Editing Bede (section)

===Adulthood===
In Bede's thirtieth year (about 702), he became a priest, with the ordination again performed by Bishop John.<ref name=ODNB/>

In about 701 Bede wrote his first works, the ''De Arte Metrica'' and ''De Schematibus et Tropis''; both were intended for use in the classroom.<ref name=World5/> He continued to write for the rest of his life, eventually completing over 60 books, most of which have survived. Not all his output can be easily dated, and Bede may have worked on some texts over a period of many years.<ref name=ODNB/><ref name=World5/> His last surviving work is a letter to [[Ecgbert of York]], a former student, written in 734.<ref name=World5/> A 6th-century Greek and Latin manuscript of ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'' that is believed to have been used by Bede survives and is now in the [[Bodleian Library]] at the [[University of Oxford]]. It is known as the [[Codex Laudianus]].<ref name=World234>{{harvnb|Blair|1990|p=234}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/library/specialcollections/western_rarebooks/medieval | title = Classical and Medieval MSS | access-date=30 December 2010 |publisher=Bodleian Library}}</ref>

Bede may have worked on some of the Latin Bibles that were copied at Jarrow, one of which, the [[Codex Amiatinus]], is now held by the [[Laurentian Library]] in [[Florence]].<ref name=Farmer_20a>A few pages from another copy are held by the [[British Museum]]. {{harvnb|Farmer|1978|p=20}}</ref> Bede was a teacher as well as a writer;<ref name=Ray_57>{{harvnb|Ray|2001|p=57}}</ref> he enjoyed music and was said to be accomplished as a singer and as a reciter of poetry in the vernacular.<ref name=World5/> It is possible that he suffered a speech impediment, but this depends on a phrase in the introduction to his verse life of St Cuthbert. Translations of this phrase differ, and it is uncertain whether Bede intended to say that he was cured of a speech problem, or merely that he was inspired by the saint's works.{{sfn|Whiting|1935|pp=5–6}}{{sfn|Whitelock|1976|p=21}}{{efn|The key phrase is ''per linguae curationem'', which is variously translated as "how his tongue was healed", "[a] canker on the tongue", or, following a different interpretation of ''curationem'', "the guidance of my tongue".{{sfn|Whitelock|1976|p=21}} }}

[[File:Bede dictating to a scribe.JPG|thumb|Stained glass at [[Gloucester Cathedral]] depicting Bede dictating to a scribe]]
In 708 some monks at [[Hexham Abbey|Hexham]] accused Bede of having committed heresy in his work ''De Temporibus''.<ref name=World267>{{harvnb|Blair|1990|p=267}}</ref> The standard theological view of world history at the time was known as the [[Six Ages of the World]]; in his book, Bede calculated the age of the world for himself, rather than accepting the authority of [[Isidore of Seville]], and came to the conclusion that Christ had been born 3,952 years after the creation of the world, rather than the figure of over 5,000 years that was commonly accepted by theologians.{{sfn|Bede|1985|p=38}} The accusation occurred in front of the bishop of Hexham, [[Wilfrid]], who was present at a feast when some drunken monks made the accusation. Wilfrid did not respond to the accusation, but a monk present relayed the episode to Bede, who replied within a few days to the monk, writing a letter setting forth his defence and asking that the letter also be read to Wilfrid.<ref name="World267"/>{{efn|The letter itself is in ''Bedae Opera de Temporibus'' edited by C. W. Jones, pp. 307–315}} Bede had another brush with Wilfrid, for the historian says that he met Wilfrid sometime between 706 and 709 and discussed [[Æthelthryth]], the abbess of Ely. Wilfrid had been present at the exhumation of her body in 695, and Bede questioned the bishop about the exact circumstances of the body and asked for more details of her life, as Wilfrid had been her advisor.<ref name=Goffart322>Goffart, ''Narrators'' p. 322</ref>

One further oddity in his writings is that in one of his works, the ''Commentary on the Seven Catholic Epistles'', he writes in a manner that gives the impression he was married.<ref name=Reread8>{{harvnb|Higham|2006|pp=8–9}}</ref> The section in question is the only one in that work that is written in first-person view. Bede says: "Prayers are hindered by the conjugal duty because as often as I perform what is due to my wife I am not able to pray."<ref name=QWard57>Quoted in {{harvnb|Ward|1990| p=57}}</ref> Another passage, in the ''Commentary on Luke'', also mentions a wife in the first person: "Formerly I possessed a wife in the lustful passion of desire and now I possess her in honourable sanctification and true love of Christ."<ref name=QWard57/> The historian [[Benedicta Ward]] argued that these passages are Bede employing a rhetorical device.<ref name=Ward57>{{harvnb|Ward|1990| p=57}}</ref>