Discovering this book was a happy accident.

I’ve made a practice of reading patristics during my morning devotional time. I intended to buy something by Gregory of Nazianzus to supplement my understanding of Trinitarian theology. It turns out there are altogether too many Gregorys in the early church! Fortunately, this book fit perfectly with another interest of mine—pastoral theology.

The Book of Pastoral Rule is one of the earliest, most significant manuals for pastors. In the introduction, George E. Demacopoulos explains how spiritual direction in the Constantinian era was divided into two streams:

The first developed in a monastic setting, taking a more personal and interactive approach through a spiritual father/spiritual disciple model of apprenticeship. The second focused on the lay community and was directed by the clergy, emphasizing doctrinal instruction, the distribution of charity, and the celebration of the sacraments. (11)

Saint Gregory the Great wrote to spiritual leaders who were eschewing the demands of the pastorate for quiet contemplation in the monastery, reminding them that those who flee the burden of pastoral leadership “are truly humble when they do not resist divine decrees” (38). If you’re called, you had better serve!

Saint Gregory had an acute understanding of human nature. He recognized that proper spiritual direction would treat people as individuals. The bulk of the book is made up of arguments like this:

Those who fear punishment and therefore live innocently should be advised one way, and those who have become so hardened in iniquity that they cannot be corrected by punishment should be advised in a different way. (118)

The obstinate and the fickle should be advised differently. (134)

Those who misinterpret the words of sacred Scripture, and those who understand them but do not speak about them with humility should be advised differently. (156).

In reading these sections, I was struck at times by the seriousness with which sin was handled as well as the grace that was often unexpectedly advised. In a sense, this is an anticipation of modern practical theology with its emphasis on discerning situations.

One element of Gregory’s book that didn’t age so well was his inventive allegorical interpretations of Scripture. For example, arguing from Song of Songs 7:4 that “Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,” Gregory writes, “What, then, could be signified by the ‘nose of the Church’ if not the saints’ prescient discernment” (190)? Ah, it’s so obvious!

I was pleased to see that Eugene H. Peterson recommends this book highly. Although written around 590, this book is loaded with wisdom to benefit pastoral leaders over a millennium later.

Gregory the Great. The Book of Pastoral Rule. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007. Popular Patristics Series 34.