Monastic Theology
William S.J. Harmless
Monastic theology emerged in the very era that saw great patristic bishop-theologians, from Athanasius to Augustine, and ecumenical councils, Nicaea Chalcedon. theologians certainly meditated on big picture, but more as map-makers than systematicians. The theological task, they conceived it, was map precisely how individual Christian journeys God. Ultimately, it a mode of flowed back into practice mystical contemplation. This chapter traces history monastic John Cassian (d. 435) through Venerable Bede (673–735) Bernard Clairvaux (1090–1153).