INSCITIA:
The theology of priests, I get: alter Christus, presbyters with bishops, community pastors, etc. But are nuns the feminine "counterpoint" for priests? What is the biblical and traditional pattern-basis for sisters?
COGITATIO:
My hunch is that nuns derive from two ecclesial sources. One, St. Paul's discussion of celibacy in I Corinthians 7. Two, the Apostle's discussion of widows in the letters to Timothy and Thessalonians (details are fuzzy at the moment, will check later). Nuns are the "counterpoint" for brothers, monks, who are just members of religious communities "in this final age" (I Cor. 7:29f). Further, I think nuns continue the tradition of widows who can be committed to service without worries of finding a spouse, etc. (I Tim 5:3).
A remaining question is, of course, how nuns came to include young women who were not only not widows but had never even married. I know Doug Wilson (or was it Doug Jones? I always get those Muscovite Calvinists mixed up) makes a big deal about this (in his stimulating little book about Christian manhood), presumably because it demonstrates "Rome erred" against Scripture with its own "man-made" traditions.
RESPONSUM:
1 comment:
Nuns are cloistered women. They hardly ever leave the confines of the monestary.
Religious sisters work in the world. If you have ever seen a religous on the street, it is a sister, not a nun. The terms can be used interchangibly.
Nuns and sisters get the idea of their life from Jesus himslef. The three vows they take reflect that. He was poor, so they give up possesions. He was chaste, so they give up men. He was obediant to the Fathers will, so they learn to leave behind their own wants. Hope this helps.
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