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CHAPTER VII
ASCETICISM AND SPIRITUAL
TRAINING
IT is unfortunate that the word asceticism is commonly used
in a negative sense to denote self-privation, self-torture and an
unhealthy denial of the world. The word means, training. It
was originally used among the Greeks to designate the physical
discipline and training undergone by soldiers and athletes.
It had not the least ethical or religious significance until the
Stoics gave it a new content by employing it to denote the
exercise of self-restraint and mastery of desire.
Asceticism had an important place in the mystery religions of
late antiquity. Belief in its value was nourished by the idea that
man’s spiritual nature was polluted by his physical desires,
which must therefore be repressed by ascetic disciplines.
Christianity was influenced by this notion. Hellenistic dualism
made its mark on Christian thinking during the later apostolic
period, and was accompanied by definite forms of asceticism.
In the monastic movements these were later systematised
and became an integral part of the teaching of the Roman
Catholic Church.
After the Reformation asceticism and religious merit became
almost synonymous in the Western Church. Asceticism was an
end in itself. Spiritual worth was the reward of mortification.
The Reformers, however, were antagonistic to the monastic
orders wherein asceticism was made a life calling. Luther taught
that a man must confess his faith in his secular work and activity,
not by withdrawing from the world.
The Psycho-pathology of Asceticism
The practice of asceticism as a religious exercise has found
little favour in evangelical Christianity. Its reputation has not
improved since many of its exponents have been made the
objects of examination and analysis by the psychologists and
psychiatrists, who have enquired whether self-discipline and
self-torture are signs of health or disorder in the personal life.
N 193
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