sticism and Religion_

No doctrine in theology, or practice of religion, has been free from
monastic influences. An adequate treatment of this theme would require
volumes instead of paragraphs. A few points, however, may be touched
upon by way of suggestion to those who may wish to pursue the
subject further.

The effect of the monastic ideal was to emphasize the sinfulness of man
and his need of redemption. To get rid of sin--that is the problem of
humanity. A quaint formula of monastic confession reads: "I confess all
the sins of my body, of my flesh, of my bones and sinews, of my veins
and cartilages, of my tongue and lips, of my ears, teeth and hair, of my
marrow and any other part whatsoever, whether it be soft or hard, wet or
dry." This emphasis on man's sinfulness and the need of redemption was
sadly needed in Rome and all down the ages. "It was a protest," says
Clarke, "against pleasure as the end of life ... It proved the reality
of the religious sentiment to a skeptical age.... If this long period of
self-torture has left us no other gain, let us value it as a proof that
in man religious aspiration is innate, unconquerable, and able to
triumph over all that the world hopes and over all that it fears."

Thus the monks helped to keep alive the enthusiasm of religion. There
was a fervor, a devotion, a spirit of sacrifice, in the system, which
acted as a corrective to the selfish materialism of the early and middle
ages. Christian history furnishes many sad spectacles of brutality and
licentiousness, of insolent pride and uncontrolled greed, masked in the
garb of religion. Monasticism, by its constant insistence upon poverty
and obedience, fostered a spirit of loyalty to Christ and the cross,
which served as a protest, not only against the general laxity of
morals, but also against the faithlessness of corrupt monks. Harnack
says: "It was always monasticism that rescued the church when sinking,
freed her when secularized, defended her when attacked. It warmed hearts
that were growing cold, restrained unruly spirits, won back the people
when alienated from the church." It may have been in harmony with divine
plans, that religion was to have been kept alive and vigorous by
excessive austerities, even as in later days it needed the stern and
unyielding Puritan spirit, now regarded as too grim and severe, to cope
successfully with the forces of tyranny and sin.

If it be true, as some are inclined to believe, that