Social Advocacy and Pentecostal Liturgical Practices as Public Resistance within a Spiritual Warfare Framework

At the same time, Pentecostal public engagement can also be in the form of resisting visible social structures that perpetuate oppression. Though advocacy attempts by Pentecostals seem to lag, in the context of spiritual warfare, such an approach, will present the world with a foretaste of the awaiting justice of the kingdom of God in the eschaton. Such an act of public resistance could include engaging in public protests, writing letters to lawmakers calling for repealing an unjust policy, engaging in public debates on social issues, and others. These advocacy actions can be done with the “expectation that the confrontation of the public social world fnds its culmination in the coming kingdom.”77 Such an eschatological vision also provides hope that even if the alleviation of oppression was not fulflled immediately, the act of resisting is not wasted. It will fnd its culmination in the eschaton.

In addition to such public advocacy measures, the common Pentecostal liturgical practices of intercessory prayers, long hours of healing and deliverance prayers, exuberant charismatic worship services, and prophetic utterances can also be understood as public engagement. In dealing with spiritual warfare on a social and public level, these practices can be seen as a “cosmopolitical praxis of resistance”78 against the demonic power that infuences social structures. Yong writes, “With these [worship] practices, Pentecostals are not only engaging with God, but also with the spiritual realm of the principalities and powers—taking authority over the turmoil in their personal lives, the devastations of their economies, and the challenges

77 Vondey, 223.

78 Amos Yong, In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 151.

252 | Allan Varghese in the public domain.”79 Through these liturgical practices, Pentecostals are fghting in the invisible spiritual realm frst before engaging in any social advocacy measures to challenge visible social structures.

For Pentecostals, the practice of speaking in tongues in worship and prayer can also serve as “a discourse of resistance” in spiritual warfare.80 Tongue-speech becomes language against the “powers-that-be, and such speech is indicative of a kind of eschatological resistance to the powers.”81 Through praying and worshipping in tongues, the Pentecostals are not only being equipped for their fght against injustice on a social structural level but are already waging warfare in the spiritual realm, resisting the demonic powers that infuence social structure. In this sense, prayer, as Walter Wink puts it, “is a spiritual war of attrition,” expecting the gradual weakening of the enemy’s hold on social structures.82 Subsequently, when pentecostals intervene on a social level, advocacy acts to initiate structural changes can occur without much opposition.

The Pentecostal practice of prophetic utterances can also play a vital role in spiritual warfare on a social structural level. For Pentecostals, who rely on the Spirit’s leading in mission, prophecy plays an important role. Here, prophecy is understood more as “a forth-telling of God’s word than as the foretelling of future events. At times, predictions for the future are embedded in the forth-telling, but in more common use and understanding, they are not.”83 In engaging with social powers, prophecy can be a liturgical practice that will help discern the real nature of social illness and help construct an adequate resistance against social powers. In doing so, one could call the prophet a critic, visionary, storyteller, technical analyst, orpolicymaker.84 Therefore, the prophet may use “interdisciplinary and scientifc tools to diagnose the root causes of situations of crisis,”85 use creative manners of communication, and evoke the vision of the just coming kingdom of God to enable people to resist and overcome the social structures of oppression. Through it all, the prophetic calling directs the church to engage in spiritual warfare by resisting the demonic powers that give rise to oppressive social systems.

79 Yong, 156.

80 Smith, James K. A. “Tongues as ‘Resistance Discourse’- A Philosophical Perspective,” in Speaking in Tongues: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives, edited by Mark J. Cartledge. (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster Press, 2006), 107.

81 Smith, 107.

82 Wink,196.

This chapter’s primary task was to provide a renewed understanding of spiritual warfare in order to envision a Pentecostal public engagement model. Often when Pentecostals attempt to engage in public, it ends up othering the non-Christian or political other as “an enemy to be defeated through spiritual warfare rather than a neighbor to be loved and cared for as part of a shared common life.”86 Luke Bretherton sees such othering as a Pentecostal “mimetic rivalry with other groups who are seen as subject to demonic

83 Margret M. Poloma and Matthew T. Lee. “Prophecy, Empowerment, and Godly Love” in Spirit and Power: The Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism, edited by Donald E. Miller, Kimon H. Sargeant, and Richard Flory (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 282.

84 Nico Koopman, “Public Theology as Prophetic Theology: More than Utopianism and Criticism?” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 134 (July 2009).

