What Does “Rule” Mean in the Bible?
The book that sets out the way of life of a religious order. The most famous is the Rule of Saint Benedict.
It can mean
- What it is for: it says how the religious of that order pray, work, and live together.
- Other rules: the Rule of Saint Augustine is followed by the Augustinians. The Dominicans also adopted it in 1216.
- In the Bible: the first Christians were of one heart and held everything in common.
Where it appears in the Bible
Acts 4:32; Acts 2:44
What the Bible says
Acts 4:32
And the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul: neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed, was his own; but all things were common unto them.
Acts 2:44
And all they that believed, were together, and had all things common.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Rule of Saint Benedict” and “Order of Preachers”; Catechism 925