Review of Thomas Merton and the Protestant Tradition

Thomas Merton: Monk on the Edge, 2012

Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society, 2014

The Way, 2022

1976

National Catholic Reporter, 2022

written, taught, led retreats and lectured on the writing of Thomas Merton for many years, I am used to encountering a range of responses people have to the late Trappist monk and spiritual writer's work and wisdom. Generally speaking, those who have actually taken the time to learn about Merton -his fidelity to his Catholic faith, his openness to dialogue with other traditions, his keen social analysis and criticism, and the broad range of topics and thinkers he engaged throughout his tragically short life (1915-68) -are usually interested and inspired by his thought and writings. Still, some of Merton's writings can be particularly challenging and unsettling, even for those who admire him and have read his work. His writings on racial justice, war and nonviolence, and other urgent issues related to social justice can elicit a range of reactions, including resistance and defensiveness, especially when Merton's insights hit the nerves of one's conscience.

Christianity & Literature, 1990

The Merton Annual, Vol 21, 2008

2016

This research project investigates the relevance of the spirituality of the well-known twentieth century Trappist monk, Thomas Merton (1915-1968), for a postmodern contemporary society. The research follows a phenomenological approach. This investigation is done especially in terms of his understanding of the inner journey which is, paradoxically, also the journey to God. The study commences with a short biography of Merton, highlighting the key events that shaped his life and that influenced his spirituality. Merton’s concept of the true self versus the false self is then analysed in relation to spiritual growth, psycho-spiritual development, or what Merton, towards the end of his life, referred to as ‘final integration’. This is followed by an analysis of contemplation, a major element in Merton’s spirituality. It includes an investigation of the relevance of contemplation for holiness, the world of technology, inter-religious dialogue, passivism and non-violence. Merton’s prophetic wisdom is also analysed especially in light of the value of contemplation within the work-place. The study is concluded by drawing together the threads of the research and extrapolating the major findings.

2012

This dissertation is about the tenets of spiritual development outlined in Thomas Merton’s writings. Merton (1915 – 1968) was a monk, scholar, author, spiritual practitioner, and mystical theologian. Beginning with the research question: “What is Thomas Merton’s contribution to the theory and practice of spiritual development as found in some of his selected writings on community vs. solitude, contemplative vs. “mental” prayer, and knowledge of self vs. knowledge of God?” I interrogate several veins of literature. These include previous scholarly investigation of Merton and his writings, spiritual development, spiritual direction; Merton’s intellectual, philosophical, and theological heritage; and his monastic and spiritual heritage. Using three selections from Merton’s corpus as data, I employ hermeneutic phenomenology, including Gadamer’s three levels of hermeneutic understanding, and analytical commentary to study objectively and react subjectively to three passages, one each from Merton’s books, letters, and journals. I ascertained Merton’s contribution to the theory and practice of spiritual development in sufficient detail to produce several findings and a model of spiritual development that describes the relationships between the themes of the study (from the research question), some of Merton’s other concepts, and the contributions of other theorists who have studied Merton or spiritual development. Previous Merton scholarship has failed to offer any coherent and comprehensive description of Merton’s views on spiritual development that is both methodologically sound and psychologically informed. The current study successfully fills a gap in the literature by examining Merton’s writings using accepted methodological tools, considering Merton’s thought in the light of other theories of spiritual and psychological development, and offering both a narrative description and model of the major elements of Merton’s approach to spiritual and psychological development.

Antonianum, 2016

Lynch here criticizes modern individualistic and rationalistic tendencies to dismiss collective passions and traditions. This approach misses inevitable aspects of social life and so 'fails to understand the true nature of collective. .. morality' (2). Further, it is dangerous, tempting us to glibly ignore collective passions and their violent potential. Central to Lynch's critique is the phenomena of 'the sacred', and he aims to illuminate its social role by distinguishing it from traditional religions. Lynch follows Durkheim's functionalism in defining the sacred as a sphere of experience and behavior-namely, that which is 'set apart or forbidden' (23). So anything may be sacred; indeed 'flags, war memorials, bills of rights and child protection procedures' all function as sacred in modern society (24). The sacred is experienced as 'non-contingent' and (note) 'unquestionable' (26). It is discovered not by our disposition to call an object sacred, but in the powerful responses the object elicits, especially when confronted with the profane, a kind of 'evil' which threatens to 'pollute' the sacred (26-27). The sacred, then, creates emotionally powerful social dynamics by reinforcing collective identities in ritual and symbol. Because of the sacred's binding role, 'as a matter of theoretical principle. .. society without the sacred is impossible' (35). This argument is a priori, which perhaps explains the lack of cross-cultural illustrations. Lynch shows the transience of sacred forms with a whirlwind survey from prehistory until the present. Pre-modernity's hierarchical sacred forms collapsed under the Reformation's deinstitutionalization, which separated religion from social life. Modern societies needed other unifying symbols and forms and predominantly settled on nation and humanity as sacred. These should not be understood as secular 'quasireligions,' though (102). Unlike traditional religions, they shape society not as distinct phenomena but in a complex interplay. Moreover, these sacred forms both affect and are affected by traditional religions. Despite the word's connotations, the sacred is not unambiguously positive. It demarcates out-groups and produces powerful collective sentiments. It tends to create 'moral blind spot[s]' and can motivate violence against the profane (120). This unveiling of the sacred's dark side is the heart of the book. Lynch suggests that theology can provide even the nonreligious with resources to correct these violent tendencies. The theme of transcendence reminds us that our sacred forms are not equivalent to moral reality, and the theme of universal sinfulness protects against self-righteousness. These help us see others as human beings rather than sacred/profane symbols. Repeatedly, however, a number of related problems appear which threaten Lynch's main definitions and distract from his normative argument. Recall Lynch's insistence that the sacred is 'unquestionable'. It follows by definition that critical reflection on the sacred, including Lynch's, undermines sacred commitments, thus threatening 'relativism' (14). But why think that the sacred is unquestionable? Lynch thinks we must 'defend ourselves from the unsettling recognition' (41) that 'what we take to be unchanging, universal sacred realities are in fact continually undergoing gradual change' (40). But this conflates ontology with epistemology. Torture can be universally wrong, notwithstanding medieval mores, just as water was H 2 0 before modern chemistry discovered the fact. Lynch himself grants this (14, 152) but nevertheless suggests that 'we can never fully allow ourselves to experience' our understanding of the sacred as evolving 'if those sacred meanings are to have any purchase on our lives' (41). This claim's plausibility rests on the vital-seemingly constitutive-role emotion plays in the sacred as Lynch defines it. Reflection often seems to dispel emotional zeal. But we can apprehend the same object (say, humanity) as valuable with or without certain emotions (though not without any). One can find pedophilia absolutely impermissible without feeling murderous rage. Indeed, Lynch wants this sort of result (146). But Lynch's criterion for identifying the sacred relies on strong reactions (25-30). Does this imply that without gut reactions we can hold something only as 'valuable', not as 'sacred'? This would confine the sacred mostly to negative phenomena, especially since shared values can plausibly bind communities together (another supposed mark of the sacred). Without conceptually clarifying the relations of emotions and values to the sacred, its explanatory and normative value will be unclear. Despite these reservations, Lynch provides an engaging introduction to Durkheim's thought and its recent appropriations (especially by Yale's