fi'.o'i, vita angelica ; after an unwarranted application of Christ's word respecting the sexless life of the angels, Matt. xxii. 30, § 30. NATURE AND AIM OF MONASTICISM. 159 earnest view of life ; upon the instinctive struggle after perfect dominion of the spirit over the flesh, reason over sense, the supernatural over the natural, after the highest grade of holi- ness and an undisturbed communion of the soul witli God ; but also upon a morbid depreciation of the body, the family, the state, and the divinely established social order of the world. It recognizes the world, indeed, as a creature of God, and the family and property as divine institutions, in opposition to the Gnostic Manichaean asceticism, which ascribes matter as such to an evil principle. But it makes a distinction between two grades of morality : a common and lower grade, democratic, so to speak, which moves in the natural ordinances of God ; and a higher, extraordinary, aristocratic grade, which lies be- yond them and is attended with special merit. It places the great problem of Christianity not in the transformation, but in the abandonment, of the world. It is an extreme unworldliness, over against the worldliness of the mass of the visible church in union with the state. It demands entire renunciation, not only of sin, but also of property and of marriage, which are lawful in themselves, ordained by God himself, and indispen- sable to the continuance and welfare of the human race. The poverty of the individual, however, does not exclude the pos- session of common property ; and it is well known, that some monastic orders, especially the Benedictines, have in course of time grown very rich. The coenobite institution requires also absolute obedience to the will of the superior, as the visible representative of Christ. As obedience to orders and sacrifice of self is the first duty of the soldier, and the condition of military success and renown, so also in this spiritual army in its war against the flesh, the world, and the devil, monks are not allowed to have a will of their own. To them may be applied the lines of Tennyson : ' "Theirs not to reason 'why, Theirs not to make reply, Theirs but to do and die." which is not presented here as a model for imitation, but only mentioned as an argu- ment against the Sadducees. ' In his famous battle poem : " The Charge of the Light Brigade at Bahieluva," first ed. 1854. 1 160 THIRD PERIOD. A.D, 311-590. Yohintaiy poverty, voluntary celibacy, and absolute obedience form the three monastic vows, as they are called, and are sup- posed to constitute a higher virtue and to secure a higher re- ward in lieaven. But this threefold self-denial is only the negative side of the matter, and a means to an end. It places man beyond the reach of the temptations connected with earthly possessions, mari'ied life, and independent will, and facilitates his