The Train Called The New Monasticism

It is appparent that the New Monasticism is also building steam on the ecumenical, social gospel tracks. Recent articles by the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Christianity Today reveal the emerging evangelical pursuit of the Ancient Monastic Ways rooted in Roman Catholicism.

What is the New Monasticism movement? From the New Monasticism website, the movement is describe as follows:

"..we wish to acknowledge a movement of radical rebirth, grounded in God’s love and drawing on the rich tradition of Christian practices that have long formed disciples in the simple Way of Christ. This contemporary school for conversion which we have called a “new monasticism,” is producing a grassroots ecumenism and a prophetic witness within the North American church which is diverse in form...

The website continues to list 12 Marks of Monasticism which includes:

• Sharing economic resources with fellow community members
• Lament for racial divisions and active pursuit of a just reconciliation.
• Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate.
• Care for God’s earth and peacemaking
• Commitment to a disciplined contemplative life.

We also find a collection of authors on the website that have written on the movement of young people gravitating toward intentional, communal living in America’s inner cities...

Shane Claiborne in his book, The Irresistible Revolution , "describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world." Another book, Inhabiting the Church, co-authors "Otto, Stock, and Wilson-Hartgrove ask what the church can learn from St. Benedict’s vows of conversion, obedience, and stability about how to live as the people of God in the world. In story-telling and serious engagement with Scripture, old wisdom breathes life into a new monasticism."

It's no secret that Rick Warren endorses New Age & Roman Catholic mystics, but what does America's pastor think about Monasticism? Let's take a look...

Rick Warren was one of five judges on the Templeton Power of Purpose Essay contest in 2004. "The Awards were designed to encourage people to think about the benefits of noble purpose where purpose is defined as something more important than our simple survival, something not merely intellectual, but in our souls."

Warren voted for the grand prize winner, August Turak. "Turak's essay, Brother John, is the true story of how the author's contemplative retreat to Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery, turns both magical and terrible when a simple monk offers to share an umbrella on a cold and rainy Christmas Eve. This simple act of loving kindness proves almost more than he can bear, and becomes the catalyst for a gut wrenching re-evaluation of life, love, and the terrible yet fascinating nature of God."

August Turak is the force behind the New Age Self Knowledge Symposium which "encourages people to consciously develop their own personal, moral and spiritual values and to live according to them. The SKSF creates experiential learning programs and social contexts within which people can explore the deeper questions in life, developing intellectual understanding and personal character in a quest for the life worth living."

The train called The New Monasticism certainly is on the same track of Rick Warren's PEACE train. Social justice, ecumenism, mysticism and deeds not creeds. All enroute for the final destination for Rome and the coming Global Religious System.

Are you ready?

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