HIS 216 & REL 216 Church History I: Ancient & Middle Ages

Adalbert de Vogue has been called the greatest modern commentator on the Rule of Saint Benedict. This monk, who has been living as a hermit for many years, presents us an in-depth study and an absorbing new look at St. Benedict, the man who transformed Europe and Western Civilization. It is a definitive work, written with eloquence and depth.

This new edition of a classic religious text combines the timeless wisdom of Benedict of Nursia's Rule with the perceptive commentary of a renowned Benedictine mystic and scholar. In her new introduction to the Rule, the author boldly claims that Benedict's sixth-century text is the only one of great traditions that directly touches the contemporary issues facing the human community - stewardship, conversion, communication, reflection, contemplation, humility, and equality.

For over fifteen hundred years, St. Benedict's Rule has been a source of guidance, support, inspiration, challenge, comfort and discomfort for men and women. It has helped both those living under monastic vows and those living outside the cloister in all the mess and muddle of ordinary, busy lives in the world.

Michael Casey, a monk and scholar who has been publishing his wise teachings on the Rule of St. Benedict for decades, turns to the particular Benedictine values that he considers most urgent for Christians to incorporate into their lives today. Eloquent and incisive, Casey invites readers to accept that gospel living - seen in the light of the Rule - involves accepting the challenge of being different from the secular culture around us.

How can we heal the rift between our daily lives and the sacred? How can we live a life capable of hearing "the still small voice" of God while experiencing the speed and sensory overload of modern life? This book is Ware's answer to these questions. She attempts first to draw attention to our own awareness of God. She discusses how a "Rule" functioned for Benedict's time, and how it can function for us as a liberating reminder of God instead of as another repressive and burdensome taskmaster.

In this controversial bestseller, Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life. Rod Dreher argues that the way forward is actually the way back--all the way to St. Benedict of Nursia.