85 Ngong, 144.

86 Bretherton, Luke. Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2019), 80.

254 | Allan Varghese powers.”87 Such a Pentecostal “mimetic rivalry” has been recently noted by Pentecostal scholars, and some have called for re-imagining the spiritual warfare framework.88 In a similar vein, this chapter has attempted to re-imagine a Pentecostal spiritual warfare framework by critically analyzing the SLSW model and the world system model. Consequently, for an efective Pentecostal model of public witness, an intermediate approach is proposed between the Pentecostal worldview of “overcoming, conquering, dominating, or defeating evil powers”89 and a close reading of Ephesians 6:12. In such an intermediate spiritual warfare framework, I identifed two broad Pentecostal categories to engage with the public. The church, as a Pentecostal eschatological community, can consider their social welfare actions for the oppressed and the vulnerable as blessing the public and engage in social advocacy practices and imagine pentecostal liturgical practices as public practices of resistance.

In doing so, the chapter has proposed a renewed spiritual warfare paradigm to serve as a theological directive for Pentecostals to engage in the public sphere to bless the oppressed and resist the demonic forces infuencing oppressive social structures. At the same time, in these two-fold spiritual warfare practices (to bless and to resist), one should remain alert for the enemy’s attack against the church to deter them from God’s mission. As Boyd puts it beautifully, “We are to always be on guard against our enemy who perpetually seeks to lure us into sin and lull us into compromise. We are to crucify ourselves daily . . . We are to live with the singular mission of advancing God’s kingdom by the unique way we live, the self-sacrifcial way we love, the humble way we serve, and the power we demonstrate against oppressive forces.”90 The call for alertness is not only to be aware of the enemy’s attack on the church but also on a social and public level so that we may speak truth against oppression and show the love of Jesus Christ in the midst of pain. 90 Boyds, 151.

87 Bretherton 2019, 80.

88 For example, see, Joseph Quayesi-Amakye. “The problematic of exorcism and spiritual warfare: a dialogue with Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah,” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 37:1 (2017), 68-79.

89 Asamoah-Gyagu 2007, 308.

Abraham, Shaibu. Pentecostal Spirituality: A Paradigm of Liberation. New Delhi, Christian World Imprints, 2020.

---. “Jesus the Exorcist: The Emerging Pentecostal Christology in India.” In Pentecostalism: Polyphonic Discourse. Edited by Rajeevan Mathew Thomas and Josfn Raj, 123–148. Kerala: New Life Bible Seminary (NLBS), 2019.

Abraham, Shaibu. “Holy Spirit in Pentecostal Mission Praxis in India: A Paradigm for Mission in Pluralistic Context.” In The Holy Spirit and Christian Mission in a Pluralistic Context, edited by Roji T. George, 84–104. Bangalore: Saiacs Press, 2017.

Acolatse, Esther. Powers, Principalities, and the Spirit: Biblical Realism in Africa and the West. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018.

Adewuya, J. Ayodeji. “The Spiritual Powers of Ephesians 6:10–18 in the Light of African Pentecostal Spirituality.” Bulletin for Biblical Research 22 no. 2 (2012): 251–58.

Anderson, Alan. An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Althouse, Peter. “Eschatology,” in Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity, edited by Adam Stewart, 73-75. Dekalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 2012: .

---. “‘Left behind’ -- Fact or Fiction: Ecumenical Dilemmas of the Fundamentalist Millenarian Tensions within Pentecostalism.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 13 no. 2 (2005): 187–207.

Archer, Kenneth J. “A Pentecostal Way of Doing Theology: Method and Manner.” International Journal of Systematic Theology 9 no. 3 (2007): 301–14.

Arnold, Clinton E. Powers of Darkness: Principalities & Powers in Paul’s Letters. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1992.

Asumang, Annang. “Powers of Darkness: An Evaluation of Three Hermeneutical Approaches to the Evil Powers in Ephesians.” Conspectus 5 (March 2008): 1–19.

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena. “Pulling Down Strongholds: Evangelism, Principalities and Powers and the African Pentecostal Imagination.” International Review of Mission 96 (2007): 306–17.

---. “Mission to ‘Set the Captives Free’: Healing, Deliverance, and Generational Curses in Ghanaian Pentecostalism.” International Review of Mission 93 no. 370–371(2004): 389–406.

Beilby, James K. and Paul R. Eddy. “Introduction.” In Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Edited by James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Bretherton, Luke. Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019.

258 | Allan Varghese

Boyd, Gregory. God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Confict. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997.

---. “The Ground Level Delivery Model.” In Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views, edited by James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Cartledge, Mark J. “Renewal Theology and the ‘Common Good.’” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 25 no. 1(2016): 90–106.

Chan, Simon. Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the Faith from the Ground Up. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014.

Cox, Harvey Gallagher. Fire From Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-frst Century. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1995.

