Talk:New Monasticism

Empire?

In the list in the introduction, the first item speaks of "abandoned places of Empire." What on earth does that mean? Can someone clarify this? MishaPan 15:32, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

I believe it is a phrase which stems from the Orthodox Church in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Monks and other monastics who sought to escape the clamor of day to day activity would traverse the land and take up residence in and around the isolated frontiers of the empire, where they could be left alone to practice their ascetical and devotional efforts in peace.(Rosewater Alchemist (talk) 03:56, 16 April 2008 (UTC))

Might also very well be referencing the USA as Empire, a common terminology in the New Left Staplovich (talk) 01:23, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Many people in the New Monastacism see Christianity as a counter cultural movement. They believe the Kingdom of God is a new order for the present day not just at the end of things. The original Empire would have been the oppressive Roman Empire. Now 'empire' refers to any political structure that oppresses the poor. USA is certainly an empire in this instance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.58.209.206 (talk) 20:00, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Needs more work...

this page is awful. a wiki shouldnt be a page full of links, it is supposed to be an encyclopedia entry on a subject. I dont know enough about "New Monasticism" to write an article about it, but someone needs to fix this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fozzymandias (talk • contribs) 20:13, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Seriously, this page needs to be updated... and quickly... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.154.44.161 (talk) 19:20, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Someone left a comment in the Communities section about which identify themselves as new monastics. I went through the links and removed the ones with no mention of NM. Many of the communities shared similar values and beliefs, and are doing similar work - but I removed them anyway because (1) there were too many links, and (2) if the people don't associate themselves with the new monastic movement it is unfair (and possibly misleading) for anyone else to. Lexi kate (talk) 19:02, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Who says that it is unfair? One doesn't need to use "new monasticism" to be a part of the movement. There are many different movements with participants who don't self-identify with the movement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.116.11.242 (talk) 05:53, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree that a group doesn't need to use the term "new monasticism" to be part of the movement. On the other hand, however, it is possible that a group of people who share many of the tenants/beliefs of a movement may not want to be associated with that movement. Out of respect for those communities, it is unfair to assign them a label that they have not adopted themselves. (I, forexample, believe in women's rights - that we're paid equally, treated equally, allowed the same political rights as men, etc. - but do not consider myself a "feminist" and would be a little irritated if someone associated me with that movement.) Some of those groups may not be aware of the term "new monasticism," but some may be intentionally avoiding it. Lexi kate (talk) 15:09, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

The Simple Way was definitely not founded in the late 1980s as the article states. I don't know if other communities identifying themselves as new monastics were founded in the 80s, but the Simple Way was started in 1998. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.181.237.188 (talk) 21:53, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I started to wikify the book cites. As set up, they are commercials for book ordering sites.Pustelnik (talk) 18:24, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Would be nice to have some reference to the emergence and development of new-monasticism in the UK both dispersed communities like The Northumbria Community and Aidan and Hilda, movements like 24/7 prayer and to the newer emerging new-monastic communities like Moot and MayBe and the ongoing spread of small missional communities. Mark —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.104.226.122 (talk) 23:46, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

"Christian-ese"

Some things stick out to me as I read about what defines a "new monastic" such as undefined words which are maybe familiar to Christians involved with 'New Monasticism' but not the world at large and they include:

1. Relocation to the "abandoned places of Empire" [at the margins of society]
-I'm not clear what the significance of the 'margins of society' are. Is it considered to be a physical or spiritual place or is it a term which refers to specific members of a society?

6. Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate
-This entire line is fuzzy; 'intentional formation in the way of Christ' may be a phrase common in this movement or perhaps is just an attempt to say something simple in a confusing way? Is it spiritual growth or an effort to bring about a Christian homogenization in a host society? Perhaps it is a reference to the actual formation of a monastic group? Secondly the 'rule of the community' what rule of what community? Is it internal self-governance of the monastic community or a literal rule over a host community? Finally, what is the old novitate and how is it relevant to the beginning of the sentence?

8. Support for celibate singles alongside monogamous married couples and their children
-What type of support is referenced here? Is it financial, spiritual, or emotional? None of the above? It is not entirely clear how support is given or what the material of that support is.

10. Care for the plot of God’s earth given to us along with support of our local economies
-This phrase is a red flag that this article may have been written by someone who is, indeed, involved in the 'New Monastic' movement itself. The use of 'given to us' and 'our local communities' give a definite feel that the author copied this from some type of pre-existing 'new monastic' literature verbatim and is attempting to use it in an improper tense and in an inappropriate situation. If this is indeed copied are sources cited?

11. Peacemaking in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18
-Am I clear or is 'peacemaking' itself a violent act committed to end a conflict? And the vague reference to Matthew 18 needs explanation.

12. Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life
-A vague and meaningless phrase unless given a clear context and direction.

Overall this is a very very poor article which I suspect has been perpetrated by a 'new monastic' himself. If the above list was written by 'new monastics' to define their own movement it needs to be clearly explained that this is the case. If not the twelve points need to be more properly develouped to lend some badly needed clarity to this article.

-Gao Fu Li —Preceding unsigned comment added by Electricauntjemima7 (talk • contribs) 04:21, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

13. Catholicism. The new monasticism is not in any way a part of the Catholic Church and i said as much in the 2nd paragraph. Why was this deleted? I reposted it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.88.174.52 (talk) 21:53, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

History of Married Monastics

It is claimed that married contemplative life is a new trend in Western Christianity; it might be worth mentioning that some Orthodox monasteries allow married monastics. Not sure how long this practice has been going on, but it seems relevant to this topic. Staplovich (talk) 01:26, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Assessment comment

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The following points should be considered with this article. 1. This article does not explain why the new monastic movement is monastic. 2. The term 'new monasticism' needs to be given a history. It appears that this is a fairly new term being promoted by a few people. Many people who are identifeid as leaders of the new monastic movement would have found the term a misnomer and did not consider themselves to be associated with a monastic movement. For Example... Why are Catherine Dougherty and Dorothy Day mentioned as leaders of the movement. 3. It is not clear how many of the representative groups listed have adopted the 12 points of new monasticism as an ideal. This should be noted, and true new monastic communities should receive a special designation. 4. Many of the non-movement examples, such as the Catholic worker movement, Madonna House etc... do not understand themselves as being monastic. Many of them would hearken back to other non-monastic traditions such as the Franciscan or Friars. 5. It does not seem to be in line with wikipedia's standards to have a page defining a term that seems to be written by the term's originators. Instead of having an article written from the perspective of an outsider observing the movement, this article appears to be written by practitioners of the movement to give their vision for the movement. There are very few outside sources for this article. 204.185.77.119 (talk) 00:56, 4 March 2008 (UTC)monk

Last edited at 00:56, 4 March 2008 (UTC). Substituted at 01:07, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

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