The second is an artistic analysis of visual representations of the Gospel Codex from around the. After this examination we will have a more informed understanding of the use of gospel in this single text.
Methodology
- The Tangible and the Conceptual
- The Visual and the Textual
- The Book and the Symbol
- Conclusion
The features of this particular image are as key players in the world of thought surrounding the author of RB as any other textual source that can be cited to inform our understanding of him. Many of the disputes surrounding its use in RB are fundamentally discussions of divisions between categories of meaning.
The Formation and Early History of the Regula Benedicti
- Literary Sources of the Regula Benedicti
- The Scope of the Monastic Rule in the Sixth Century
- Gregory’s Dialogues, His Benedict Character, and the Authorship of the RB A key question which must be answered as a prerequisite to an examination of the RB is
- The Formation of the Benedictine Tradition
- Early Manuscripts and Primary Editions
- Conclusion
One of the most important sources for the Regula Benedicti (RB) is the aforementioned Regula Magistri (RM). In this process, the author of the RB functions as the instigator, and Benedictus of Aniane.
Research History of the Regula Benedicti
- A Century of Renewed Benedictine Scholarship
- Revived Attention from Late Antique Scholars
- The Insider/Outsider Implications of Benedictine Scholarship
- Recent Historiographical Developments
- Conclusion
All contributors are themselves members of the Benedictine orders, and the work was written with such an audience in mind. One of the most striking features of his legacy is the fact that he convincingly established the RB's dependence on the Regula Magistri. It is understandable, and perhaps obvious, that almost all the important work on the RB has been done by people who live by the RB.
One example that shows the advantages of an "external" perspective is the discussion of the connection between the author of RB and the character of Benedict in Gregorian dialogues. Many of these came to the fore after interest in RB waned towards the end of the 1980s. While most of the more recent Late Antique scholars mentioned above are aware of this development, the implications of this development do not seem to have been fully applied to RB.
The text of the RB itself that will be used is the product of decades of Benedictine dedication to establishing an authoritative working text, and the angle from which it will be approached was pioneered by Late Antique historians.
The Gospel Codex as Manuscript
- Manuscript Selection and Description
- The Reader’s Experience and the Codex
- Analyzing the Manuscripts
- What We Can Say about the RB Author’s Experience
- Information Which Should be Accessible
Below you can see the last page of the codex that ends the book of Mark. It is currently owned by the Chapter Library of Verona Cathedral. Although this codex has been largely dismantled, about half of the text of the four Gospels survives.
Although the codex's compressive potential was not immediately realized, in Late Antiquity it certainly was. In this regard, Casson asserts that, "the arrival of the codex must have made a real transformation". One of the first things that becomes clear in this list is the predominance of the Gospel Codex.
This kind of flexibility in using material from the Gospels was possible for him largely because of the Eusebian reference system.
The Gospel Codex in Late Antique Art
Sample Selection Criteria
The following nine examples have been chosen within this framework in accordance with secondary literature available on the subject and with the intention of representing as much diversity as a study of this scope can accommodate.
Examination of the Chosen Samples Gospel Codex as an Attribute of Christ
This encaustic icon on wood, now housed in the Louvre, originated in Egypt in the mid-sixth century. The examples below belong to the same theme, but stylistic differences indicate that this is most likely the oldest of the examples mentioned here. One of the main differences between this statue and the one in Thessaloniki for our present purposes is that it is Christ, not Mena, holding the Gospel Codex.
In each of these portraits, the holding of the Gospel Codex appears to be part of the honor given to these individuals as patrons of the church. There is a mosaic of Justinian and his crowd leading the Byzantine offering procession on the northwest wall of the main apse of San Vitale in. However, another convention is to divide the visible pages along the edge of the codex into four easily visible sections.
Examples that reveal codex pages but have a number other than four are examples 1 and 6.
The Gospel Codex as Metonym
This seems to be true of the Gospel Codex in the case of Christ, but not equally applicable to others. Another possibility is that the Gospel Codex may represent the message of the Gospels themselves. However, just like thinking of the Gospel Codex as an attribute, there is something special about applying this interpretation to the above examples.
So while it seems to imply the message of the Gospels, it doesn't necessarily relate to what happens in the rest of the scene. The Gospel Codex as a metonym can appear as an attribute of Christ the teacher, as a synopsis of his message and as a reflection of the texts that describe his life. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than in example 4, where the Christ Child sits in the arms of the Virgin, herself sedes sapienta, holding the Gospel Codex.
