Pastoral Rule
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A pope sets out what a bishop owes the people in his care, arguing that the same truth must be preached differently to the poor and the rich, the grieving and the complacent.
- preaching adapted to the hearer's condition rather than delivered uniformly
- authority framed as a burden and a service
- self-examination required of the teacher before the taught
- paired opposites as a method of practical instruction
Written shortly after Gregory's reluctant elevation, the Pastoral Rule asks who should undertake the care of souls, how such a person should live, and above all how he should teach. Its third and longest part is a series of paired cases showing how the same doctrine must be adapted to opposite conditions: the joyful and the sad, the poor and the wealthy, the impudent and the timid. The work was translated into Greek in Gregory's lifetime and into Old English under Alfred, and became the standard manual of the western episcopate.
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