一个隐修者的入世情怀——托马斯·默顿的社会和政治思想

A Monk's Concerns for the World:The Social and Political Thought of Thomas Merton

自启蒙运动以来,基督教的隐修传统经常被看成消极避世之举。美国特拉伯修会修士托马斯.默顿则以其对美国生活方式、"正义战争"理论和反战运动的论述极大地改变了这一传统看法。尽管修道者修道生活和社会干预之间存在内在的张力,但并不妨碍他们以一种特殊的方式积极干预世俗社会并形成独特的社会思想。

Since the inception of the Enlightenment movement, the Christian tradition of monasticism has frequently been regarded as a passive withdrawal from the world. However, this conventional view was challenged by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, with his views about the American lifestyle, the theory of a 'just war,' and the anti-war movement of the 1960s. Despite the inner tension between the contemplative life and social concerns, the monastic community can participate in social development in a special way and influence the world through its distinctive understanding of Catholic social teaching.