From East to West: A History of Monasticism

From East to West: A History of Monasticism. By Mayeul de Dreuille, OSB. New York: Crossroad, 2000. ix + 137 pp. $16.95 (paper).

A few years ago, after the demise of Soviet Marxism, Cardinal Ratzinger opined that Buddhism is now the greatest threat to Christianity. Fortunately, such wrongheadedness is being challenged, and even refuted, within the cardinal's own Church, especially by monks, who are continuing and strengthening ecumenical relationships begun in the '60s with monastics of other faiths. From East to West is both a product of and salutary contributor to continuing ecumenical understandings between East and West.

A reworking of three volumes published "some years ago" for the Benedictine communities of India, "the present volume gives the history of Asian monasticism with as much as possible of its spirituality and the historical framework of the founders of Christian monasticism" (p. vii), whose spirituality will be the subject of a second volume. This book is apparently a translation, presumably from French, and often, unfortunately, reads like a rather bumpy one, with the added handicap of idiosyncratic punctuation. Probably more problematic for many readers will be the fact that the book was originally written for Roman Catholic monks and, therefore, numerous terms are not explained; a glossary would have been a great help. The book is further hampered by noninclusive language, a bane of numerous books published in England even today. Nevertheless, From East to West can serve as a useful introduction to Christian and non-Christian monasticism, and especially to the confluences between the two. At 137 pages, the volume may prove too sketchy for some, but for readers with little or no background in monasticism or Eastern religions, it may offer just the right depth.

The volume under review is about evenly divided between Eastern and Christian monasticism. In part 1, "Born Before Christ: Monastic Life in the East," de Dreuille devotes a chapter each to Hindu, Buddhist and, surprisingly, Egyptian and Jewish monasticism, before discussing, in chapter 5, "Contacts between the East and Christian Monasticism." As with most books introducing Westerners to Buddhism and Hinduism, From East to West has a plethora of daunting names and theological concepts. The chapters on Buddhist and Hindu monasticism, however, appear to this non-specialist to be solid. Chapter 4, "The Jewish Monastic Ideal," looks at the "strong resemblances" between the ascetics of Qumran and the Therapeutae of Egypt and Christian monks (p. 59), but it is not clear exactly what relationship de Dreuille posits between Christian and Jewish asceticism other than the fact that both involve "a life spent in liturgical prayer and the search for God" (p. 64). Chapter 3, on pre-Christian Egyptian monasticism, along with a paragraph on Sufi mysticism (p. 93), is too sketchy and vague to be of much help.

Part 2, "Christian Monasticism," consists of three chapters, two longer ones on history (chap. 7) and spirituality (chap. 8) and a short concluding one, "Convergences." The historical synopses that the author offers are, once again, brief but sufficient. There are, however, two unfortunate omissions: (1) when discussing the Orthodox Churches (pp. 97-98) and the modern 11 monastic boom" (p. 100), de Dreuille inexplicably omits the remarkable renaissance in monasticism among the Copts of Egypt; (2) he notes that in the nineteenth century "English [Roman Catholic] monks are allowed to return home," but fails to make any mention of England's homegrown-that is, Anglican-monastic orders. Chapter 7 on spirituality is very good; it's interesting to note that the person de Dreuille quotes the most here is the American Cistercian Thomas Merton.

Despite the problems and limitations of this volume, From East to West does fulfill its purpose of viewing "our situation from a different angle" (p. viii) and of reminding us of the "common role of monastic life in all religions. Centred on the search for the Absolute, it stands as a sign, reminding mankind that the aim of human life is not possession of perishable goods but, rather, to become one day `citizens of heaven,' a privilege that all can begin to enjoy, here and now, through an intimate contact with the Divine Presence, which dwells in the depth of the heart" (p. 127).

TIM VIVIAN

Saint Paul's Episcopal Parish

Bakersfield, California

Copyright Anglican Theological Review, Inc. Winter 2001
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