Monasticism refers to a religious kind of life through which one entirely devotes themselves to spiritual work by denouncing and renouncing worldly pleasures or pursuits. Through history, monasticism is acknowledged as the reason for the spread of Christianity. History records Paul the Hermit as the first Christian to have led the monastic way of life. As such, the paper is aimed at discussing the importance of monasticism to Christianity and subsequently how it resulted in the spread of Christianity.
According to ReligionFacts (2017), it was not until the late stages of the third century that monasticism was known to Christianity. Christianity mainly began breaking ground and spreading with the help of individuals living a monastic way of life such as Anthony of Egypt who was regarded a hermit. Anthony ventured into the desert at the age of fifteen years and remained there for ninety years. As such, a few people who believed in Christianity likened his actions to those of Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and the Israelites who similarly ventured into the desert and found their purpose in life. Therefore, as the popularity of Anthony spread, most people began to believe in his course and followed him and his monastic way of life. In the same breadth, the Christian beliefs and teachings of Moses, Jesus, and Elijah were likened to his way of life giving rise to Christian Monasticism. Therefore, as the popularity of these monastic individuals such as Anthony, Paul, Pachomius, and Basil grew, so did Christianity.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
After the death of Jesus Christ, most of the believers or followers of Christian teachings retreated into a monastic way of life. In essence, these Christians believed that the best way of serving Jesus Christ was through monasticism which involved isolation, asceticism, and simplicity. Under this lifestyle, two types of monasticism were formed; cenobitic or communal and solitary. However, given the harshness and the difficulty of the solitary monasticism such as that of Anthony, communal or cenobitic monasticism was adopted. This phenomenon drew arguably a huge number of people who believed their actions were in service of Christ thereby spreading Christianity throughout Europe in the medieval ages (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). Most often than not, the monks indulged in copying and reading texts from the Bible as well as the classical literature thus providing education to their followers (Zavada, 2017). In addition, the cenobitic monks and their followers sometimes worshiped in churches and cathedrals. As such, following the monastic kind or way of life during the medieval ages was similar to being a Christian.
Other fundamental monastic figures in the spread of Christianity were the Benedict of Nursia and St. Benard of Clairvaux whose great works were in making and conserving Benedictine rules and scripts. Following their demise, these figures left behind a vast amount of literary works and knowledge in the form of letters, treatises, and sermons. The scripts, texts, and manuscripts included monastic teachings which were in tandem with the Christian beliefs. Owing to the teachings within the literary works, survival, and spread of Christianity was ensured subsequently dominating the world as the largest and most popular religion. Other than reading, learning, and teaching Roman and Greek works, some of the monks and monasteries indulged in teaching and writing Latin which was the core language of the Church. Thus, with comprehension of the Christian and church writings made easy, Christianity easily spread across Europe (Meaghan, 2015).
Monasticism fundamentally helped spread Christianity through the world that was entrenched in paganism. In their wake and spread of Christianity through monasticism, the monks were considered as heroes in the medieval period leaving behind strong and strict cultural beliefs and knowledge that positively impacted Christianity and its history. Even though monasticism and Christianity are currently considered different, in more ways than one, they have similar beliefs and guidelines towards faith and life. Thus, as the paper has elaborated, monasticism was crucial in the spread of Christianity.
References
Meaghan. (2015). World History: Chapter 21 Section 2 - The Spread of Christianity in Europe. Quizlet. Web. Retrieved from: https://quizlet.com/75435085/world-history-chapter-21-section-2-the-spread-of-christianity-in-europe-flash-cards/
ReligionFacts. (2017, May 18). Christian Monasticism. ReligionFacts. Web. Retrieved from: http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/monasticism
The Saylor Foundation. (2012). Early Medieval Monasticism. The Saylor Foundation. Web. Retrieved from: https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/HIST201-1.4.1-EarlyMedievalMonasticism-FINAL1.pdf
Zavada, J. (2017, February 12). Monasticism. ThoughtCo. Web. Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-monasticism-700048
