The Good Kind of Monasticism

"The Good Monk," by Kaulbach and published in L'Illustration, Journal Universel, Paris, 1860

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West) 

On Balancing a Christian Individualism with the Need to Survive in a Broken World

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

It is clearly not Christ's teaching to be a "Christian Dominionist." I believe the theology that motivates this worldview is a Christian heresy on par with Islam, coming to the same erroneous conclusions that, 1) the Kingdom of God is an earthly kingdom, 2) that this Kingdom can be achieved and maintained by man. We can see, historically, how absolutely impossible it has been for Christians to liberate themselves from oppression and Dhimmitude, once the culture at large becomes Muslim. Why should we expect it to be any different with a worldview teaching the same theory under a different name? St. John Damascene was convinced that Islam is not a separate religion from Christianity, but merely a Christianity that rejected the centrality of the Incarnation, thus, overemphasizing man's ability to accomplish God's will. If mankind can keep God's law, build God's kingdom, and live as a race "set apart" to God, there is no need for the Incarnation of the New Covenant - a mere continuation of what was already in affect through Abraham would be enough. But, we know that "the Law" is not what Christ or His Apostles taught - He taught a completely transformative message in which man, by accepting Him as both God and Man, could access an infinite love, the very nature of God, and rise above all the boundaries and definitions that had historically separated mankind from himself. 

Over the course of the last two thousand years there have been individuals who have realized and practiced their faith in this way - the saints have, but never cultures. To insist that a group of people act in this selfless and truly Christian way (outside of, perhaps, the supernaturally inspired community that celebrates Christ Himself, the Church), shows a misunderstanding of the motivations that bring people together into cultures to begin with - a desire for protection from others, to take advantage of others, and to be esteemed by others. Within this construct, personal advantage, not selfless love, is the common denominator... This is why Capitalism allows for human flourishing and culture, while Communism remains an unattainable goal. The basic, corrupt, selfish condition of human culture is what MAKES human culture cohere and function in its dysfunctional way, and so it remains impossible to reform it in the image of the saintly and enlightened individual. 

The witness of monastic Christianity has always been thus - to head for the hills, rejecting the "cultural Christianity" of the day, and, instead, focusing on personal salvation through following Christ. This can only be achieved theough wandering, poverty, helping the needy and caring for the sick. Monasticism, up until recently, was always thought to be "Real Christianity," while the courtly Christianity that lobbied for power and canonized emperors was understood to be the place where the Church interfaced with the world, a kind of shadow (or icon of the coming kingdom, to use the early patristic approach) only to be tolerated the same way we tolerate the messes created by children who haven't learned to clean up after themselves. We see the monks coming out of the hills to set the errant church right, again and again, trying to slip out of town just before being forced to become a bishop or a patriarch. Why? Because these men, these skinny, selfless, haggard men, reflected what Christianity will always be - an individual pursuit that informs a community, not a community that informs individuals. The Christian culturalists always need these men to be in the Church, so that they can say that "we have saints in our church!” and use their bones to attract pilgrims and build up magnificent cathedrals. But, just because these bad actors are involved at the fringes of Christian life and use Christianity for the wrong reasons, this does not mean that God does not love them or desire His best for them. Thus, even the fiery monk, after an acceptable amount of kicking and screaming, would be made patriarch... Because, truly, he could do more good and help more people by involving himself with a world he dislikes, than by shutting himself up in a holy mountain. In becoming the patriarch, the best of these men were corrupted by pride and power, and the cycle starts all over again. We cannot mitigate or avoid our own fallenness. All we can do is repent. 

In this way, while Christian culture or civilization may be an impossibility, we can follow the path of Christ's Incarnation into the world and impart a foretaste of the Kingdom in our broken world, despite our brokenness and inability to completely reflect God's glory!