one and the same Church of Christ'. For anyone with an interest in mysticism or merely desiring spiritual nourishment, the reading of De Templo should prove a sublime experience and its own reward. This classic in Latin by an English saint is here made available in English for the first time since it was written nearly 1300 years ago.

This volume contains the first English translation of Bede's allegorical commentary on the tabernacle of Moses, which he interpreted as a symbolic figure of the Christian Church. Written in the early 720s at the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, On the Tabernacle (De tabernaculo) was the first Christian literary work devoted entirely to this topic and the first verse-by-verse commentary on the relevant portions of the Book of Exodus. On the Tabernacle was one of Bede's most popular works, appearing in a great many manuscripts from every period of the Middle Ages.