Karoline’s Reviews > The Story of Monasticism: Retrieving an Ancient Tradition for Contemporary Spirituality > Status Update

"It was only in the 19th century that Protestants began making retreats, these having been viewed with suspicion as too Roman Catholic prior to that. Now it is not uncommon for Evangelical churches to rent out entire retreat centers for the weekend."

This is taking some imagination for me. 😂 The church retreat business might encounter some energetic reformers of its own if it was inspired by monasticism.

into the Cistercian reforms now . . . this bird's eye view of monastic history does highlight just how many cycles of reforms came and went in monastic communities over the years! "back to Benedict" and his concerns for simplicity, discipline, and manual labor seems to have been the perennial cry

Thoughtful and succinct historical account and I'm enjoying it so far. Each chapter ends with some reflections from the author and a proposal for some contemporary church-wide application of monastic wisdom, mostly focused on taking holiness seriously.

Spiritually motivated ascetic practices weren't out-of-the-blue innovations of the early church but have longstanding Scriptural precedent. I appreciate Peters starting here!