of this world and that of the next
lived on, and, as the Church became increasingly a world-institution,
found vent in monasticism, which was simply the effort to put into more
consistent practice the other-worldly life, and to make more
thoroughgoing work of the saving of one's soul. Contributing to the same
result was the emphasis upon the necessity of personal purity or
holiness, which Paul's contrast between flesh and spirit had promoted,
and which early took the supreme place given by Christ to love and
service. The growing difficulty of realizing the ascetic ideal in the
midst of the world, and within the world-church, inevitably drove
multitudes of those who took their religion seriously to retire from
society and to seek salvation and the higher life, either in solitude,
or in company with kindred spirits.

There were Christian monks as early as the 3rd century, and before the
end of the 4th monasticism (q.v.) was an established institution both in
East and West. The monks and nuns were looked upon as the most
consistent Christians, and were honoured accordingly. Those who did not
adopt the monastic life endeavoured on a lower plane and in a less
perfect way to realize the common ideal, and by means of penance to
atone for the deficiencies in their performance. The existence of
monasticism made it possible at once to hold up a high moral standard
before the world and to permit the ordinary Christian to be content with
something lower. With the growth of clerical sacerdotalism the higher
standard was demanded also of the clergy, and the principle came to be
generally recognized that they should live the monastic life so far as
was consistent with their active duties in the world. The chief
manifestation of this was clerical celibacy, which had become widespread
already in the 4th century. Among the laity, on the other hand, the
ideal of holiness found realization in the observance of the ordinary
principles of morality recognized by the world at large, in attendance
upon the means of grace provided by the Church, in fasting at stated
intervals, in eschewing various popular employments and amusements, and
in almsgiving and prayer. Christ's principle of love was widely
interpreted to mean chiefly love for the Christian brotherhood, and
within that circle the virtues of hospitality, charity and helpfulness
were widely exercised; and if the salvation of his own soul was regarded
as the most important affair of every