The Monastic Rules of Visigothic Iberia - eTheses Repository ...

literally (carnaliter). 420 This is reaffirmed by Isidore, who says: “quidem ideo non recipient
Uetus Testamentum, pro eo quod aliud in tempore prisco, quod agatur in Nouo. Non
intelligentes quod Deus quid cuique congruent tempori magna quadam distributione
concessit”. 421 It is possible that the relative distance between the Visigothic world and that of
the Old Testament was simply too great, whereas the New Testament provided examples that
were much closer, and therefore relevant, to the mindset of a Visigothic monk. The culture
of the Old Testament in particular was far removed from the contemporary one, and centuries
of the development and establishment of orthodox practice meant that the activities of some
characters were against Christian teaching. The concept of Biblical literality had plagued
earlier Church writers such as Origen and Theophilus, and had even been raised to an issue of
heresy, a point also raised in the Rule of Benedict (Dawson 2001).
References to the Bible should be seen from a two-fold perspective. First, as a text
written within the Christian tradition, it is entirely expected that frequent reference should be
made to biblical writings. The Bible was the key text in the lives of Christians in the period
(Smalley 1978; Lobrichon 2003: 28-54; Ferrante 1992). Second, the monastic rules are
didactic texts, and biblical references function as an aid not only to support the instruction
and teaching, but are also educational at the same time for the listeners: “authoritative
exposition of Scripture recorded for posterity is therefore one of the characteristic features of
Christian literature of this period. Such exposition often gathers up elements of
contemporary controversy, deducing „orthodox‟ teachings, warning against „heretical‟
interpretations; but it also underlies moral maxims and garners „types‟ of the spiritual or
moral life” (Young 2004b: 257).
420 De institutione uirginum 16.
421 Sententiae 1.20.1.
161