Davies, Wilma Wells. The Embattled but Empowered Community: Comparing Understandings of Spiritual Power in Argentine Popular and Pentecostal Cosmologies. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

Duncan, Kent. “Emerging Engagement: The Growing Social Conscience of Pentecostalism.” Encounter: Journal for Pentecostal Ministry 7 (2010). https://legacy.agts.edu/ encounter/articles/2010summer/duncan.htm#_edn22.

Eliade, Mircea. “The Sacredness of Nature and Cosmic Religion.” In An Anthology of Living Religions, 2nd ed. Edited by Mary Pat Fisher and Lee W. Bailey. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008: 7–9.

Fisher, Mary Pat, and Jefrey Adams. Living Religions: A Brief Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002.

Hiebert, Paul G. “The Flaw of the Excluded Middle.” Missiology 10 no. 1 (1982): 35–47.

Holvast, René. Spiritual Mapping in the United States and Argentina, 1989–2005: A Geography of Fear. Leiden: Brill, 2008.

Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Johns, Cheryl Bridges. “Prayer, Evangelization and Spiritual Warfare: A Pentecostal Perspective.” In Pentecostal Ecclesiology, edited by Chris Green. Leiden: Brill, 2016: 233–245.

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. “‘Encountering Christ in the Full Gospel Way’: An Incarnational Pentecostal Spirituality.” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 27 no. 1 (2007): 9–23.

Koopman, Nico. “Public Theology as Prophetic Theology: More than Utopianism and Criticism?” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 134 (July 2009): 117–30.

Kraft, Marguerite G. Understanding Spiritual Power: A Forgotten Dimension of Cross-Cultural Mission and Ministry. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2003.

260 | Allan Varghese

Kraft, Charles H. “Contextulization and Spiritual Power.” In Deliver Us from Evil: An Uneasy Frontier in Christian Mission. Fuller, CA: World Vision Publications, 2007: 290–308.

Land, Steven J. Pentecostal Spirituality: A Passion for the Kingdom. Shefeld: Shefeld Academic Press, 1993.

Ma, Wonsuk. “A ‘First Waver’ Looks at the ‘Third Wave’: A Pentecostal Refection on Charles Kraft’s Power Encounter Terminology.” Pneuma 19 no. 2 (1997): 189–206.

---. “In Jesus’ Name! Power encounter from an Asian Pentecostal Perspective.” In Principalities and Powers: Refections in the Asian Context. Manila: OMF Literature, 2007.

Marshall, Kimberly Jenkins, and Andreana Prichard. “Spiritual Warfare in Circulation.” Religions 11 no. 7 (2020): 1–18.

Marshall, Ruth. “Destroying Arguments and Captivating Thoughts: Spiritual Warfare Prayer as Global Praxis,” Journal of Religious and Political Practice, 2 no.1 (2016): 92–113.

Meyer, Birgit. “Aesthetics of Persuasion: Global Christianity and Pentecostalism’s Sensational Forms.” South Atlantic Quarterly 109 no. 4(2010): 741–63.

Miller, Donald E., and Tetsunao Yamamori. Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press., 2007.

Ngong, David Tonghou. The Holy Spirit and Salvation in African Christian Theology: Imagining a More Hopeful Future for Africa. New York: Peter Lang Inc, 2010.

Ofutt, Stephen, F. David Bronkema, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Robb Davis, and Gregg Okesson. Advocating for Justice: An Evangelical Vision for Transforming Systems and Structures. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016.

Ooi, Hio-kee. “A Study of Strategic Level Spiritual Welfare from a Chinese Perspective.” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 9 no. 1 (2006): 143–61.

Onyinah, Opoku. “Contemporary ‘Witchdemonology’ in Africa.” International Review of Mission 93 (2004): 330–45.

---. “Deliverance as a Way of Confronting Witchcraft in Modern Africa: Ghana as a Case History.” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 5 no. 1 (2002): 107–34.

---. “Pneumatological Foundations for Mission: From a Pentecostal Perspective.” International Review of Mission 101 no. 2 (2012): 331–34.

---. “Spiritual warfare: The Cosmic Confict between Good and Evil” in The Routledge Handbook of Pentecostal Theology. Edited by Wolfgang Vondey, 321–330. New York: Routledge, 2020.

Pachuau, Lalsangkima. Indian and Christian: Historical Accounts of Christianity and Theological Refections in India. Delhi: ISPCK, 2019.

262 | Allan Varghese

---. “Primal Spirituality as the Substructure of Christian Spirituality: The Case of Mizo Christianity in India.”

Journal of African Christian Thought 11 no. 2 (2008): 9–14.

