Against All Reason

London England: Sceptre. Paperback. Against All Reason. This book is a unique and illuminating account of the monastic life, which met with critical acclaim when first published in 1969. Today, more than fifteen years later, it is as perceptive and relevant as ever. This book is not about Christianity in general: it is about 'the religious life' in its technical sense. Much of it is about monks and nuns, but they form only part of the religious world, which is also inhabited by friars, 'sisters', brothers' and several other varieties of profession. In crude and worldly terms the book is about those Christian bachelors and spinsters who life together in monastries, convents or other communities, and who mostly wear medieval clothes. With very few exceptions, which I hope are clear from the context, the word 'religious' in this book applies to them and their life alone; in this technical sense 'a religious' is someone who is 'in religion' as a result of having taken vows or made promises to live in poverty, obedience and chastity with others of a like mind. This book isn't about al the Christian religious in the world. Except for passing references it excludes the religious of eastern Christianity, of whom the Greek Orthodox monks living on Mount Athos are the best known. It is an attempt to survey the religious life today of wester Christendom, of the world under the influence of Catholic and Protestant Christianity.It is an attempt to examine a way of life and a philosophy, the reasons why individuals have taken up that life and the effect it has on them. Illustrated. 478 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Academic Literature.) . Very Good. Soft cover. 1st Sceptre Edition. 1986.