Biblindex

Via Laurence Mellerin on the Hugoye list comes news of the fantastically useful Biblindex, the Index of Biblical Quotations and Allusions in Early Christian Literature. I gasped when I read his message (demonstrating an all too high Patristic Geek Quotient). As described on the site, the index covers:

This site already allows simple interrogation in a corpus of about 400,000 biblical references, from the volumes of Biblia Patristica, CNRS Editions, 1975-2000, and unpublished archives of the Center for Patristics Analysis and Documentation (CADP). The Biblindex project is carried out by the Institute of Christian sources, part of the UMR 5189 HiSoMA (History and Sources of the ancient world) of the CNRS and funded mainly by the Cluster 13 of the Rhone-Alpes Regional Council.

Can be consulted on this website:

– Data of the published volumes of Biblia Patristica, Index des citations et allusions bibliques dans la littérature patristique, Editions du CNRS (ca. 270,000 biblical references, with updates on 5000 references) : 1. Beginnings to Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian, 1975 – 2. The third century (except Origen), 1977 – 3. Origen, 1980 – 4. Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius of Salamis, 1987 – 5. Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, Amphiloque of Iconium, 1991 – 6. Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan, Ambrosiaster, 1995 – 7. Didymus of Alexandria, 2000 – Supplement, Philo of Alexandria, 1982. [The titles marked with a hyperlink can be purchased on the site of CNRS Editions, others are exhausted.]

– Unpublished data from the archives of Biblia Patristica (ca. 100.000 references): these data are unverified (they appear in red)

– Biblical indexes of Bernard of Clairvaux’s thirteen first volumes published in the series Sources Chrétiennes (ca. 13.200 references)

Unfortunately, funding for the project is currently suspended, so that development of the website is in abeyance. The search feature is not intuitive, so read the instructions before attempting to search, otherwise the results are less than ideal.

For anyone familiar with the Biblia Patristica indices, in particular, this is a real source of pleasure. The volumes are very difficult to find. To have the index completely available online, including an additional body of citations, is extremely helpful. This online index will be of great use to those working on Patristic Biblical commentary. Let ‘s all hope the project with soon receive funding again, so that it will continue to be of use to all Patristic scholars and students.