ABSTRACT
The Rule of St Benedict, written around 1500 years ago by the Italian monk St Benedict of Nursia, is a slim handbook for monastic life – a subject many modern readers would regard as relatively niche. It is, however, also a model of the organized and clearly expressed thought produced by good reasoning skills – a mainstay of critical thinking.
Reasoning is all about making a good case for something, through logical arguments, neatly and systematically organised. In Benedict’s case, his main concern was to lay out a set of rules and practices that would allow monasteries to run as well-organised communities. Communal living presented huge challenges, and yet it was also, Benedict believed, the best way for monks to sustain themselves, their religion, and the learning and teaching that went with it. His Rule laid out concise but detailed chapters on the best way to achieve this, including provisions for all areas of personal and communal discipline, right down to how tasks might be allotted to individual monks.
Providing a complete roadmap for successfully running a community, the concise brilliance of The Rule has even been suggested by some business professors as useful model for running small businesses today.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section 1|15 pages
Influences
module 1|4 pages
The Author and the Historical Context
module 2|3 pages
Academic Context
module 3|3 pages
The Problem
module 4|4 pages
The Author’s Contribution
section 2|14 pages
Ideas
module 5|3 pages
Main Ideas
module 6|4 pages
Secondary Ideas
module 7|3 pages
Achievement
module 8|3 pages
Place in the Author’s Work
section 3|14 pages
Impact
module 9|3 pages
The First Responses
module 10|3 pages
The Evolving Debate
module 11|4 pages
Impact and Influence Today
module 12|3 pages
Where Next?