John of Reading

John of Reading (Johannes de Reading, Johannes Radingia) (died 1346) was an English Franciscan theologian and scholastic philosopher. He was an early opponent of William of Ockham, and a follower of Duns Scotus. He wrote a commentary on the Sentences around 1320, at the University of Oxford. He argued for the unity of science. John of Reading also is credited with the "Prose for Christmas Day", the source for the Christmas Hymn: O come, all ye faithful (Adeste Fideles).

In 1322 he moved to a teaching position at Avignon, which in modern times is a commune in the Vaucluse department in southeastern France. Reading is buried at Avignon.

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    And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
    —Bible: New Testament St. John the Divine, in Revelation, 20:12.

    The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.
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