Published by Pemptousia Partnership, June 16, 2015
By Prof. Georgios Mantzaridis
With the advent of monasticism, a special way of life appeared in the Church, which however did not proclaim a new morality. The Church does not have one set of moral rules for the laity and another for monks, nor does it divide the faithful into classes according to their obligations towards God. The Christian life is the same for everyone. All Christians have in common that “their being and name is from Christ”1. This means that the true Christian must ground his life and conduct in Christ, something which is hard to do in the world.
What is difficult in the world is attempted with dedication in the monastic life. In his spiritual life the monk simply tries to do what every Christian should try to do: to live according to God’s commandments. The fundamental principles of monasticism are no different from those of the lives of all the faithful. This is especially apparent in the history of the early Church, before monasticism appeared.
In the tradition of the Church there is a clear preference for celibacy as opposed to the married state. This stance is not of course hostile to marriage, which is recognized as a profound mystery,2but simply indicates the practical obstacles marriage puts in the way of the pursuit of the spiritual life. For this reason, from the earliest days of Christianity many of the faithful chose not to marry. Thus Athenagoras the Confessor in the second century wrote: “You can find many men and women who remain unmarried all their lives in the hope of coming closer to God”3.
The Christian life has from the very beginning been associated with self-denial and sacrifice: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”4 Christ calls on us to give ourselves totally: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”5.
Lastly, fervent and unceasing prayer, obedience to the elders of the Church, love of and submission to others, as well as all the essential virtues of the monastic life were cultivated by the members of the Church from its earliest days.
It goes without saying that the monk and the married man live different lives, but this does not alter their common responsibility towards God and His commandments. Every one of us has his own special gift within the one and indivisible body of Christ’s Church6. Every way of life, whether married or solitary, is equally subject to God’s absolute will. Hence no way of life can be taken as an excuse for ignoring or selectively responding to Christ’s call and His commandments. Both paths demand effort and determination.
Saint Chrysostom is particularly emphatic on this point: “You greatly delude yourself and err, if you think that one thing is demanded of the layman and another of the monk; since the difference between them is whether or not they are married, while in everything else they have the same responsibilities… Because all must rise to the same height; and what has turned the world upside down is that we think only the monk must live rigorously, while the rest are allowed to live a life of indolence”7. Referring to the observance of particular commandments in the Gospels, he says: “Whoever is angry with his brother without cause, regardless of whether he is a layman or a monk, opposes God in the same way. And whoever looks at a woman lustfully, whatever his status, commits the same sin”. Here he mentions that the layman falls into sin is in fact more culpable. In general, he observes, in laying down His commandments Christ does not draw distinctions between people: “A man is not defined by whether he is a layman or a monk, but by the way he thinks”8.
Christ’s commandments demand a rigor of life that we often expect only of monks. The requirements of decent and sober behavior, the condemnation of wealth and the urging to frugality9, the avoidance of idle talk and the call to show selfless love are not directed only at monks, but at all the faithful.
Lastly, the rejection of worldly thinking is the duty not only of monks, but of all Christians. The faithful must not have a worldly mind, but sojourn as strangers and travelers with their minds fixed on God. Then-home is not on earth, but in the kingdom of heaven: “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come”10. The Church can be seen as a community in exodus. The world is its temporary home but it is bound for the kingdom of God. Just as the Israelites, freed from bondage in Egypt, journeyed towards Jerusalem through many trials and tribulations, so Christians, freed from the bondage of sin, journey through many trials and tribulations towards the kingdom of heaven.
In the early days this exodus from the world did not involve a change of place but a way of life. Just as people did not turn away from God and towards the world spatially but in manner, because God was and is everywhere and fulfils everything, so in the same way this turning away from the world and towards God was understood first not spatially but as a way of life. This is especially clear in the lives of the early Christians. Although they lived in the world they were fully aware that they did not come from it nor did they belong to it: “In the world but not of the world”. And those who lived in chastity and poverty, later fundamental principles of the monastic life, did not abandon the society of men or take to the mountains.
Spatial detachment from the world is used to assist detachment in manner. Experience shows that man’s salvation is harder to achieve in the world. As Basil the Great points out, living among men who care nothing for the strict observance of God’s commandments is harmful. It is difficult if not impossible to answer Christ’s call to take up one’s cross and follow Him within the bounds of worldly life. Seeing the multitude of sinners, one not only fails to see his own sins but also believe we have achieved something, because we compare ourselves with those worse than us. Furthermore, the hustle and bustle of everyday life distract man from the remembrance of God, and not only prevent him from feeling the joy of communion with God, but lead him to be contemptuous and forgetful of the divine will11.
This does not mean that detachment from the world guarantees salvation, but it is a positive and supportive step. When a man devotes himself wholly to God and His will however, nothing can stop him from being saved. St. Chrysostom mentions characteristically: “There is no obstacle to a worker striving for virtue, but men in office, and those who have a wife and children to look after, and servants to see to, and those in positions of authority can also take care to be virtuous “12.
Saint Simeon the New Theologian observes: “Living in a city does not prevent us from carrying out God’s commandments if we are zealous, and silence and solitude are of no benefit if we are slothful and neglectful”13. Elsewhere he says that it is possible for all, not only monks but laymen too, to “eternally and continuously repent and weep and pray to God, and by these actions to acquire all the other virtues”14.
~Orthodox Christian Network (OCN), https://myocn.net/the-monastic-life-the-way-of-perfection/.
- Maximos the Confessor, Mystagogia1, PG91, 665C.
2. See Eph. 5, 32.
3. Presbeia33. Also see Justin, Confession 1, 15, 6.
4. Mk.8,34.
5. Mt. 10,37.
6. “Each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another” 1 Cor. 7,7.
7. Pros piston patera (To the faithful father) 3, 14, PG47, 372-74.
8. Ibid. 373.
9. “If we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 1 Tim 6,8.
10. Heb. 13,14.
11. See Oroi kata platos (Monastic rules in full) 6, PG 31, 925A.
12. Catechism 7, 28, ed. A. Wenger, “Sources Chritiennes”, vol.50, Paris 21970m o,243.
13. Catechism 12, 132-5, ed. B. Krivocheine, “Sources Chritiennes”, vol.104, Paris 1964, p.374.
14. Catechism 5, 122-5, ed. B. Krivocheine, “Sources Chritiennes”. vol.96, Paris 1963, p.386.
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