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The New Man

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In this treatise, Cistercian monk Fr. Thomas Merton attempts to show, in clear and concise language, why Jesus Christ is the New Adam, the New Man; in turn, he exhorts the reader to find the element of the New Man in her/himself. This lucid and direct theological work is not one his most popular, yet brings forward the orthodox doctrine of Original Sin and the redemptive force of the Incarnation. Merton's direct approach and literary background serve him well here. This is one of my favorite books.

This book might truly change your view of life because it leads you to examine the deepest parts of your soul. In plain language that's very easy to follow, Merton describes how we can abandon our self-absorbed lives and then discover again our true selves in Jesus Christ. It is a book about the transforming power of God, and although it is deeply spiritual in tone and theme, it is highly logical and straightforward in style and structure. Merton hopes to lead us to transformation and salvation not through fear or blind hope, but by persuasion.

First I read Merton's "Mystics and Zen Masters" just out of curiosity--How does this Christian monk see the monastic tradition of Zen Buddhism? I found his writing on this subject so compelling that I wanted to find out more about the author himself and read "The Seven Storey Mountain". Then I was so moved by this guy's long and arduous spiritual journey that I just had to see what he had to say about his own tradition, Christianity...and so I read this book, "The New Man", and wasn't dissappointed.
In one way this book is an extended meditation on Saint Paul's idea of Christ being the New Adam, and of what this idea really means for us. Merton has an uncanny ability to take old, familiar passages from the Bible--passages that have become dull and opaque in their very familiarity--and breath new spiritual life into them; they come alive with a significance and relevance you never really thought about before, but that seem natural and unforced after the fact. And he does all of this in ways that communicate eloquently with modern, educated people in today's world without strain or condescension.
In another way this book is an extended meditation on the significance of the sacrament Baptism, and again Merton is able to take what some might see as an old, tired, silly ritual and tease out its deeper spiritual significance in compelling, convincing ways. For any adult preparing for this sacrament I would highly recommend this book for that reason alone. And in general I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to see the Christian tradition at its best.

Thomas Merton begins with man without God and ends with man in union with God. This book provides the existential basis for man's need for a relationship of faith and love with God, our Creator. The reader finishes this book with a unique understanding, perhaps for the first time, of the purpose for which each of us was created and the destiny which can be ours if only we connect with both the God within us and with the infinitely transcendent God of the universe. This book is challenging reading, but the rewards are worth the struggle.

Thomas Merton's revelation and incite into the most profound mystery of the ages draw the heart near to hear and open the eyes to see. This is a true masterpiece for those who desire to probe the depths of redemption. His expressions are truly pearls. This book must be read dozens of times.

This is without question the best account of the Fall that I have ever read. Merton drops the reality of faith and the believing Christian's responsibility right in our laps. It's a sobering and challenging read.

Once again Thomas Merton understanding of Christianity and the human condition is amazing. this deal with the existential issues. His statement on spirituality mysticism that relate to the living god that goes beyond science, his written is profound.

The New Man:
This is Merton's Patristic theology debut, he approached a theological exposition of the monastic tradition and thought, so fundamentally important although it did not get the attention it deserves. The New Man shows Thomas Merton at the ripe of his spiritual powers and has as its theme the question of spiritual identity. Merton's meditative interpretation of the Bible can be met throughout his essay on the history of fall and theology of redemption. Reading such experience of the mystical transformation in which we will be perfectly conformed to the likeness of Christ, involves the kenosis / theosis way of the desert fathers. We will become 'the New Man' who is the Christ, the new Adam. Salvation, rightly understood and genuinely experienced, is to realize that we are shaped in God's image and created for fellowship with the Living and Loving Creator. This process promises not only self-discovery but also self-realization. To reach one's 'real self' one must, in fact, be delivered by grace from the illusionary and falsely created self, corrupted by our selfish habits and self deceit.

Life, death, and identity:
What must we do to recover possession of our true selves?
Merton discusses how we became strangers to our inner selves by our dependence on outward recognition and material success. Life and death are at war within us. As soon as we are born, we begin at the same time to live and die. Even though we may not be even slightly aware of it, this battle of life and death goes on in us inexorably and without mercy......, instructed by the Spirit Who alone can tell us the secret of our individual destiny, man begins to know God as he knows his own self. The night of faith has brought us into contact with the Object of all faith, not as an object but as a person Who is the center and life of our own being, at once. His own transcendent Self and the immanent source of our own identity and life. ( Opening and closing paragraphs)

New Man's Theosis:
"Is it the promise of the serpent, that we can "become like God, knowing good and evil?" Theft of Promethean fire is an endemic human inclination, the expression of a Gnostic theosis. Thomas Merton, the genuine Catholic Patristic student, in 'The New Man', takes the reader back to Origen who laid the foundations of the theology of redemption, which has been developed into the history of salvation. Origen initiated the concepts, interpreting the kingdom of God either as the apprehension of divine truth and spiritual reality, and in his explanation of Luke 17:21, the ultimate indwelling of the Logos (or the seeds of truth implanted in our souls) through the grace of Jesus Christ. "Origen conceives of Jesus' human nature as having been progressively deified through its union with the Logos; after the resurrection materiality disappears and His human soul becomes fused ineffably with the Logos." Quoted from Early Christian Doctrine, JND Kelley

Christ, the New Man:
The New Man's theme is the question of spiritual identity (theosis). Merton's interpretation of Genesis can be met throughout his essay on the history of fall and theology of redemption, such experience is the mystical transformation in which we will be perfectly conformed to the likeness of Christ. Salvation, rightly understood and genuinely experienced, is to realize that we are shaped in God's image and created for fellowship with the Living and Loving Creator. This process promises not only self-discovery but also self-realization. It involves a kenotic way, of the desert fathers, into union with God, theosis. We will become like 'the New Man' who is the Christ, the new Adam.

Promethean Theology:
The longing of the restless spirit of man, seeking to transcend itself by its own powers, is symbolized by the need to scale the impossible mountain and find there what is after all our own. The great error of Promethean salvation is that it takes no account of anyone but self.
The image of God is brought to life in us when it brakes free from the shroud and the tomb in which our self consciousness had kept it prisoner, and loses itself in total consciousness of Him Who is holy. This is one of the main ways in which "he that would save his life will loose it." (Luke 9:24)

Thomas Merton Writings:
Merton, who had a unique gift of a probing intellect, absorbed various human cultures since his early childhood in Prades. He digested a wide spectrum of knowledge during his study in Cambridge and Columbia and later when he adopted Trappist monastic vocation, delved into a very different environment. He synthesized his global cultural heritage and Cistercian piety into dozens of literary, mystical and inspiring Christian books (ca 50), articles, and lectures written from his cell at Gethsemani abbey, Kentucky.

Apart from other theological musings, Merton develops rather profound thought, namely that "Christianity is not the religion of a law but the religion of a person." (page 181 of paperback edition).

The philosophical consequences of such move are profound, since the whole focus shifts from the logic of intellectual pursuit of knowledge to the mystical endeavour towards Truth by love.

Being an atheist, I do not quite understand how presented approach could be in any real sense satisfying to the human mind. However, Merton's analysis renders interesting feedback on assumptions, presuppostions and mechanics of the religius mind. I feel like the outcome of Merton's writing is much more than satisfaction of his artistic ambition. The author seems to be congruent about what has been written, which makes it even more interesting.

The monk does an excellent job in fleshing out the scripture 2Cor5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)