In the book The Rule of Benedict, written by Saint Benedict, he provided outlines of how things should go in the monastery, and day to day life for monks. Saint Benedict uses biblical references and also his own thoughts. Through his writings, he believes that there should be very strict guidelines to follow, in order to be a good monk and/or person. Although Saint Benedict means well when he gives his thoughts on how things should be gone about, he sometimes seems arrogant, by giving the abbot so much power. In addition to this, at some points, it seems as if the abbot has more control and power over the people, than God himself. Three things stuck out to me when reading Saint Benedict’s thoughts. First, his use of violence, when disciplining. …show more content…
He first says to love everyone equally, but then says you can love someone more if they are more humble. However, he then goes to say that God shows no partiality, so they should not either. He also say they should be humble, and says that being humble is having complete obedience. However, if you look at the sentence structure of the Bible and how it is used, this could not fit grammatically. Saint Benedict also gives instructions for excommunication people and the only thing he says that agrees with the Bible, is that they can be dismissed from excommunication. Also, he says that if someone leaves the monastery by his own fault, he will not be let back in after three times. This goes against forgiveness of sins, and you are supposed to forgive your brother as many times as he repents. Even then you still need to forgive, in order to attain your heavenly reward. Saint Benedict does mean well when he gives these orders, but he seems to have forgotten that we are under the New Testament and what it …show more content…
Saint Benedict claims that the abbots are responsible for the people given to him, and says they will have to give an account for those he was responsible for, as well as himself. However, no one is responsible for another person’s sins. We all have free will and cannot make anyone do something they do not want to do, like follow God’s will. He also says that people need to tell the abbots their sins and what they have done wrong. This was in the Old Testament, and mentioned nothing about an abbot. This gives the abbot unauthorized power. We are only required to confess our sins the God, but we may confess them to others, if we want. The abbot is also the one who calls the shots about everything, and people are not allowed to question him. This is not true. God is the only one we should answer to and follow. Yes people are set in charge to guide us, but if they go against God’s will, then we ignore them and follow God instead. Saint Benedict at some points, makes the abbot higher than God, but Got is the creator. God has ultimate and final authority.
There are many things Saint Benedict says that I do not agree with. He uses unauthorized violence, contradicts himself and the Bible, and gives the abbot too much power. Although he means well, you cannot place your own desires and wants above God’s. God is the one with the final say, even if we do not agree with him. God knows what is best, and if Saint Benedict understood this, he would
The Pope has agreed to help defend the Byzantine Empire! After being appealed to by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, in 1095, Pope Urban II assembled the Council of Clermont. In order to help the Byzantine Empire and ensure his power over the church he has decided to call for a military expedition to get back the Holy Land.
The dictionary definition of an abbot is a man who is in charge of all the monks in a abbey. Although this is a very simple definition it does not fully give us the meaning of what abbots have to do in order to serve their god and people. We could compare them to a government official in todays time. They are not the president or a simple citizen, but they do hold a vast amount of power in which they can control the people and the president at times.
It is amazing how much political and military supremacy the papacy position gained when the Crusades began. The First Crusade (1096-1099) was a military expedition initiated by Pope Urban the II to regain the Holy Lands in Jerusalem from the Muslim conquest. The Pope gave a speech requesting military action against Muslim takeover to the French people of Clermont. The speech eventually propagated to other nations for further recruitment. Urban’s political and military involvement helped regain the Holy Lands and save the Christian Crusaders souls. His famous speech changed the course of history in part because its dissemination was overly successful, and assembled over 40,000 Crusaders to do the will of God. Why was Pope Urban II so victorious in recruiting people for the First Crusade, and why was his influence so important?
