Socrates, Augustine, and St. Benedict walk into a bar...

...and there's no punchline but now that you're here, why don't you read my post?

One theme that is consistent throughout “The Rule of St. Benedict” is the theme of moderation and self-control. Obviously this isn’t unusual in a Christian text but I did think it was fascinating considering that moderation is one of Socrates’ four virtues. I decided to look through Chapter 4 (“What are the Instruments of Good Works”) to see how many lined up with Socrates’ virtues.

(Here are links to the rules so you can check out what number goes to what rule: Chapter 4 and Chapter 4 cont.)

What I found was that there a lot that loosely matched up and then some that didn’t fit in. The rules that I considered were about wisdom were: 3-9, 22-30, 48-52, 56-58, 60, 62, and 66-67. The rules that I considered were about courage were: 44-47. The rules that I considered were about moderation were 10-13, 34-40, 53-55, 59, and 65. The rule that I considered was about justice was 33.

There remains a group of rules that cannot fit in one of these four categories. Rules 1-2, 14-21, 31-32, 41-43, 61, 63-64, 68-69, and 70-72 belong in a separate category that I propose we call holiness. These rules are ones that involve the Christian virtues of loving your neighbor, forgiving your enemy, putting God first, etc. While some of the rules in the holiness can be also placed in the wisdom category and vice versa, I don’t think all of the holiness ones constitute good judgment. These rules are more like the ones Augustine gave in his “City of God” than anything that Socrates identified.

The virtue of wisdom contains the largest amount of the rules, closely followed by moderation. There are a few rules that speak on courage and one that mentions justice but does not define it: “33. To bear persecution for justice's sake.” However, if we look at Chapter 73, we can see that justice can be obtained not only by following the rules but by taking these rules as a bare minimum and moving further on the path to holiness. Chapter 73 tells us that “fulfill with the help of Christ / this minimum Rule which we have written for beginners; / and then at length under God's protection / you will attain to the loftier heights of doctrine and virtue.” St. Benedict is saying that following these rules will not immediately grant you eternal live but by only following these rules, you are lazy. Instead, after you have mastered all of these rules, you should move on to the Bible and writings of saints and other such writings. This mirrors Socrates’ idea that justice can be found when wisdom, moderation, and courage are implemented. In “The Rule of St. Benedict,” justice is found when Christians follow the virtues of wisdom, moderation, courage, and holiness and then continue from there onto the path of God.

“The Rule of St. Benedict” ultimately seems like a mixture of Plato’s “The Republic” and “City of God.” I would be surprised if St. Benedict was completely unaware of the two preceding works.

"I just wanted a trim..." St. Benedict says as he stares in horror at himself in the barber shop mirror.