Poloma, Margret M. and Matthew T. Lee. “Prophecy, Empowerment, and Godly Love.” In Spirit and Power: The Growth and Global Impact of Pentecostalism. Edited by Donald E. Miller, Kimon H. Sargeant, and Richard Flory, 277–296. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Quayesi-Amakye, Joseph. “The Problematic of Exorcism and Spiritual Warfare: A Dialogue with Apostle Dr Opoku Onyinah,” Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, 37 no.1 (2017), 68–79.

Richie, Tony. “Demonization, Discernment, and Deliverance in Interreligious Encounters.” In Interdisciplinary and Religiou-cultural Discourses on a Spirit-flled World. Edited by Veli-Matti Karkkainen, Kirsteen Kim and Amos Yong, 171-184. New York: Pelgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Satyavrata, Ivan. “Power to the Poor: the Pentecostal Tradition of Social Engagement.” Paper presented at the WAPTE Consultation: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, (August 2013). https://wapte.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IvanSatyavrata-Power-to-the-Poor.pdf.

Smith, James K. A. “Tongues as ‘Resistance Discourse’- A Philosophical Perspective.” In Speaking in Tongues: MultiDisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Mark J. Cartledge, 81–110. Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster Press, 2006.

Smit, Dirk Jacobus. “Notions of the Public and Doing Theology.”

International Journal of Public Theology 1, no 3 (2007), 433.

Volf, Miroslav. “Materiality of Salvation: An Investigation in the Soteriologies of Liberation and Pentecostal Theologies.”

Journal of Ecumenical Studies 26 no.3 (1989): 447–67.

Vondey, Wolfgang. Pentecostal Theology: Living the Full Gospel. Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology. London: T & T Clark, 2017.

Wagner, C. Peter, and Rebecca Greenwood. “The Strategic-level Deliverance Model.” In Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Edited by James K. Beilby and Paul R. Eddy, 173–198. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012:

Wink, Walter. “Principalities and Powers: A Diferent Worldview.” Church & Society 85 no.5 (1995): 18–28.

---. The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium. New York: Doubleday, 1999.

---. “The World Systems Model.” In Understanding Spiritual Warfare: Four Views. Edited by James K. Beilby and, Paul R. Eddy, 47–71. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Yong, Amos. In the Days of Caesar: Pentecostalism and Political Theology. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Publishers, 2010.

David Chronic

In the short flm The Way of the Danube, a Romanian boy is seen being raised by his grandfather after being left by his parents who are working abroad.1 Although he has friends and a caring grandfather, he is tormented by a longing to be with his parents. The parents send him clothes and toys, along with a letter to say that they are not coming home as promised. In desperation, the young boy fnds a motorboat and heads west on the Danube, following the path of Romanian emigration in search of his parents. The flm depicts the way emigration is marking Romania, especially its negative efects.

Migration is a complex phenomenon that countries across the world are facing today. The issue is particularly acute

David Chronic has served with his wife, Lenuta, for over 20 years among vulnerable families in Romania with Word Made Flesh (WMF), an international Christian community working in development. He continues to serve as part of the Caretaker team for WMF while he pursues doctoral studies on child theology and international development at Asbury Theological Seminary in Romania. At the fall of communism in 1989, the population of Romania was 23,206,720.2 The Romanian Institute for Statistics estimates that thse population in 2021 is 19,186,000.3 The most recent census, taken in 2011, states that Romania lost 2.68 million inhabitants to emigration since the previous census in 2001.4 Almost 20% of working age Romanians have emigrated.5 In the period 2005–2015, Romania had the second highest migration in the world at 7.3%, second only to Syria which was at war.6 Overall, according to the United Nation’s Migration Report from 2018, approximately 3.4 million Romanians have emigrated.7 Romanian immigrant population is now the ffth highest in the world.8

1 The Way of the Danube, Short Film, CINEPUB, 2015, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=vtzt2esZ-fM.

Some view migration through a positive lens.9 In a report by the Romanian Regional Development Program, published by the World Bank, the European Union, and the government

2 Adriana Veronica Litra, “The Demographic Changes of the Last Quarter of Century in Romania,” Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series V: Economic Sciences 8, no. 2 (September 2015): 356 of Romania, the authors claim that migrating from “lagging to leading places” has positive efects on the lagging area as “most migrants maintain strong links to their home communities, bringing back capital, skills, and expectations of functioning institutions.”10 Emigrants usually beneft their place of origin by sending back remittances and bringing back business connections.11 Furthermore, the authors state that migration decreases labor capital and pressures wages to rise in home communities.12 The authors do not believe that Romanians migrate because their place of origin lacks development; rather, they credit it to people making rational choices about accessing professional opportunities.13 To support their view, they cite how almost every Western European economy had high emigration rates in the past. Many of these countries have high emigration rates today as well, which shows that it is not necessarily a sign of a poor economy.14 Taking this macro and long-term view, the authors say that government policies should resist the “myths about the negative impact of emigration.”15 They advocate for emigration policies that allow people to realize their potential and that create opportunity for a person to be most productive.16 This view holds that an equilibrium between those staying and those emigrating is found in the long run. However, contrary to their argument, inequalities are not shrinking but growing.17

3 “Indicator - RO - Populaţia | Institutul Național de Statistică,” https://insse.ro/ cms/ro/content/indicator-ro-popula%C5%A3ia.

