Question

Benedict's monastic rule encouraged:

A. a strict diet and extreme asceticism.
B. silence in the monastery at all times.
c. a contemplative life at the cost of all other activities.
D. living a religious life as a hermit, alone in the desert.
E. time spent in physical labor and contemplation.

Answer 1

Benedict's monastic rule encouraged a moderate life within monastic communities that balanced physical labor with contemplation, as opposed to the extremes of solitary asceticism or hermit living.

Step-by-step explanation:

The monastic rule created by Benedict of Nursia encouraged a balanced life of physical labor and contemplation. Unlike earlier ascetics who pursued extreme asceticism or lived as hermits, Benedict's Rule emphasized a communal life in monasteries where monks engaged in prayer, study, and useful work such as tending crops and animals, essential for the monastery's self-sufficiency. This moderate approach was a marked departure from the strict hermit lifestyle and extreme self-denial of ascetics like Antony of the Desert.