Monasticism from the Point of View of Christianity

Abstract

Monasticism, which means fear and awe, has an Arabic root. There are many definitions for this word. Forgetting about the world, the people, permanent celibacy, and retreating into oneself for the sake of worshipping are common features among these definitions. Monasticism was born in the third century AD among the Christians. During that time, some people turned away from religion and spiritual teachings and turned into monasticism. Against this group, there were a group of people, who turned their back at the world and turned into worshipping, spirituality, and religion. They took refuge in the monasteries. Using an analytic library research method, this research deals with monasticism movement and investigates it in different sects of Christianity in order to emphasize the point that monasticism does not have a root in Christianity and has been created by a group after Christianity. The founder of monasticism is a person named Antonios from Egypt whose way and teachings was followed by many people later.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s4p383