Gary Neal Hansen

Theology. It's good for you.

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You are here: Home / Archives for Benedict of Nursia

The Saints; or “What’s a Nice Reformed Boy Like Me Doing on a Topic Like This?” (Heidelberg Catechism Q. 30)

January 7, 2014 by Gary Neal Hansen 5 Comments

I wonder sometimes whether readers think it is odd that I blog on a classic Reformed text like the Heidelberg Catechism one day and on saints of the Catholic and Orthodox world the next. From Calvin’s time onward, a good deal of Reformed ink has been spilled ridiculing Catholic devotion to the saints. Take my […]

Filed Under: Heidelberg Catechism, Saints, Theology Tagged With: Benedict of Nursia, heidelberg catechism, St Dominic, Teresa of Avila

Praying On Your Smart Phone: Review of 4 iOS Apps for the “Divine Office”

September 27, 2013 by Gary Neal Hansen 16 Comments

Wouldn’t St. Benedict be surprised to find people praying the Divine Office on their smart phones? Okay, he would be surprised if he even heard about smart phones. Or not-so-smart phones. Or telegraphs for that matter. As I describe in my book, Kneeling with Giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers (InterVarsity Press 2012) the practice of […]

Filed Under: Prayer, Reviews Tagged With: App reviews, Benedict of Nursia, Daily Office, Divine Office, Liturgy of the Hours, Prayer

Really?

July 12, 2013 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

This was in my in-box just now from the mother house of the Benedictine order. Maybe all that blogging about Benedict’s Rule paid off… Frankly it is a little surreal: I’m being followed by a 1500 year old monastery? If they are willing to read a Presbyterian seminary professor blogging about their remarkable founder they […]

Filed Under: Monasticism Tagged With: Benedict of Nursia, benedictine order, Monasticism, Monte Cassino

Feast Day of St. Benedict of Nursia

July 11, 2013 by Gary Neal Hansen Leave a Comment

I was about to set off to university. My friends and I headed north for a week of camp sponsored by Young Life — it was at the extraordinary Malibu Club on Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia. They called the camp “College Prep” and the message was clear: We’d been Christians in high school, […]

Filed Under: Community, Monasticism, Saints Tagged With: Benedict of Nursia, community, Malibu Club, Mission, Monasticism, Prayer, Solitude, Young Life

What Kind of Relationship Defines Community?

June 4, 2013 by Gary Neal Hansen 3 Comments

The church was spending weeks and weeks on new mission and vision statements — documents intended to guide their life as a community for the next long while. What should define their life together? I talked to them about biblical pictures of the Church. You know them too: we are Christ’s body, as interconnected as […]

Filed Under: Community, Monasticism Tagged With: Benedict of Nursia, community, Monasticism, relationship, Rule of St. Benedict, Silence

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Theology. It’s good for you.

I'm a Church historian by trade. My writing, speaking, and teaching explores the Christian past to equip today's disciples. Join me here for regular posts on the best of theology, spirituality, community, and ministry. read more…

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