Why Aren’t There Any Protestant Monasteries?
I don’t know why, but the Protestant Reformation found no room for monastics. I understand why Luther fought the selling of indulgences and the notion that sin could be forgiven by anyone other than Jesus. But why did the leaders of the Reformation decry the monasteries?
The purpose of the monastery was to be a place where its members could spend their lives focusing on their spiritual lives. Most of them spent time doing charity work in the community as well, but the core of the experience was studying, working, and praying or meditating. The distractions of the world make it difficult for a Believer to focus their mind on God as a effectively as a monastic could. This made the monastics into spiritual leaders and it gave them very rich internal lives.
So, why didn’t the Reformation pick up this tradition? I have no idea. I suppose they didn’t see the value in it, but I don’t understand how that’s possible.
I do understand, however, why we don’t care about it, today. The monastic could not have a family, because the ascetic life was simply incompatible with raising children and seeing to a spouse. That’s not meant as an insult to families – it’s just a fact. The hours a monk could spend in prayer, or pouring over a religious text, are simply unmatchable for a married person with a normal job. It is currently popular in Protestant circles to believe that a person with a big family is somehow very holy because of their progeny.
So, if someone in a Baptist church told everyone that he was going to be a hermit they would probably not take it too well. What if he said that he intended to live on the street so he could pray all day without other responsibilities getting in the way? Would that be a noble thing to do? Or an irresponsible one? Would his parents be proud of his choice?
When St. Augustine found God, he told his mother that he was going to leave the things of the world and devote his life to Christ. His mother, Monica, had been pining away for him to have another grandson (which meant finding him a wife – this had been her favorite hobby since his childhood), but that desire was pushed aside when he told her his news. She energetically supported his monastic efforts and saw this as the highest calling one could have; this meant so much to her that she no longer needed to see more grandchildren. How many parents today would be that supportive if their only child announced their intention to avoid marriage?
Our society doesn’t treat non-married adults well. We assume that they are all just pining away for a spouse and few people can imagine that they actually enjoy being single and use their free time wisely. I know single people who get a lot out of their lives, and they are constantly frustrated when someone says, “When are you going to start dating?”
Of course, there are a few radical Protestants out there who are trying to revive the tradition, but it’s going to be very challenging in our social climate to get any sort of support.
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Monasteries were part of the two-tiered conception of Christianity that Protestantism saw as complicit with lower standards for the rank and file. Prior to Protestantism (though perhaps Hus talked about this too) there was ipso facto a closer-to-God life, measured by time spent in religious activities, granted to priesthood and brotherhoods and sisterhoods.
Protestantism does not pre-judge the non-religious life as a lesser life, and this is due to its wider concept of calling. Protestants say, and I agree, that you cannot value the life of a person who spends 8 hours a day at a secular job for the glory of God, as less of a calling than the life of a person who spends 8 hours a day in an explicitly religious job. That one day will be God’s judgment to make, and the secred/secular tiering was not seen as helpful to the promotion of the life of a Christian serving God. Hope this idea is interesting
One small point of contention–Anglicans aren’t strictly speaking Protestants, but the Episcopal Church in the USA is most often grouped with mainline protestants and has a very active monastic community.
As far as other mainline denominations go, I think a few factors combine to conspire against the ascetic life. First, Calvinist-vein thinking and the idea that your daily and mundane work is an expression of God’s presence in your life, especially for people with no particular or spectacular calling. Second, vehement disavowal of all things “Roman,” even when such traditions lead to a more full worship and spiritual life. Third, a decidedly evangelistic bent, even in the most staid mainline traditions, that demands a living witness among one’s contemporaries as opposed to a contemplative witness “hidden under a bushel” in a monk’s cell.
Also, your definition of monasticism may be a bit narrow. Many (primarily evangelical) protestant leaders operate discipleship programs wherein young men are called to live apart from their peers for some period of time, meditate on their spiritual calling, and submit to guidance from a learned elder. These men are of course expected to go out in to the world and have families, but they live as monastics by some measure, at least.
“Third, a decidedly evangelistic bent, even in the most staid mainline traditions, that demands a living witness among one’s contemporaries as opposed to a contemplative witness “hidden under a bushel” in a monk’s cell.”
I agree with this, to a point. A completely secluded monastic life is generally incompatible with the great commission. However, a less rigid monastic order, one that includes doing charity work and ministering/preaching to the community would be.
Christianity inherently isn’t about “us.” It’s about serving God, spreading God, and LIVING a more abundant life. Isolating ourselves in a monastery would be absolutely contrary to the spirit of Christianity as well as a direct violation of the great commission, which, by the way, is a command, not a suggestion.
If Jesus had spent his life cooped up in a monastery attempting to reach a higher level of Godly “zen,” where would that leave us? He’s the perfect example that Christians should model their life after.
I don’t believe God would bless any decision to place yourself in a long-term situation of literally doing no earthly good or good for His kingdom. It’s a selfish act and utterly useless for His kingdom.
I’ll end with one caveat: I DO believe that sometimes we can become burned out spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc. There are many occurrences of Jesus seeking SHORT-term isolation to recharge and refresh. Let’s be clear that this is NOT what monasteries are/were intended for.
I think that Larry and Jesse’s answers both get at the historical problem very well.
It would be going too far to say that everyone who joined a monastery was giving a middle finger to the Church and/or the world and just doing their own thing. Were some doing this? Probably. Particularly, the desert hermits do concern me along these lines.
