Tuesday, March 20

Here are the terms and topics you should be familiar with out of chapter 5 of your textbook. Please note that these are not the homework questions.

• regular and secular clergy
• Athanasius' Life of St. Anthony
• Monte Cassino
• Columbanus
• abbot
• St. Benedict
• St. Gregory, a.k.a. Gregory I, a.k.a. Gregory the Great
• relics

Study questions:

• How did the pope in Rome come to possess the authority he did over the church in the west?
• In what ways do a bishop's power, resources, and role combine spiritual and temporal elements?
• How did Gregory the Great take on a leadership role in the chaos of the sixth century?
• What kinds of challenges did missionaries face as they set out to Christianize Europe? What sources of support did they enjoy?
• What kinds of changes did the church attempt to bring about in social practices?
• Describe the role of church institutions in education and the preservation of culture.

Homework Questions:

1. Describe several of the incidents in this hagiography that reveal Benedict's remarkable spiritual qualities. What is Gregory's view of the saint's role in the world, and of his relationship to God?
2. Describe some of the depictions of demonic intervention. How does Benedict respond? Again, what seems to be Benedict's special place in the world, particularly in the battle between good and evil?
3. Compare Benedict as a saint to Perpetua. What qualities do they share?
4. What is your response to this kind of literature so far?

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