description: Originally published in 1913, Workmans text still stands as one of the best historical surveys of the theological development of early monasticism. The pages of this book hold a wealth of information for those in the New Monasticism movement who seek grounding in the rich ideological heritage of monastic communities. In the final chapter, The Message of Monasticism which summarizes Workmans historical survey one finds a call to revive the counter-cultural spirit of the early monastics. He concludes: For the Christian of today, as for St. Gregory Nazianzen, the test of life must be the willingness to lay all things, wealth, birth, authority, glory, and all possessions ... at the feet of Christ, under the empire of that divine word which effaces and throws into the shade the perishable and changing form of all human thought. Indeed this guiding call of the early monastics during the decline of the Roman empire is likewise our call in the present age of the American empire.
title: The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal
titlecomplete: The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal
ratings_count: 4