Jerome
distinctly taught that what was natural was opposed to God. The Gnostics
and many of the early Christians believed that this world was ruled by
the devil. The Gnostics held that this opposition of the kingdom of
matter to God was fundamental and eternal. The Christians, however,
maintained that the antagonism was temporary, the Lord having given the
world over to evil spirits for a time. The prevailing opinion among
almost all schools was that a union with God was only possible to those
who had extinguished bodily desires.
The ascetic theory undoubtedly derived much support from the views held
concerning the teachings of the Bible. The Oriental monks frequently
quoted from their sacred books to justify their habits and ideals. In
like manner, the Christian monks believed that they, and they alone,
were literally obeying the commands of Christ and his apostles. This
phase of the subject will receive attention when the three vows of
monasticism are considered.
In the West, two conditions, one political and social, the other
religious, set in motion all these spiritual desires and ascetic beliefs
tending toward monasticism. One was the corrupted state, of Roman
society and the approaching overthrow of the Roman Empire. The other was
the secularization of the church.
Men naturally cling to society as long as there exists any well-founded
hope for its regeneration, but when every expectation for the survival
of righteousness yields to a conviction that doom is inevitable, then
the flight from the world begins.
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