Noll, Turning Points, 4

Question 1

According to Noll, what are some of the gifts to monasticism that have come out of Benedict and his Rule?
[5]

Answer 1

1) curbing a practice of asceticism that easily slid over into Gnosticism, Docetism, or worse
2) preserving the centrality of Scripture in a movement that made much of inner spiritual illumination
3) recalling prayer to the heart of the Christian life
4) linking exalted religious experience with the basic realities of work, study, eating, and sleeping
5) providing an ideal of monastic life in which reformers have found inspiration and encouragement for fifteen hundred years

Question 2

According to Noll, what were some of the “inner motivations” of monasticism?
[3]

Answer 2

1) Commitment to Scriptures.
2) The monks returned repeatedly to injunctions and models of living drawn from the New Testament. (Paul -marriage, John the Baptist - life in the desert)
3) To seek God single-mindedly - to pray without ceasing

Question 3

What were the distinct stages for one who sought reconciliation formulated by Tertullian?

Answer 3

1) Penitence (or active sorrow for sin)
2) Mortification (deadening of flesh through ascetic practices)
3) Merit (securing of the right to be rewarded by God)
4) Satisfaction (reparation by alms, fasting, or other good works for the damage done to God’s holiness)

Question 4

What were some features of Benedict’s Rule highlighted by Noll?
[5]

Answer 4

1) Forbidding personal possessions
2) mixing of old and young together; for even the younger members were to join the search for perfection
3) Critical mandate to work; specified periods for manual labour together as well as prayerful reading
4) Commitment to the practice of prayer
5) Care for strangers and for the sick

Question 5

What were Benedict’s conditions for selecting an Abbot?

[9]

Answer 5

1) Selected by community
2) Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching
3) Abbot’s goal must be for the profit for the monks, not preeminence for himself
4) Learned in divine law
5) Chaste, temperate and merciful; always let mercy triumph over judgement
6) Hate faults but love brothers; use prudence and avoid extremes during punishment
7) Must not be excitable, anxious, extreme, obstinate, jealous or over-suspicious
8) Discerning and moderate; showing forethought and consideration in his orders
9) Keep the Rule ;)

Question 6

How many times did the Benedictine Monks at Durham, England gather for communal worship?

Answer 6

7 times