Monk Habits for Everyday People
Monk Habits for Everyday People: Benedictine Spirituality for Protestants
By Dennis Okholm
Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2007
Review by Carl McColman
Okay, so this book has a lame title. But the point of the book is neatly encapsulated in its subtitle: here is an introduction to the spirituality of St. Benedictine, written by a Presbyterian theologian who has a background in both Pentecostalism and the Baptist community. In other words, this isn’t some sort of Anglican “we’re just like Catholics only without the Pope” kind of a book. Dennis Okholm lives and writes squarely out of the reformed tradition, and as far as I can tell he understands how to love and appreciate monastic spirituality while remaining true to his identity as a Protestant Christian. And because the book is so utterly devoid of any kind of axes to grind (whether Roman or Reformed), what emerges is an elegant and eloquent testimony of how Benedictine spirituality really is simply Gospel spirituality. It may be written for Protestants, but I got enough out of the book that I’m convinced it would be useful for many Catholics as well. (more…)
