Thursday, September 18, 2025

It is the 18th of September 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Listen… you keep writing, I’ll keep answering. A few more mailbag shows amidst our weeks of reformation shows and some guest shows, all in this very busy fall. I should be home now from trip one to kiss my wife and boys, help out around the house, and then I’m off again.

Devon in Big Rapids, Michigan wrote… now Devon, I want to hear about your city's name and its relation to “Grand Rapids” and how does that make you feel? You’ve got the Ferris State University Bulldogs, where Al Jardine of the Beach Boys went to school for a year.

Devon wrote to ask about what he thinks is the only Lutheran monastery in America, in nearby Oxford, Michigan- the Augustine House, a Lutheran Monastery and Retreat Center. It’s the only one I know of in North America, although I know of at least two German Lutheran monasteries and one Swedish Lutheran monastery, and you will find similar, but small groups, within the Anglican tradition.

Devon- I get being a little weirded out by it. After all, didn’t Luther leave the monastery? He was anti-Monastery… or was he?

Let’s break the word down- “monk” comes to us from the Greek word for solitary. It seems to be a human impulse to seek some kind of solitude for whatever spiritual purposes one might have. But the Christian monastic tradition begins in imitation of Jesus. Being like Jesus is not the saving good news, but it certainly seems to be the shape of the Christian life.

And in the 2nd to 4th centuries, we see people seeking solitude, often in the desert, in imitation of Jesus and his 40 Days. It has been pointed out that with the rise of Constantine and the end of the age of Martyrdom, Monasticism became the new way to try and shoot for the moon. And this may have been part of the problem- as soon as the Christian life seeks to gain merit or show how much holier you are than the next person….

But the monastic impulse is by no means un-Christian. And we have great names like Benedict and others who tried to take the monastic pulse and give it a structure. The Benedictines were those who lived by his rule and other “rules” developed such that you had some monks that were “cenobitic” (being alone together) and “eremitic”, where we get the word “hermit”, they are alone, alone.

But being a monk, or a nun, was not an exercise in futility. For every monk who made a name sitting on a pole for years in self-deprivation, there were those who were part of the economy in production (their bakeries and breweries were essential services) and in education, and all of this, not yet pointing out the important job of copying manuscripts. When Thomas Cahill said the Irish “saved Civilization” in his provocative book some years ago, he landed on this as the key.

So, is there anything inherently anti-Biblical about monasteries and nunneries? I tend to think we Protestants tend to zoom over the part where Paul says it might be better for some to be single and serve the Lord.

Digging into the Augustin House, there in nearby Oxford, Michigan, Devon, it is interesting that in their constitution (updated most recently in 2022), they state that they are guided by the Rule of St Benedict and the Lutheran tradition keeping the Old and New Testaments and three standard creeds along with the Unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530 and the Confessions of 1580. That’s about as Lutheran as you can get…

Two quick thoughts, Devon. The first is that the great thing about Christian freedom is that you are free to do it; you just can’t claim that another “has to” do it. And if these brothers (as we can call them in both senses) feel the call, great!

Secondly, it seems I’ve been circling around this point for clarity amongst the Reformation traditions. In both Anglican and Lutheran circles, the impulse in reform was largely “remove what’s necessary and try to redeem the rest,” as opposed to “remove everything and then replace only what is necessary” in other Reformation traditions. I’m not telling you which one is right, but it seems like a big dividing line.

Do you know of other Protestant monastic communities? Shoot them my way- and one more mailbag tomorrow for two whole weeks! And then the Luther show this weekend- not your normal Luther show… a good time for everyone.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 79- a psalm for times of trouble:

O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
    they have defiled your holy temple,

    they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

They have left the dead bodies of your servants

    as food for the birds of the sky,

    the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

They have poured out blood like water

    all around Jerusalem,

    and there is no one to bury the dead.

We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
    of scorn and derision to those around us.

How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?

    How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

Pour out your wrath on the nations

    that do not acknowledge you,


on the kingdoms

    that do not call on your name;

for they have devoured Jacob

    and devastated his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;

    may your mercy come quickly to meet us,

    for we are in desperate need.

Help us, God our Savior,

    for the glory of your name;


deliver us and forgive our sins

   for your name’s sake.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 18th of September 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wants to know what Wisconsin needs to do to get a cool Upper Peninsula like Michigan… he is  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows the answer is a petty border war with a state to the south- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.