At the balcony in Saint Peters Benedicts first words to the crowd was as follows:
Why Henry VIII Closed the Monasteries There were 800 monks and nuns in 1500s they had strict rules, The rule of St. Benedict for monks of the Benedictine order was prayer should take place eight times a day, all monks should sleep in separate beds, all monks must rise quickly when signal is given to attend the services and all monks must not grumble about the colour or rough material of their clothes. The rule of St. Augustine for the monks of the Augustine order was love god and your neighbour and monks should spend their time when not praying, coping books, looking after the poor and old, nursing the sick and crippled, teaching children and looking after travellers. Between 1536 and 1539 Henry V111 and Cromwell decided to close the monasteries because the monks are not flowing rules and take all the wealth to defend the country. In order to complete this essay I am going to explain below in detail why the monasteries were closed by Henry V111 between 1536 and 1539
In Conclusion, I personally liked this story it was a great biography of Benedict’s life; I barely knew anything! The main idea of this biography I think is that even if your put down don’t give up on what's right. To sum up I would definitely recommend this biography at this stage in history
In chapter two, ‘Francis and His Companions,’ Cunningham exposes the considerable growth in Francis of Assisi’s influence, as he recounts his companions that joined him after deciding to live his life. The chapter is significant because it exposes how Francis of Assisi’s gospel is different from the orthodox Catholic practices, which recognized the pope, as the sole Vicar of Christ. (Cunningham 32). This chapter is important in my life because it reinforces my conviction God is the almighty and all-powerful, and all people regardless of the status of the needed to worship
All of humanity, even the one reading this paper, has had thoughts of doing things that are far from that of a saint, and although most do not act upon these thoughts there are those who have; those who kill out of spite, those who commit unspeakable acts against men, women and children, those who to everyone else are frightening and fearful and thus locked away from
In short, disestablishment is the most literal form of separation of Church and State; it prohibited the state from funding or establishing a religion. This was a continuation of the fight for the freedom on conscience. James Madison was very influential in this fight, “Religion was not invented by human policy” thus he argued that it should never be subjected to human policy (Maddison, 120). Maddison expresses that a person’s religion is to be determined by his own conviction and conscience, “and it is the right of every man to exercise it” (Maddison, 118). Freedom of religion, the first amendment, existed before disestablishment, but in it’s entirety was dependent on disestablishment. Establishment was achieved through imposing taxes on
In Dr. Osman’s lecture and in Life and Miracles of St. Benedict, monasteries were portrayed as places for people to escape the harsh times and live together worshipping God. In The Dark Ages, the narrator discusses how many nuns and monks would try to escape because they were forced to go there, some even going as far as scaling the walls of their convent or monastery. These holy places offered many people the escape and religious freedom that they craved, but not everyone loved the strict life that monks and nuns lived. (The Dark Ages, “Marriage of Monks and
In the latter half of the 11th century, the two great powers in Europe, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, became embroiled in a dispute. Both believed that they, and they alone, had the power to appoint bishops and abbots. Each had a fair argument for their point of view, based on, among other things, precedence, decrees, and divine right.
Martin Luther was not fond of the practices the Roman Catholic church of indulgences. Indulgences are a practice where worshippers would pay their priest which granted remission for their sins (“Indulgences."). This practice became increasingly corrupt. In the 95 Theses, Luther, became prominent in the Protestant Reformation due to its humble and academic tone (A&E Television Networks, LLC.). For example, in the second theses he states, “The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.” This means that only god can give salvation, not a priest. He is questioning why we must pay to re...
...id too better than lepers, beggars and that crew" (244-46, 111). The Friar cares only about pleasing himself and does not work to make other people's lives better. He neglects the people he is supposed to help and instead spends his time with the rich. These members of the clergy are not devout Catholics and have no right to be masquerading as one. By pretending to be something they are not, they bring corruption into the church.
The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups. First there were the ordinary believers, the citizens of the kingdom who followed the Christian faith. Then there was the clergy, the members who devoted their lives to the church. Each group of the clergy was assigned specific functions by the clergy nobles to help run the Church competently. Amongst all the clergy associates, the Pope was at the top, he had the equivalent if not more power than the ruling monarch and was in charge of all political affairs and administered the clergy. He was able to dictate political laws and even comment on the Monarch’s decisions. Under the Pope, there were the bishops. The bishops directed church courts and managed cases correlated to the public such as marriage, wills and other public predicaments. Priests held religious services that consisted of sacraments, baptisms and the usual Sabbath services. The monks and nuns received manual labour that required helping clean the monasteries and assist the needy. Educated monks copied manuscripts of medieval and ancient knowledge in the Scriptorium. Finally...
Early in history, the Roman papacy consolidated its power. It became one of the most influential organizations in the medieval period. This rise to power resulted from the decline in the Western Empire, the leadership of Roman bishops, and special grants that gave the church land holdings. This rise to power caused some positive ramifications, such as the protection of the church from heresy. However, the absolute power of the pope also caused corruption and abuses, many of which would eventually spark the reformation.