It is a further way of communicating Christ's presence to the physical world of the sanctuary.
The Gospel Codex as Object
From another position, it provides a link between the clergy holding or reading from the Gospel Codex and Christ himself, reinforcing their closeness to Christ in the eyes of the congregants. Of the conventions described above, which are used to depict the Gospel Codex in art, this book covers the exposition angle. In the same way that representations in art reflect the image of the Gospel Codex as it exists physically, the physical object takes on the metonymic qualities of the artistic symbol.
The object itself then bears the honor and significance of Christ's presence in a unique way. As argued earlier, it hardly makes sense to interpret the Gospel Codex as an attribute of the characters in these examples. Christ is in these parts, but indirectly and discretely through the presence of the object.
At the same time, it reflects a much more corporeal reality, the object used in the liturgy, which is itself part of the sacramental presence of Christ.
Examining the Uses of Evangelium
Evangelium as Metonym
In this way, "Gospel" is a conceptual category that constitutes the main guiding factor of monastic life according to the author of RB. While this may be true of Christological exegesis in 1992, it is highly unlikely that we can apply the same logic to the author of the RB. Another key author, who is himself a giant when it comes to RB interpretation, is Adalbert de Vogue.
Like Bockmann, he argues that the "gospel" must ultimately be a reference to all of scripture, although he comes to this conclusion in a different way. As an example, he refers to the connections between Psalm 33 and "gospel conduct". In their own way, both of these authors come to the conclusion that the gospel in this verse must be a very general reference to the entire Christian scriptures and their message.
They see the Gospel as something to be done and incorporated into the reader's life.
Evangelium as Text
However, they do use evanglium in the same way, as a reference to the text of the Gospel of Matthew. Even more explicitly than before, the Gospel refers to the corpus of Gospel texts, this time mainly to Luke, while the Prophet refers to the Psalmist. Once again the RB has simplified and streamlined the RM material, but it has also made a marked change, no longer referring to the publican before the temple (as in the RM passage), but referring to the publican in the Gospel.
Then, on the twelfth and last step of humility, we finally come back to Luke 18:13-14, with the words of the publican about whom Jesus speaks. This theory makes some sense of the RB's use of evangelicum as an adjective, rather than in evangelio, which would simply specify where the story is found. The publican in question is the one found in the text of the Gospel, but he is also himself a model for Gospel-oriented humility.
This sentence then serves both to indicate which publican is being mentioned and as a description of the character.
Evangelium as Object
It is a physical embodiment of the fourness of the Gospels brought together into a single object that reflects the unity of Christ. However, Blaise, in his Latin-French dictionary, disagrees and defines it as the text as it is read, either from the parts of the Gospels most often used in the liturgy (e.g., a reading from the Apocalypse recited by heart and followed by a responsorium, an ambrosian psalm, the Gospel saying, the litany and the conclusion.
While this does not specifically refer to the liturgical context of the monastery, it reinforces the idea that standing is the correct response to a reading from the Gospels. Much of the controversy surrounding the interpretation here comes down to the degree of separation between these categories. Are the texts or the object that houses them the most important aspect of the liturgy, and can they be separated?
But in the midst of all these unanswered questions, there is a single binding factor between them that touches upon the very nature of RB: the Gospel is always.
Conclusion
In addition to all the other codes that were present in the monastery, the Gospel Codex had a unique relationship with Christ himself. The indivisible categories of the Gospel as metonym, text, and object form an interconnected mental matrix within the RB. The Gospel then serves not only as the point of Christ's presence in the monastery, but also as the starting point of the monk's response to this presence.
The question now is how far this Gospel matrix extends outside the RB. While most work done using artistic resources may be immediately transferable, text and. It can also be achieved through examination of the texts that other material sources emerge which are as strongly related to the interpretation of the Gospel as those used here.
In the mind of this sixth-century monastic author, the Gospel means the person, the message, and the presence of Christ, who is present in the monastery through the texts of the Gospels and the physical codex they contain, and which demands a response from the monks in every area of their life and worship.
Bibliography
The Rule of Benedict: A Guide to Christian Living: The Full Text of the Rule in Latin and English.
