Monasticism began in the 4th century AD as Christians sought a life of extreme asceticism and devotion to spiritual work by renouncing worldly pursuits. Early monastics lived as hermits in the Egyptian desert, but around 320AD Pachomius established the first organized Christian monasteries where monks lived and worshipped together in community. Benedict further developed monastic organization in the 6th century with his influential Benedictine Rule, establishing standards for monastic life and labor. While monasticism helped preserve Christianity and spread missions after the fall of Rome, some argue it promoted an unbiblical view of humanity by seeing the soul as chained to the flesh.

1. EXILES FROM LIFE
THE BEGINNINGS OF MONASTICISM
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2. EXILES FROM LIFE
• The model Christian was no longer the courageous
bishop dragged before the wild beasts in a roman
arena. He was the lonely hermit in the forsaken
Egyptian desert defying the devil.
• Edward Gibbon said, “why would anyone want to
renounce sex?” Catholics and Protestants disagree over
the pros and cons of monasticism. Catholics argue that
the church is big enough for both those who strive for
spiritual perfection and the weak. Protestants, like
Martin Luther says it encourages the idea of two roads
to God, a higher and a lower. But there is only one way
and that is through Jesus Christ. Matthew 19:12
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3. MONASTICISM
• Monasticism (Greek monos) means alone or monkhood. is a
religious way of life that involves renouncing worldly pursuits to
fully devote one's self to spiritual work. The origin of the word is
from Ancient Greek, and the idea originally related to Buddhist
monks in 550 BC.
• In the Catholic, Orthodox, and Coptic Christian traditions, males
pursuing a monastic life are generally called monks while female
monastic's are called nuns. Both monks and nuns are considered
monastic's. The way of addressing monastic's differs between the
Christian traditions. For a general rule, in Roman
Catholicism, monks and nuns are called brother or sister, while in
Orthodox Christianity, they are called father or mother. This is not
an absolute rule as their address varies depending on their rank and
monastic tradition. Some other religions also include monastic
elements, most notably Buddhism, but also Hinduism and
Jainism, though the expressions differ considerably.
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4. THE MONASTIC IDEAL
• The first ascetic figure that we can see in the Bible
could be John The Baptist. He roamed the Judean
desert with crude garb and preaching repent. Monastic
life appeal to Christians that wanted to do more.
• The first form of monasticism was the hermit this word
comes from the Greek word for desert. Anthony of
Koma could have possibly been the first, living in the
Egyptian desert. The reason why the popularity grew
was because of the half hearted Christians that were
converted after Constantine began to rule. The church
took on a new level of wickedness that virtuous
Christians were trying to escape. They were not
running from the world, but the church. Revelation
14:1-5
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5. THE MOVE TO COMMUNITY LIFE
• Around 320 A.D the monastic movement took a
step forward. A former soldier named Pachomius
instituted the first Christian monastery.
• Pachomius brought order to the life of a monk, in
which they ate, labored, and worshipped
together. It was called coenobitic monasticism
from the Greek meaning common life.
• This brought monasticism into some system of
restraint, to save souls you must bring them
together. 1Corinthians 7:7-9
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6. MONASTIC IDEAL
• The monastic ideal struck Christianity with such
power, that during the fourth and fifth centuries
it had affected all levels of the Christian
population.
• Now that the persecution of the church had all
but ceased. The monks provided a new level of
Christian enthusiasm and end-time piety.
• All monks took on a threefold vow: 1. poverty 2.
chastity 3. obedience. Because of the monastic
lifestyle Jerome (320-420) gave us the Vulgate.
The Hebrew Bible translated into Latin.
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7. THE GENIUS OF THE WEST
• Benedict was born in Nursia, in the late fifth
century. He adopted the most extreme form
of asceticism and lived as a hermit in a lonely
cave. His life was so strict that the monks that
chose him as their Abbot tried to poison him.
• In 529 A.D he founded the most famous
monastery in Europe. The Motherhouse of the
Benedictine order. He died in 542 A.D
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8. BENEDICTINE RULE
• Monasticism has its perils. Many monks lived
unworthy of their profession. Benedict
said, “these evils were due to the lack of
discipline.”
• Benedict did not allow any to enter into the full
life of service until they had tried for at least one
year. During this time the novitiate was free to
leave.
• Benedict’s most fruitful requirements were
regarding labor. “Idleness, he said is hostile to the
soul, and therefore brethren should be occupied
at fixed times to manual labor, and definite hours
for reading.”
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9. SOME PROS AND CONS
• It is almost impossible to exaggerate the service
the monks rendered in the period after the ruin
of the old roman civilization and the growth in its
place of the new nations of German conquerors.
• Christianity was preserved because of the
Benedictine monasteries filled the European
country sides. Benedictine monasteries provided
most of the missionaries of that era in time.
• The soul, said the monk, is chained to the flesh as
a prisoner to a corpse. That is not a biblical view
of human life, and it created a fundamental flaw
in monasticism.
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