Monasticism in christianity

[Avatar4321]

Been studying some histories of Christianity. Monasticism seems to be a very important function in Christianity until the reformation.

where did this phenomenon come from? I see nothing in the scriptures or the Jewish tradition that would lead us to conclude that God was directing this.

any idea?

[clarkgoble]

11 minutes ago, Avatar4321 said:

Been studying some histories of Christianity. Monasticism seems to be a very important function in Christianity until the reformation.

where did this phenomenon come from? I see nothing in the scriptures or the Jewish tradition that would lead us to conclude that God was directing this.

any idea?

There were many ascetic groups in Judaism. The Essenes are the best known - although some argue they shouldn't be characterized as ascetic since they didn't hold to a negative theology of the flesh characteristic of most ascetic movements. There appear to also be movements which renounced sex and marriage. (Some actually suggest based upon a few comments that Paul was influenced by these groups) So among the gnostic movements, for instance, you had the well known groups who promoted sexual immorality due to a renunciation of the significance of the flesh. But you also had groups who promoted asceticism and a renunciation of sexual practice for the same reason. The Ebionites were an other ascetic Judaic sect.

I'd imagine that the monastic movement really arose out of these prior existing groups. Almost certainly there were many groups we no longer have records of as well.

Edited January 14, 2019 by clarkgoble

[halconero]

Along with those mentioned, there's also the Therapeutae, my favourite group of late-antiquity Jewish monastics. I'm not sure how credible it is, but I always thought the idea that there name and practices were derived from Therevada Buddhist missionaries was kinda neat. We have evidence of Buddhist missionaries in Jerusalem, Alexandria, and other areas of the Greco-Roman world in which Hellenistic Jews lived.

[RevTestament]

I think it basically came out of Egyptian gnosticism. It was kind of the Christian equivalent of gnostic ascetism. The first monk just didn't adopt as radical ideas as the gnostics, but still shared some of the ideas about imperfection and of evilness of the flesh ie shedding themselves of the world. It was just slightly different in character. I'm sure this would be an "heretical" view in orthodoxy, but nevertheless, I believe it to be true. I don't think monasticism  would have ever have arisen without gnosticism. 

[3DOP]

2 hours ago, Avatar4321 said:

Been studying some histories of Christianity. Monasticism seems to be a very important function in Christianity until the reformation.

where did this phenomenon come from? I see nothing in the scriptures or the Jewish tradition that would lead us to conclude that God was directing this.

any idea?

Does everyone agree about what Christian monasticism is? In order to understand those Christians who place value on a life of monastic seclusion, one has to first appreciate the distinction the Catholic draws between the precepts/commandments of God which must be observed to gain salvation in the next life, against the counsels of God by which the soul can more easily reach a higher state of perfection, but cannot be practised by everyone. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 explains:  

Quote

Christ in the Gospels laid down certain rules of life and conduct which must be practiced by every one of His followers as the necessary condition for attaining to everlasting life. These precepts of the Gospel practically consist of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, of the Old Law, interpreted in the sense of the New. Besides these precepts which must be observed by all under pain of eternal damnation, He also taught certain principles which He expressly stated were not to be considered as binding upon all, or as necessary conditions without which heaven could not be attained, but rather as counsels for those who desired to do more than the minimum and to aim at Christian perfection, so far as that can be obtained here upon earth. Thus (Matthew 19:16 sq.) when the young man asked Him what he should do to obtain eternal life, Christ bade him to "keep the commandments". That was all that was necessary in the strict sense of the word, and by thus keeping the commands which God had given eternal life could be obtained. But when the young man pressed further, Christ told him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor". So again, in the same chapter, He speaks of "eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven", and added, "He that can receive it, let him receive it".

---http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04435a.htm

Notice how these counsels we speak of are not binding upon everyone. If they were, marriage would be forbidden, and indeed there have been heretical groups that have taken the counsel for chastity, and made it into a commandment. The three evangelical counsels are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Catholics would say that beginning in the crib at Bethlehem, Our Lord Jesus Christ began showing those privileged ones how to live such a life, when he stripped Himself of all the glory and honor and power that was rightly His in heaven, and came to us as a baby. This holy season of Christmas is when we revisit the unimaginable, apart from faith, idea of God Almighty becoming a baby. For this reason, because He did it first, Jesus Christ can say to the rich of this world to sell what they have and like Him, live a life of detachment from the goods of this world for the sake of poverty.       

This past Sunday we witnessed the Feast of the Holy Family, where we visited the occasion when the Son of God and of Mary, was found at the age of twelve in the Temple at Jerusalem having been lost for three days to His parents. They didn't fully understand what He meant when Jesus explained His absence by asking how they did not know He would be about "His Father's business". While His parents ponder the mystery of this omnipotent and omniscient Child/God, the last thing we hear about Him before He begins His public life, is that He made Himself subject to them. Jesus can ask us to be obedient to those who are over us, especially when He was obedient to those who were "over" Him. This would be one of many examples of the evangelical counsel of obedience that our Lord practised.

