The Rule of St. Benedict 1

Study Guide Questions for the Prologue - Ch. 2

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Freedom vs. Bondage, Justice, Discipline, Love

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What will the “labor of obedience” do for those who submit to it?

2. What did Benedict advise his followers to do “every time [they] begin a good work?”

3. According to Benedict, “if we wish to dwell in the tent of [God’s] kingdom” what must we do?

4. What did Benedict say “the Lord waits for us daily” to do?

5. What was the stated purpose of the monastery and school which Benedict established?

6. What are the names of the four kinds of monks and what defines them as different from one another?

7. Whose place is the Abbot of a monastery believed to hold?

8. What must the abbot receive blame for?

9. What “twofold teaching” must anyone who holds the name “Abbot” lead his disciples by?

10. What should the Abbot “avoid…in the monastery?”

11. What is said to be the only thing by which Christians are “distinguished” in God’s sight?

12. What does an Abbot gain from “helping others to amend” their sins “by his warnings?”

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why would Benedict use relational “Father” and “son” language when writing his rule?

2. Benedict wrote that one who has followed the Lord “while these temptations were still young… caught hold of them and dashed them against Christ.” What does it mean to dash temptations against Christ?

3. When Benedict wrote, “What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of his grace,” what did he mean by this?

4. Given Benedicts’ description of the four different kinds of Monks, what qualities does he seem to value most in a good monk? What does he despise?

5. Why is it significant that “the Abbot must never teach or decree or command anything that would deviate from the Lord’s instructions?”

6. Why should the Abbot “bear the blame wherever the father of the household finds that the sheep have yielded no profit?”

7. What does it mean to teach “more by example than by words?”

8. Why is more “expected of a man to whom more has been entrusted?”

9. How does helping others “amend” their own sinful behavior also help the person who is helping them?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. In the prologue to his Rule Benedict wrote, “This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord.” Does following Jesus Christ mean that we cannot have a will of our own? Carefully explain your thoughts about this.

2. The Abbot of a monastery “is believed to hold the place of Christ.” Do you believe it is appropriate to speak of men “holding the place of Christ” as the Abbot is here described? To what degree can a man wield the authority of Christ over other men? What makes one person qualified to hold the place of Christ instead of others? If you think that no one should ever claim to hold such authority then explain why not.

3. Define the concept of “favoritism.” Why is favoritism something strictly forbidden within the Christian faith? Is rewarding someone based upon their merit or work favoritism? If so, how so? If not, why not?

4. What is the proper place of corporal punishment (inflicting bodily harm) within a society as a corrective to wrongdoing? Should it be used or not? If it should be used, to what degree should it be used in various situations (give some examples)? If you think it should not be used then how do you account for the biblical teachings concerning its use?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read James 1:22-25. How does this passage of Scripture relate to what Benedict said to his “son” in the prologue?

2. Read 1 Samuel 2:11-4:18. What brought about Eli’s demise?

3. Read 2 Corinthians 13:8-10. How does this passage relate to the concept of someone standing in the place of Christ and using his authority?