Probably some allegoric, or more strictly 'tropological,' instruction may be drawn from the story. In Bel we are taught to fight against crafty deception however generally believed in; in the Dragon, against fierce, repulsive, and terrifying adversaries. This kind of interpretation is sometimes strained however, as when in Neale's edition of the Moral Concordances of St. Antony of Padua (p. 125, n.d.), v. 27 is given as applicable to St. Bartholomew.
An unexpectedly adverse opinion on the use of Bel and the Dragon as a lesson (Nov. 23, matins, old Lectionary) is expressed by J.H. Blunt in his Directorium Pastorale (1864, p. 59): "I confess I can see no good which can arise from the public reading to a congregation, composed principally perhaps of young persons, of such lessons as Bel and the Dragon, or Lev. xviii., Deut. xxii., xxv." Then he adds the following curious note: "It is a fact that a man was once sent into a fit of loud and uncontrollable laughter, although he was honestly preparing for holy orders, by hearing this lesson (Bel and the Dragon) read for the first time in the chapel of a Theological College." One cannot help thinking that this gentleman must have had an abnormally developed sense of humour under exceptionally bad control.
John Wesley exhibits in his Journal (July 5th, 1773) an equally low opinion of the story, though free from ill-timed mirth: "St. Patrick converting 30,000 at one sermon I rank with the History of Bel and the Dragon" (Quoted in Church Quarterly Review, Jan. 1902, p. 323).
These opinions seem too contemptuous and inimical to a narrative which yields many valuable lessons. Indeed it may be said of this, as in the Bishops' reply at the Savoy Conference to the Puritan objection to reading the Apocryphal lessons in general: "It is heartily to be wished that sermons were as good" (Procter-Frere, Hist. of P.B. 1902, p. 174).
Index I.
Proper Names.
- Addison, [63], [64]
- Africanus, J., [49], [71], [119], [132], [144], [145], [152], [157], [222], [236]
- Alexander, Abp., [125]
- Altdorfer, [172]
- Ambrose, [79], [167], [238]
- Antony of Padua, [66], [176], [247]
- Apollinarius, [118], [186]
- Aquila, [34], [49]
- Arnald, [104], [105], [243], [246]
- Adrian, [225]
- Athanasius, [9], [78], [107], [160], [166], [168], [186], [237]
- Athanasius, pseudo-, [232]
- Augustine, [167], [232]
- Ball, C.J., [21], [41], [50], [52], [53], [67], [84], [110], [175], [186], [212], [217]
- Barclay, P., [94]
- Bardenhewer, [159], [164]
- Barnes, A., [12], [37], [67], [223]
- Barry, Bp., [85]
- Bassus, [158]
- Bayer, F.P., [68]
- Behrmann, [112]
- Bengel, [75]
- Bevan, Prof., [28], [34], [110]
- Bissell, [21], [22], [45], [50], [71], [103], [126], [127], [131], [153], [157], [186], [191], [192], [225]
- Blackie, J.S., [94]
- Blakesley, Dean, [212]
- Bleek, [10], [73]
- Blunt, J.H., [26], [68], [186], [224], [226], [246], [247]
- Blunt, J.J., [115], [144]
- Boys, Dean, [93]
- Breshith Rabba, [12], [185], [229], [230]
- Brightman, Canon, [89]
- Brown, Sir Thos., [214]
- Brüll, [127]
- Bugati, [22], [106], [128], [132], [154], [184], [186], [216]
- Buhl, [71]
- Bullock, W.T., [61]
- Bunsen, [150]
- Burbidge, [90]
- Burgon, Dean, [241]
- Bury St. Edmunds, [82]
- Cæsarius of Aries, [86]
- Calvin, [10]
- Cambridge, Trinity College Chapel, [82]
- Cappellus, Ludovione, [118]
- Carr, [71]
- Carracci, [172]
- Castillo, de, [151]
- Ceriani, [22]
- Chaplin, Child, [33], [94]
- Charles, [42]
- Chigi, Cardinal, [126]
- Chrysostom, [79], [167], [238]
- Churton, [18], [19], [104], [148], [210]
- Clement of Alexandria, [7], [77], [161], [164], [233]
- Cloquet, [67], [233]
- Cockerell, [240]
- Congreve, [247]
- Cope, L.C., [210]
- Cornelius à Lapide, [10], [42], [62], [69], [161]
- Cornely, [23]
- Cornish, H.P., [92]
- Correggio, [172]
- Coypel, [172]
- Curteis, G.H., [188]
- Curtis, E.L., [108]
- Curtius, Quintus, [146]
- Cyprian, [78], [165], [231], [237]
- Cyprian, pseudo-, [237]
- Cyril of Alexandria, [168]
- Cyril of Jerusalem, [9], [79], [160], [167]