Thursday, February 11, 2021

Roy A. Cheville (RLDS) on the Positives that came out of Monasticism

When one is engaged in apologetics, it is often difficult to remain balanced with one’s theological opponents and opposing doctrinal perspectives, as it is easy to engage in an “either-or” mentality (either ‘x’ is 100% right or it is 100% wrong). However, there is no theological system that is 100% in error and all have some positives one can have some “holy envy” for.

 

RLDS author Roy A. Cheville captured this attitude in his discussion of Monasticism. While noting the many problems therein, he did note the following positives that came from the movement:

 

YET MONASTICISM WAS A SAVING GRACE

 

The contributions of monasticism to our total civilization may not be disregarded. The withdrawal of monks enabled them to do something things for the longtime good of civilization. During the Middle Ages the monks were the most skillful tillers of the soil. They reclaimed lands. They also kept learning alive, the brand of learning that fit in with their way of life, but it was learning. They maintained schools for neighboring youth, about the only schools extant. They copied and preserved manuscripts. They produced what little literature was produced.

 

Science, too, owes a debt of gratitude particularly to the Benedictine order. The monasteries protected and preserved the scientific knowledge of the times. Monks cared for the poor, the suffering, and the outcast. They provided the hospitals and the almshouses for the times. They made contact with the less civilized and drew them into more civilized ways. In a sense separation from the world was necessary to prevent losing identity in the rough times. The saving factor was that they did not withdraw completely.

 

How much apartness from the social order shall a religious group maintain? Every specialized group has to be apart enough to maintain fitness. It needs to be selective with respect to its personnel, regulating carefully who are eligible to have membership. Yet it may not become inbred and narrow. It has to keep near enough to society to enable it to bring its specialized contribution. Such is the case of the symphony orchestra: it has to be selective and in a sense apart if it is to bring music of merit to the largest society. Yet it may not play for its own self-admiration. Is it not so with the church? One gets the impression that during these centuries, from the fifth through the eighth the church was not seeing this very clearly. The church at large was taking in new members right and left and taking on the qualities of the times. On the other hand, many persons in the church were withdrawing from society to save themselves. There was general tendency to withdraw to the next life. (Roy A. Cheville, Did the Light Go Out? A Study in the Process of Apostasy [Independence, Miss.: Herald Publishing House/Department of Religious Education Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1962], 150-51)