On the Work of Monks

Contents

Reading pages: 1–12 · 13–25 · 26–39 · 40–41

1. 1Augustine writes at the request of Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, on whether monks who refuse to work, contrary to 2 Thess 3:10, should be tolerated.
2. 2The monks who refuse manual work argue from Matt 6:25–34 that Paul's command in 2 Thess 3:10 refers only to spiritual work, such as reading, prayer, and encouraging others.
3. 3The monks' figurative reading of Paul could as easily be turned against their literal reading of the gospel; Paul's other letters make plain that he meant bodily work.
4. 4In 2 Thess 3:6–12 Paul, who had a right to be supported but worked night and day, commands those who walk in disorder to work quietly and eat their own bread.
5. 5In 1 Cor 9:1–5 Paul claims the apostles' right to be supported and to take along a believing woman to minister to them, which Augustine insists means a woman helper, not a wife.
6. 6Christ's purse held by Judas and the women who ministered to him show that preachers may be supported by the faithful, while Paul, like the Good Samaritan's extra outlay, gave more by working for his food.
7. 7The instructions to the seventy-two in Luke 10 show that support from those who hear the gospel is a permission, not a command, so Paul could decline it.
8. 8Paul's question whether only he and Barnabas lack the right not to work shows that the other apostles rightly lived by the gospel without manual work, while these two chose to work.
9. 9Paul refused the right to reap material support for spiritual sowing, so he must have earned his food by manual work.
10. 10Paul's statement that the Lord ordained that preachers live by the gospel, but that he used none of it, can only refer to material support, not spiritual life.
11. 11Paul's glory and reward lie in preaching the gospel willingly and free of charge, not from the necessity of earning a living by it.
12. 12Paul's becoming all things to all, including his observances at Jerusalem and his refusal of support, was compassion for the weak, not pretense.
13. 13Paul refused support from the Thessalonians and Corinthians and worked with his hands, as he also told the Ephesian presbyters, to cut off any pretext of greed and spare the weak.
14. 14Paul's trade is secondary; he did honest work such as craftsmen and farmers do, which neither Jews, Greeks, nor the church despise, since the patriarchs were shepherds and Joseph a carpenter.
15. 15Paul worked day and night while carrying the care of all the churches, unlike these monks who, living at leisure, ask when he found time to work.
16. 16Paul urged the faithful to support servants of God who are in need, and assured Timothy, too weak for manual work, that taking support from those he served was his right, not begging.
17. 17Paul urged the gentile churches to support the poor saints at Jerusalem who had given up their property, and took a companion appointed by the churches so that no one could suspect him of keeping the collection.
18. 18Paul's joy over the collection in 2 Cor 9 shows how he valued the mutual exchange of material and spiritual goods between churches.
19. 19As Paul urged the faithful to support servants of God, so monks should obey him by working with their hands for the common good, what they lack being supplied by the offerings of the faithful.
20. 20Monks who say they are occupied with prayer, psalms, and reading can sing psalms while working with their hands, and should obey the apostle whom they read.
21. 21Not all monks can teach, and those who can should do so in turn; Paul himself, as Acts shows, kept set times for preaching and worked at others.
22. 22Acts 18 records that Paul was a tentmaker; weakness, real or feigned, may be borne with, but the doctrine that manual work is contrary to the gospel is an error that misleads the weak.
23. 23The monks object that if the other apostles did not sin by living from the gospel, they too are free to use the same right.
24. 24Paul did not blame the other apostles but followed the ministry assigned to him among the gentiles; the monks have the right to be supported only if they are evangelists or ministers of the altar.
25. 25Those who gave up wealth may be excused from manual work for weakness, but many monks now come from slavery, farming, or crafts and use a misread gospel to avoid work.
26. 26Idle monks become busybodies like the idle younger widows of 1 Tim 5:13 and corrupt vigorous novices by their talk, mocking those who work.
27. 27The monks who cite the birds of the sky keep storehouses, grind, cook, and draw water, which birds do not do, and expect others to serve them as no one serves birds.
28. 28Taken literally, the example of the birds would require monks to forage daily in the fields, as the law allowed passers-by to eat, and would leave them nothing in seasons without food.
29. 29Recluses who shut themselves in for days of prayer must store food, which birds do not do; the monks' literal reading would condemn even these admirable ascetics.
30. 30If storing for tomorrow is not contrary to the gospel, neither is earning a living by manual work.
31. 31The monks rightly cite Christ's purse, the famine relief, and Paul's collection to justify storing for tomorrow, and so cannot use Matt 6 to justify idleness.
32. 32Leaving the world profits even a monk who works: the rich man's pride is healed by humble labor, and the poor man passes from private gain to a common life, like the Roman heroes who put the commonwealth first.
33. 33Former rich men in monasteries may be excused manual work but should work if they can, to shame the lazy; those who worked before entering have no excuse, for senators must not labor while peasants live in ease.
34. 34Christ's command not to be anxious about food and clothing forbids preaching the gospel for the sake of a living, that is, serving mammon, not providing honestly for necessities.
35. 35The birds and lilies teach trust in God's providence, not refusal to work; just as the apostles fled persecution rather than tempt God, those who can work should not expect to be fed like birds.
36. 36Augustine appeals to the monks to work so as to answer the wandering hypocrites in monks' habit, who peddle relics and beg, and whose conduct brings the monastic life into disrepute.
37. 37Augustine insists that he lays no burden he would not bear, for he would rather work with his hands than spend his days judging disputes as bishops must, and he urges the monks to obey Paul.
38. 38Augustine concludes his reply to Aurelius, warning lay supporters not to encourage idle monks by a misplaced generosity, while praising their support of true servants of God.
39. 39Some monks wear long hair against Paul's command in 1 Cor 11, claiming the example of Samuel and Samson and a show of humility, though the veil of the old covenant has been removed in Christ.
40. 40Augustine rejects the claim that celibate monks are no longer men and so may wear long hair, explaining that the unveiled head of the man and the veiled head of the woman figure the mind ruling desire, while in the renewed mind there is no male or female.
41. 41Augustine entreats the long-haired monks, whom he otherwise admires, to stop causing disputes among the brothers, and asks Aurelius to circulate or correct the treatise.