By poverty we are delivered from the world. By obedience we are delivered from our ambitions. By chastity we are delivered from fleshly appetites. The King of kings renounced his rights to these. I would be surprised if we could not find words on this subject from Catholic Tradition which show that the monastic life is the natural development among souls who are able and willing to follow Jesus Christ more perfectly following all three counsels. A few more words from the Encyclopedia might help here: 

Quote

Now the principal good things of this world easily divide themselves into three classes. There are the riches which make life easy and pleasant, there are the pleasures of the flesh which appeal to the appetites, and, lastly, there are honours and positions of authority which delight the self-love of the individual. These three matters, in themselves often innocent and not forbidden to the devout Christian, may yet, even when no kind of sin is involved, hold back the soul from its true aim and vocation, and delay it from becoming entirely conformed to the will of God. It is, therefore, the object of the three counsels of perfection to free the soul from these hindrances.

---ibid

The next three days will witness the feasts for the two most celebrated of the first monks. St. Paul the Hermit's feast is on the 15th of January and St. Antony Abbot is on the 17th. If there seems to be any interest, perhaps we can take a closer look at the first hermit, a real prodigy, St. Paul, and the first superior of an actual monastery, St. Antony, where monks actually began to live all three counsels in community together.  

For practical reasons, the monastic life couldn't have arrived fully formed. It appears that one thing led to another and another, until the monastery appeared. By the way, monasteries have NOT disappeared, and are as important as ever, as their mission has expanded beyond the goal of personal perfection towards intercessory prayer and sacrifice for those living amidst the spiritual dangers of the world. But that would need to wait for yet another post. I appreciate the inquiry Avatar.

Rory 

Edited January 14, 2019 by 3DOP

[clarkgoble]

1 hour ago, RevTestament said:

I think it basically came out of Egyptian gnosticism. It was kind of the Christian equivalent of gnostic ascetism. The first monk just didn't adopt as radical ideas as the gnostics, but still shared some of the ideas about imperfection and of evilness of the flesh ie shedding themselves of the world. It was just slightly different in character. I'm sure this would be an "heretical" view in orthodoxy, but nevertheless, I believe it to be true. I don't think monasticism  would have ever have arisen without gnosticism. 

I'm not sure that's true that gnosticism was a necessary condition. Especially given the range of Jewish ascetism but also pagan ascetism. But I do agree that Egyptian Christianity is the place to look - particularly in the 3rd through 5th centuries. I'd add though that the very category of "gnosticism" is perhaps a bit problematic not the least because we tend to see it as so pejorative. Whereas various types of Christianity that were influenced more by mysticism and magic weren't necessarily gnostic. 

[3DOP]

Quote

Antony began with seeking solely his own sanctification; he was known only as the wonderful Solitary against whom the wicked spirits waged an almost continual battle: but in course of time, men were attracted to him by his miracles and by the desire of their own perfection; this gave him disciples; he permitted them to cluster round his cell; and monasteries thus began to be built in the desert.

---The Liturgical Year, Dom Prosper Gueranger, Vol 3, p. 306, entry for January 17, The Feast of St. Antony of the Desert, St. Bonaventure Publications (2000) 

This is how Catholics have traditionally understood the beginnings of monastic community life. There were ascetics who led lives of solitude in the desert, but one has to wonder how well they could have lived the evangelical counsel of obedience. I am not suggesting that St. Paul the Hermit or any of the earlier desert monks were disobedient to God. Ordinarily, the evangelical counsel of obedience is understood to be the placing yourself into subjection to a superior. This is why we say that Antony was the first "abbot". These men who gathered round him happily placed themselves under the wise government of St. Antony.

Just as when our Lord Jesus was in subjection to His parents after they found Him in the Temple at the age of 12, so with those who take vows. The Son of God was infinitely wiser than His parents, but He wanted to show us the value of making a sacrifice of our own wills. It isn't necessarily the case that the Superior of a convent or monastery is always wiser than those who are subject. The idea is to make a perfect abandonment of the will to God through religious community life. It is very similar to family life where the children need to learn that it is important to do that which is disagreeable not only for the sake of obedience to parents, but also to begin a formation of the soul which places decreasing value on "getting what one wants". It is a recognition that our wills easily enslave us; we often live in fear that some good which we ardently wish for might not come to us. A strong will denies us the peace of God. Those who have learned, with or without vows, to have little regard for their strongest desires, eventually gain a peace that is of more worth than all of their previous desires. That peace, which makes the soul imperturbable, is not something easily attained. But if I am not mistaken, that is a great part of what drives souls to make sacrifices, (poverty, chastity, and obedience) that are unimaginable to souls who have never perhaps considered the idea that unhappiness comes from within, from our own unfulfilled desires.

Religious life should be accompanied with a desire for peace, and a respite from the inevitable weariness and melancholy which comes without detachment from our own strong wills. Unhappiness comes to every soul whose earnest desires have not been met. Jesus said that His "meat", that which gave Him strength and a feeling of wellness, was not that He was God and He could do whatever He wanted. No, He bound Himself in obedient subjection to His Father in heaven as well as His parents on earth! "My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me..." He said (Jn. 4:34). The monastic life offers to such as practise it well, a better opportunity to experience the same strength and feeling of wellness as the Son of God. We must offer our own wills to God, to be pleased with His paternal love and care for us whatever it might be, as Our Good Lord did His entire life on earth, from the Crib, to the Temple, to His public life, and ultimately to His passion and cross.                

Edited January 17, 2019 by 3DOP