The Modern Monastery

Read-Aloud

May I suggest that for the Christian message to be socially impactful, some corrections would be needed. It would be essential to approach the Logos rationally, eliminate fallacies, prejudices and prioritize truthfulness, and that in order to do this, a community dedicated to this cause would be required.  

Utilizing the time-tested structure of monastic communities presents the most direct route to enhancing the human condition. By establishing a community that exemplifies an ideal way of life, we can lead by example and offer support to local communities in addressing their challenges.

When one reads the New Testament it gives one the sense that the fundamental and practical object of the work of Jesus Christ was to achieve social change. It is therefore unfortunate that the message that Pastors, and Preachers emphasize, deals with an eternal life and heavenly rewards, while failing to attend to our reality, and the nuts and bolts of a real Christian community.

How many Churches really make an effort to help the poor, provide education, healthcare, etc...   

Since people fear death, and have simple minds, the promise of eternal life can be an excellent marketing pitch for a Church. Yet, these metaphysical and eternal aspects have no real value to us, in fact they perpetuate a helpless attitude in people. When evil and sin become normal or natural then we tend to do nothing about the problem. When you give up hope for any good to come of this world and await for an afterlife to fix the problem, that becomes the problem.

The Logos by Greek definition is a method of persuading someone by using reason and logic, a universal divine reason, immanent in nature, yet transcending all oppositions and imperfections in the cosmos and humanity. An eternal and unchanging truth present from the time of creation, available to every individual who seeks it.

Why do we ignore this truth, when clearly the logos to be the Logos, must be true. So consider this basic analysis:  Since the afterlife is not a Jewish concept, nor is it verifiable, why do we even consider this part of a conversation for Christianity, why do we not simply build a practical community and social structure that works. Why wait to be dead?    

We are all free to believe what we choose, therefore if you are looking for eternal salvation, be careful what you wish for.  Eternity is a consideration for metaphysics, a hopeful condition which needs only your belief and faith in order to achieve its results. I would say this is not a practical objective for a community which seeks truth, nor for an honest agreeable life in the real world.

With some disregard for the metaphysical aspects of the Christian message, and given all the modern tools at our disposal, we could build something practical that would become an economic and social phenomena for good and spiritual well being. 

What I suggest is a model based on a modification of the  St Benedict Rule, applied to small communities. Historically monastic orders had great success, the United States was founded upon a variety of Millenarian movements, with Masons, Quakers, Shakers, and Amish as only a few examples of Utopian religious communities which attempted to build New Worlds in the New World.

The evolution of the Christian community is a very close approximation to the path that Christ has directed us to.  

The Ekklesia, or what we call Church, is a Greek word that denotes the democratic administrative body of the Greek Democracy. Since community was the central theme of Christianity, why do we not apply this principal in earnest?  People working together building sound economic ascetic communities dedicated to compassion for our fellow man. A well educated advanced social system loosely patterned by the Rule of St Benedict.

  "The new testament declares law to have failed, frees man from its dominion and in its stead preaches the kingdom of grace to be won by faith, love of neighbor and entire sacrifice of self. This is the path or redemption from the evil of the world the spirit of the new testament is undoubtedly asceticism... " Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)