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Seminar 2:
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Humility and Community in the Rule of BenedictIn the contemporary church there is much talk of "new monasticism". The risk, as contemporary movements borrow from ancient monastic rules, is that we will fail to read the depth of theology and practice that has been honed at great cost — since at least the 4th century — by those living vowed monastic lives. This seminar will offer a thicker reading of one aspect of the Rule of Benedict. Thin readings can indeed result in a devaluing of the monastic currency. Thicker readings will make us non-monastics much more cautious. The seminar will focus on one, albeit central, theme: the practice of humility in community. In seeking to understand more fully the monastic tradition here, the hope is that it might have something to say in relation to contemporary explorations of intentional Christian community and, perhaps, to the church as a whole. The seminar will raise some questions that we might ask ourselves in response to our reading of this theme in the Rule.
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