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A review by rachelb36
Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict by Esther de Waal
3.0
There were some good points in this, but I felt they were obscured by unnecessary academic/formal language. It's also a bit long-winded/repetitive.
While most of the book is written in a vague, objective way, there are random personal comments here and there relating some random points of the author's life as a wife and mother. These just didn't meld with the rest of the book, and since she didn't give examples of other life situations, I couldn't relate.
This is about the Benedictine tradition within Catholicism, so naturally, there are a few references to Catholic ideas/scriptures with which I disagree.
I appreciate that it seemed like Benedict was ultimately focused on Christ, but I guess I don't understand why there's so much focus on his "Rule" instead of just the Bible. I understand seeking out wisdom and clarification here and there from extra-Biblical sources; I don't understand fixating on one particular extra-Biblical text and treating it almost like the sacred text itself, molding a life around this rule instead of the Gospel more directly.
While most of the book is written in a vague, objective way, there are random personal comments here and there relating some random points of the author's life as a wife and mother. These just didn't meld with the rest of the book, and since she didn't give examples of other life situations, I couldn't relate.
This is about the Benedictine tradition within Catholicism, so naturally, there are a few references to Catholic ideas/scriptures with which I disagree.
I appreciate that it seemed like Benedict was ultimately focused on Christ, but I guess I don't understand why there's so much focus on his "Rule" instead of just the Bible. I understand seeking out wisdom and clarification here and there from extra-Biblical sources; I don't understand fixating on one particular extra-Biblical text and treating it almost like the sacred text itself, molding a life around this rule instead of the Gospel more directly.