States of Life

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DOMINICAN FATHERS OF THE PROVINCE OF ST. JOSEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VOL. XII JANUARY, 1949 No.1 STATES OF LIFE T HE RELIGIOUS orders have always been a significant factor in the life of the Church, contributing either to her embarrassment by their failures or to her triumph by their successes. Accordingly, a correct evaluation of the religious state in general and an adequate appraisal of the various types into which that state is divided are of the utmost importance to all interested in the triumph of the Church. It is to be regretted that by an unfortunate paradox in the history of Christian spirituality modern thought on the religious state, instead of being clearer and better developed than ancient thought, is actually more confused. The varieties of the religious state and their relationships to the development of Christian perfection and the good of the Church have been subjected by modern authors to confusion and distortion, whereas in the minds of the great doctors of the past all was clear and orderly. An example of this unhappy contrast may be found in the remarkable lucidity of one of these great doctors of the past, 1 JOHN FEARON St. Thomas Aquinas, and the distressing confusion of one of these modern authors, the Trappist poet, Thomas Merton. They are definitely at odds in the important matter of the relative merits and the difference of function of the active and contemplative orders. Inasmuch as modern works on Christian morality often lack a properly theological consideration of the special states of the Christian life and the ordinary theological course today treats of the religious life in a cursory and inadequate fashion, it seems well to present the doctrine of St. Thomas on the active and contemplative lives, and on the religious state and its formal variants. Following this exposition we shall contrast the teaching of the Angelic Doctor with the modern viewpoint referred to above.1 In conclusion, we shall attempt to indicate a few of the many practical conclusions, important to everyone, which issue from St. Thomas' treatment of the religious life. I In ordinary speech, the terms "life" and " state" can have reference to such things as magazines and civil institutions, yet a misunderstanding of the usage of these terms is unlikely. In ordinary speech, however, such terms as "contemplative life" and" contemplative order," "religious life" and" religious order," or" religious state," are frequently confused. Not so in theology. Theologically, the contemplative religious state and the active religious state are defined and differentiated in terms of the works of the active and contemplative lives, but neither state is to be confused with its corresponding type of life. In much· the same fashion, the medical profession and the culinary profession are defined and differentiated in terms of the works of the sciences of medicine and cooking, in terms of health and nutrition, and yet they are not identified with health and nutrition. Fruitful theologica~ thought on this subject must keep this distinction clearly in mind. An under1 Cf. T. Merton, "Active and Contemplative Orders," The Commonweal. XLVII, No.8. STATES OF LIFE standing of the relative merits of the contemplative and active lives must include some idea of the thing divided, an insight into the type of distinction involved, and knowledge of the standards according to which the judgment is to be made. "Life," as divided into "contemplative" and "active," is not simply self-motion, a feature common to all living things. The distinction between the contemplative and the active life applies specifically to human life, intelligent and rational life. In this sense we are accustomed to say that a man leads the life of a philosopher or the life of .a sportsman inasmuch as his gre~test delight and chief interest is either in thought or in athletic accomplishments. Accordingly," life" as divided into " contemplative" and "active" refers to the rational and deliberate side of human life. And a form of life in this sense is denominated as active or contemplative by what is chiefly intended in that life. Inasmuch as some men chiefly intend...