Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
In the 3rd century, some professing Christians decided that to make themselves holy they must separate themselves from the world. Some became hermits and lived alone in caves, and one man sat on a platform on top of a pole for thirty years. This was the beginning of the development of forms of asceticism, that is harsh treatment of the body, and the monastic movement.
In our 9th lecture on Church History, we examine the establishing of the monastic movement and ask the following questions. Are Christians to separate themselves from the world, or be in the world but not of the world? Is the monastic movement a form of works-based salvation? Is hiding from the world a spiritual defeat and fortress mentality? Does the monastic movement fundamentally deny the finished work of Christ to make a Christian holy?
00:01 Introduction: Defining Asceticism and Monasticism
01:42 Pre-Christian Asceticism
03:47 The Development of Monasticism
08:24 Early Monasticism
11:50 The Spread of Monasticism and its Rules
13:47 The Benedictine Rule
17:13 Critique of Asceticism and Monasticism
23:21 Concluding Remarks
In the 3rd century, some professing Christians decided that to make themselves holy they must separate themselves from the world. Some became hermits and lived alone in caves, and one man sat on a platform on top of a pole for thirty years. This was the beginning of the development of forms of asceticism, that is harsh treatment of the body, and the monastic movement.
In our 9th lecture on Church History, we examine the establishing of the monastic movement and ask the following questions. Are Christians to separate themselves from the world, or be in the world but not of the world? Is the monastic movement a form of works-based salvation? Is hiding from the world a spiritual defeat and fortress mentality? Does the monastic movement fundamentally deny the finished work of Christ to make a Christian holy?
00:01 Introduction: Defining Asceticism and Monasticism
01:42 Pre-Christian Asceticism
03:47 The Development of Monasticism
08:24 Early Monasticism
11:50 The Spread of Monasticism and its Rules
13:47 The Benedictine Rule
17:13 Critique of Asceticism and Monasticism
23:21 Concluding Remarks
