how can these monks, who appear to be christian, reconcile the fact that their supposed faith teaches is beleivers to spread the word and evangelize?
These are two diametricall opposed schools of thought. One is about introversian (monk life) the other is about extroversian (christianity) and using your life a positive tool in the world, to make the lives of others around you better.
Christianity has a long history of monastic life and the choice to live in seclusion. I don't have a particular book to recommend, but study the history of Christianity.
shareWell, I suppose a good place to begin is with the Word of God. One of the basic tools of evangelization that I imagine every evangelizing Christian uses is the Word of God. The Holy Bible. Well, one of the earliest jobs that the Monk performed in his life of "introversion" was to copy and transcribe the Holy Scriptures which eventually made them available to every nation on the Earth.
Also, in Romans 12 Paul talks about the Church being one body but many parts with many separate gifts and that each should exercise those gifts according to the grace given. Not everyone in the Church was given the gift of teaching, ministering, and evangelizing. Paul also speaks of spiritual gifts in 1Cor chapter 12 and a few other areas.
Using your life as a "positive tool in the world" is just what monks do. They close themselves off physically from the world and devote their lives to one of the church's greatest metaphysical tools (prayer). In matthew 18:19-20 Jesus speaks of the power of prayer (where two or more are gathered in my name...)and from that I'm sure you can see why the Body of Christ needs people whose gift it is to shut themselves off physically. They never cease praying on behalf of the Church and the whole world and every soul in it. To say they are unchristian is to deny the power of prayer.
A part of being Christian is seeking to know your particular gift and role in the "one body of many parts" and then humbly devoting your life to fulfilling that role.
Good reply, j_c_witte. If you truly believe in the power of prayer, as Christians are supposed to do, then the lives of these monks are tremendously powerful.
shareVERY VERY eloquently said j c witte! How could one not admire the discipline and beauty in such a lifestyle???
shareThey spread their faith by constant prayer, which is the point of monasticism and what Saint Paul and Jesus Christ calls us to do. This was started by Saint Antony of the Desert, and continues to this day in cloisters. Monastaries welcome all visitors as if they were Christ and allow them to take part in many of the community activities. They freely choose to be a part of the world to offer the prayers of all the world to God, full time. Do they change lives? Are they spreading the word and evangelizing? Yes to all. They are not distracted by the individualism or commercialism. They live a simple life focused on prayer. They live counter culture to our modern world and that makes them extroverted through their silence. Remember the words of Saint Francis: "Preach often, use words if necessary." Remember the words of Christ: "When you pray, go to a quiet place."
shareYou know, just because you don't understand the Carthusian lifestyle, don't knock it. Instead, try to seriously learn about them before you complain about something of which you know nothing.
Who says that the Monastic life is un-Christian? Monks been around since the fourth century. The Carthusian Order itself has been around for a thousand years. If these institutions were truly without sense, they would have collapsed under their own weight long ago, like how monarchies and governments have been created then been destroyed many times over in the last millenium.
Monks often spend time copying manuscripts. They are the ones who copied ancient texts over and over again. Without them, there would have been no Bible; without Monks, there would be nothing to spread the word with.
Furthermore, they also spend their time praying for us here in the outside world. Only God and Heaven know how much their prayer and penance have benefitted us all.
Personally, I don't find that the Carthusian lifestyle suits me either, and I also am really extroverted and I spend my time with social causes. However, I absolutely refuse to call the Carthusians un-Christian.
The Church is universal. It offers lifestyles for everyone. For some people, it offers the chance to work on social causes. For others, it offers work through education. And for some, it offers contemplation. People of one lifestyle should not criticise about people in the other lifestyles -- we all are vital parts of the same body.
I am pleasantly surprised at the maturity level that this discussion board has adopted. All too often, these types of websites find themselves riddled with uninformed ignorance. The Carthurians give up their lives of this temporary fleeting world and dedicate every moment to Christ. They are some of the greatest examples of Christians as they live out what St. Paul wrote in Colossians 1. 24: "I fill up the things that are lacking to the sufferings of
Christ in my flesh, for His body, which is the Church."
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, Pray for us!
I am not a christian by choice. By birth a roman catholic. I don't think this film is about religion but about how one chooses to live one's life, whether by living a life of a monk, or in the midst of a large urban center. If the film says anything it is the old adage of how ever you live your life, live it fully in the moment, aware of all the noise, the quiet, the good and the bad but participate in its "being-ness."
shareThey close themselves off physically from the world and devote their lives to one of the church's greatest metaphysical tools (prayer).
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As an atheist, I suggest you do some study before you further embarrass yourself by popping off about a subject of which you have absolutely no understanding.
share[deleted]
Of course its Christian, didn't Jesus go out into the desert to pray multiple times in the Bible?
Didn't John the Baptist live the monastic life living in the desert?
Didn't the early Christians go into northern Africa where they lived in solitude?
or the monks of the early Christian days that built monasteries in isolated areas so that they could concentrate on God's eternal love?
We are not all called to that life but for those who are its a total giving to God. No part-time for these monks, no distractions, no families to worry about, no jobs or bosses to please.
They do everything they do, work, garden, make clothes, serve dinners, repair shoes all for the glory of Almighty God if that isn't be totally Christian I don't know what is!