(Cont’d)
Celtic monasticism was also avidly evangelistic, sending out missionaries to Scotland, Northumbria, and parts of Europe. One of the most famous missionary journeys was that of St. Columba (c. 521-597), who established a monastery on the island of Iona, for the purpose of converting the Picts (Scotland). St. Columban (c. 543 – 615) led a missionary journey to Europe, and founded monasteries in France and Italy (!) Another famous missionary was Aidan, who founded a monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, for the purpose of converting Northern England.
Celtic monasticism was also known for it’s emphasis on learning, and on preserving the great works of the past. The most famous book of Celtic monasticism is the intricately illuminated
Book of Kells, a copy of the Gospels dating to the 8th or 9th century.
On Protestants and monasticism:
Perhaps the greatest contributor to the downfall of monasticism in the Middle Ages was the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther, a former monk himself, wrote viciously against his former profession. And Henry VIII of England, in a short 4-year period, wiped out 800 monasteries.
The Philosophical issue
As earlier noted, a nagging question had dogged monasticism from its very beginning in the deserts of Egypt – if being a monk brought one closer to God (and closer to salvation), did that mean that monks were “better” than normal Christians? Were there two classes of Christians – one purer than the other?
Martin Luther strongly rejected the notion that monks were “holier” than normal Christians. And he added another reason for rejecting monasticism – he felt that it smacked of salvation by works.
“As monastic vows directly conflict with the first chief article, they must be absolutely abolished. For it is of them that Christ says, Matthew 24:5, 23 ff.: I am Christ, etc. For he who makes a vow to live as a monk believes that he will enter upon a mode of life holier than ordinary Christians lead, and wishes to earn heaven by his own works not only for himself, but also for others; this is to deny Christ. And they boast from their St. Thomas that a monastic vow is equal to Baptism. This is blasphemy (against God)”. (Martin Luther, 1537,
The Smalcald Articles)
There are various estimates of the number of Western monastics in the world today. Mayeul de Dreuille in his book *From East to West: A History of Monasticism *estimates that there are 17,525 monks in the Roman Catholic Church today, and 25,820 nuns/sisters. Interestingly enough, the United States has been an especially fertile ground for modern day monastics – the Benedictines, for example, have 30 monasteries in the United States. So the monastic ideal has hardly disappeared. However, unlike in the Middle Ages when monasticism had a terrific impact on the legal, governmental, educational, and spiritual lives of the people in the areas in which monasteries were located (and on Europe itself), today monasteries and their inhabitants tend to be rather low key. Modern monasteries are often connected to schools or hospitals, and are often focused on charity as their main
raison d’être.
In the 2,000-year-old history of the Christian Church, monasticism had a long reign as a key (perhaps
the key) form of expressing Christianity in the West. From the 6th century, when the Rule of Benedict was written, until the 16th and 18th centuries, when the monasteries were suppressed in England and France (respectively), monasticism was considered to be the “highest” form of Christianity. While we as Protestants today may disagree with the idea of two kinds of Christians (and the idea of salvation by works), we cannot help but admire the ideals of monasticism when it was at its best – as practiced by such great leaders as Sts. Augustine, Benedict, Bernard, and Dunstan.
Source:
sundayschoolcourses.com/monastic/monastic.htm
