Thomas Merton's War and Peace: A Review of the Literature
Thomas Merton War and Peace 1
Thomas Merton War and Peace:
A Review of the Literature
Leo Ryan
The Catholic Tradition REL 401
Saint Leo’s University
December 2, 2007 Thomas Merton War and Peace 2
Thomas Merton War and Peace:
A Review of the Literature
This review of the literature will focus on Merton’s philosophy’s about war and peace and will reveal the underlying way in which he thought about these issues. Thomas Merton was a humanist who was consistently writing about the importance for reason, balance and proportion in life. As a Catholic humanist, he affirmed the Catholic distinctive compassion and ethic of collaboration, while as the same time he affirmed the “authentic dignity” of human beings (Love 150). Merton believed that Karl Marx was committed to the dignity of human beings (Labrie), but Marx was opposed to the individual. Marx believed that scientific knowledge and a master of material reality would help people as a whole. Merton’s emphasis was on the greatest good for the greatest number. This thinking can be traced back to the Greeks and also in medieval philosophy. This has evolved into a hierarchy of goods based on personal preferences and desires. At times he would accept the sacrifice of the one individual because that individual was focusing on the many.
Merton had accepted the Catholic doctrine of just modern warfare; he had a hard time accepting the theory when one looks
Thomas Merton War and Peace 3
at “killing people with flame throwers” was no “form of Catholic perfection” (Thompson). The technology of mass destruction that was displayed in the Second World War were products of science that was sponsored by the governments of all the countries that were involved in the war. He lamented about a century filled with “poison gas and atomic bombs” (Merton 1989, 10; 1977, 36; 1948. 85). Merton had a personal tragedy, his own brother John Paul who served
Thomas Merton War and Peace:
A Review of the Literature
Leo Ryan
The Catholic Tradition REL 401
Saint Leo’s University
December 2, 2007 Thomas Merton War and Peace 2
Thomas Merton War and Peace:
A Review of the Literature
This review of the literature will focus on Merton’s philosophy’s about war and peace and will reveal the underlying way in which he thought about these issues. Thomas Merton was a humanist who was consistently writing about the importance for reason, balance and proportion in life. As a Catholic humanist, he affirmed the Catholic distinctive compassion and ethic of collaboration, while as the same time he affirmed the “authentic dignity” of human beings (Love 150). Merton believed that Karl Marx was committed to the dignity of human beings (Labrie), but Marx was opposed to the individual. Marx believed that scientific knowledge and a master of material reality would help people as a whole. Merton’s emphasis was on the greatest good for the greatest number. This thinking can be traced back to the Greeks and also in medieval philosophy. This has evolved into a hierarchy of goods based on personal preferences and desires. At times he would accept the sacrifice of the one individual because that individual was focusing on the many.
Merton had accepted the Catholic doctrine of just modern warfare; he had a hard time accepting the theory when one looks
Thomas Merton War and Peace 3
at “killing people with flame throwers” was no “form of Catholic perfection” (Thompson). The technology of mass destruction that was displayed in the Second World War were products of science that was sponsored by the governments of all the countries that were involved in the war. He lamented about a century filled with “poison gas and atomic bombs” (Merton 1989, 10; 1977, 36; 1948. 85). Merton had a personal tragedy, his own brother John Paul who served
References: Lanrie, Ross (Summer 2007). CHRISTIAN HUMANISM AND THE ROOTS OF PEACE IN THOMAS MERTON Retrieved Wednesday November 7, 2007. Merton, Thomas.(1968), Faith and Violence. Faith and Violence; Christian teaching and Christian practice University of Notre Dame Press, 1984. Retrieved Wednesday November 7, 2007. Merton, Thomas, Burton-Stone, N, Hart, P.(1979), Love and Living. Harvest/HBJ Book 7, 2007. Merton, Thomas.(1967), Mystics and Zen Masters, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, New York Merton, Thomas.(1966), Raids on the Unspeakable, New Directions, New York Merton, Thomas, Burton, P.(2004), Peace in the Post-Christian Era, Orbis, New York Merton, Thomas.(1963), Christianity and Defense in the Nuclear Age, New York, New Directions November 7, 2007. Merton, Thomas.(1963),Christianity and Defense in the Nuclear Age, New York, New Directions November 7, 2007. Thompson, P,(December 2004), THOMAS MERTON AND LEO SZILARD: THE PARALLEL RATHS OF A MONK AND A NUCLEAR PHYSICIST Journal of Religion & Science 39.4, 979-986. Retrieved Wednesday November 7, 2007.