Speaking to some of the other comments, many monks/nuns did interact with society and do pious things for others. Though we may not agree with the premise, we should also remember that society saw their role as necessary in the life of the church, as well as a great benefit to society itself! The argument went something like this: for those who did not have the ability to pursue holiness and godliness because of business — and were probably contaminated by the world too much anyway — the holiness being pursued by the monks/nuns over time came to be seen as a sort of communal pot of holiness, something that could be credited to those outside the monastery walls, as well. This was another means by which the Church became a channel of grace to its members.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m more than fine rejecting that model. BUT it is important to note that monks/nuns could very much see themselves as part of the community and serving others, even in their rather isolated role. Again, we can certainly look at some of them and say, how in the world were you fulfilling Christ’s commands here? But many would have been genuinely shocked at the charge.
I also meant to add, but totally forgot to, that the vast majority (if not all) missionaries in the post apostolic through medieval church were in fact monks/nuns. It was the monasteries that were producing the closest thing to “Great Commission Christians” 🙂
Without having any historical evidence to back up my statement; I’m guessing it was a reaction to the corruption of the monastic ideal. I’d also be curious if they had a problem with vows, which while they might have a strong Scriptural case; is ironic given the Protestant practice of “wedding vows”.
Saw a great vid you might wanna check out. It’s not related, although it ties into the poverty aspect of monasticism (if you watch ’til the end). It’s a comedy sketch on what teachers make.
Having read today’s post defending the good work serving and spreading the gospel that many monastics have spent their lives doing, I think that the strongest argument opposing monasticism at the time of the reformation has to do with assigning a higher spiritual value to those living a life of full-time “service to God” and not recognizing the intrinsic spiritual value of all kinds of callings and work done unto the Lord. (This is what Larry commented on, and he did a much better job explaining it than I just did.)
However, eliminating monasteries has by no means solved that problem for modern evangelicalism, in which we often assign the same value of being closer to God or “holier” to full-time missionaries and paid, vocational ministers, often ignoring the spiritual legitimacy of all kinds of vocations. While it is undoubtedly true that someone whose primary job it is to pray, study the scriptures, and share the gospel (be it monk, minister, or missionary) will, by default, lead a rich spiritual life, that does not, somehow, move them up in the spiritual echelon. And we certainly should not hold up their work as more important than the work of any other Kingdom-minded Christian who strives to serve Christ through practicing law or medicine, through teaching kindergarten, through fixing cars, through making art, etc.
On the other hand, it is true that many monks purposefully practiced doing all work as unto the Lord through their day-to-day work (often drudgery) around the monastery, so it would be unfair to say that monks cultivated a “holier-than-thou” image on purpose; but I do believe that the rest of the community viewed the monastic’s work as holier than the average carpenter’s or farmer’s work.
Hi there! I’ve just signed on to your blog after doing a search on Protestant monasteries. Anyone interested in forming one? Because I sure am…hehe. Well, I’m a charistmatic Christian (got saved in the Vineyard Church) and am VERY Protestant, in the sense that, I came out of Catholicism and have quite vitriolic reactions to much of its unbiblical and often harmful teachings, however, I do maintain a gray-area mentality because though I judge the institution as a whole, I recognize that there are Christians within the Catholic Church who have managed to find Jesus through all the man-made rules and regulations – to that end, I am a fan of the Catholic mystics, spiritual formation and spiritual direction. My blog (dandleblog.com) is all about contemplating the presence of God through the Word, the Spirit, and the Church. I think much of evangelical Christianity has missed a valuable part of the rich wealth of wisdom and knowledge that church tradition (where it has reflected biblical principles) has added to the Christian “pot”. I always lament this, because I love the word-centered life of evangelical Christianity but I miss the aesthetic qualities of liturgical worship. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll pick the scriptural focus over liturgy any day. Still, I do know that Lutherans, Anglicans, and French Protestants still have monasteries, though none in my area of the United States. Unfortunately, the Anglican monasteries here are creepy to say the least, very liberal Christians who are living together (for what purpose?) in a very conservative way, which leads to a jarring, glassy-eyed kind of atmosphere. It feels inauthentic. I would love to form a community that was more in line with what Bonhoeffer started in Germany, biblical schools, where men could get away from the world and be discipled, live a communal, liturgical, but also evangelical life together, and be sent back out into the world after a time. This is what monasteries should be, places of learning and spiritual refreshment and communal living – only a few who are called to serve there full time should remain, but only in the service of others as they come in. Anyway, I write all this as a reminder that there have been and still are Protestant monasteries and also “communities” that reflect more simplified monastic values. Some are creepy, liberal, or just too remote to get to. It’s certainly not encouraged, either.
I believe the primary reason is rooted in doctrine: if you believe you are “imputed” with the righteousness of Christ, and when God looks at you, He sees only His Son, what is the point of losing everything for the sake of gaining the Kingdom of God? We have it all, and the narrow gate and the hard path are merely metaphorical; Jesus didn’t really mean to sell everything and follow Him…that’s too radical.
It is also telling that some consider a life of prayer to not be doing anything, to be self-centered. For the Orthodox Christian, prayer is a way of life; it is how we relate to God, how we live in Him, and how we pursue the main purpose of our lives, which is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They take seriously Paul’s exhortation to “pray without ceasing.”