4 “Rezultate | Recensamant 2011,” n.d., http://www.recensamantromania.ro/ rezultate-2/.

5 “Romania: One in Five Workers Lives Abroad,” Eurotopics.Net, https://www. eurotopics.net/en/200259/romania-one-in-fve-workers-lives-abroad.

6 Sergiu Celac and Angheluta Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030 (Bucuresti: Paideia, 2018), 99.

7 “3.4 Million Romanians Left the Country in the Last 10 Years; Second Highest Emigration Growth Rate After Syria,” Business Review, February 26, 2018, http:// business-review.eu/news/3-4-million-romanians-left-the-country-in-the-last-10years-second-highest-emigration-rate-after-syria-159038. This is likely a gross underestimation of the real number of emigrants.

8 “Romania’s Emigrant Population is the Fifth Largest in the World and Growing, OECD Report Finds,” Business Review, July 16, 2019, http://business-review.eu/ news/romanias-emigrant-population-is-the-fifth-largest-in-the-world-andgrowing-oecd-report-fnds-203223.

9 See Daniela Danacica, “Characteristics of Migration in Romania,” AnnalsEconomy Series 2 (June 1, 2010): 198.

10 Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu et al., Competitive Cities: Reshaping the Economic Geography of Romania, 2013, 40.

11 Ibid., 44.

12 Ibid., 40.

13 Ibid., 43.

14 Ibid., 44.

15 Ibid., 45.

16 Ibid., 44 and 150. While I will critique below the materialist values evident in this proposal, the claims themselves should be questioned. Much of Romanian emigration is for higher wages, not employment. Thus, productivity of migrant workers is not necessarily higher.

17 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 23. Here they are using the GINI coefcient.

Also, while these authors claim that migrants return home with skills and relationships, Cătălin Zamfr’s research shows that “return migration” is not yet a feature of Romanian migration.18

The positive aspects of emigration should certainly be recognized. Moving for higher wages may be the best option for those sufering from poverty in Romania. Others may emigrate to be close to family members who have moved abroad. Some may have a sense of vocation to work for the sake of a particular foreign location. There may be educational opportunities in other countries that are not available in Romania. Another positive efect of emigrating is the acquisition of cross-cultural acumen, which broadens horizons and creates bridges between cultures.

These positive aspects of emigration notwithstanding, it is also important to give attention to some of the negative efects of migration. These include migrant workers being subjected to poor living conditions. There are social repercussions of “migrant orphans”—children left with family members by parents who work abroad, as depicted in The Way of the Danube. 19 While some see the positives of increased productivity through migration, others see Romania’s loss of skills and labor as a negative. With each high school graduate who emigrates, Romania loses approximately ffty thousand dollars that has been invested with public funding in the student’s education.20

A report by the World Bank states that, since the 2000s Romania has sufered one of the largest “brain drains”—the loss of human and labor capital of its highly skilled citizens.21 The loss of highly skilled citizens is signifcant,22 but it is also felt in the loss of general labor and population as well. While population data is afected by the decreased birth rate and increased life expectancy,23 it is also afected by emigration.24 Each year, the Romanian population declines by an average of 140,000 inhabitants.25 As the work force emigrates, thirty six of the forty two Romanian counties have more pensioners than youth with the average age of the population now at forty two years old. These are serious problems that afect Romanian society.

18 Cătălin Zamfr, “How Good or Bad Was the Romanian Strategy of Transition,” Sociologie Românească 19, no. 1 (May 18, 2021): 37.

19 Ionescu-Heroiu et al., Competitive Cities, 45.

20 “ReThink România: Cum va arăta România peste 30 de ani? 36 din 42 de județe au mai mulți pensionari decât tineri,” Forbes.ro, last modifed October 20, 2021, https://www.forbes.ro/rethink-romania-cum-va-arata-romania-peste-30-de-ani36-din-42-de-judete-au-mai-multi-pensionari-decat-tineri-234306.

The Romanian government has created strategic plans to address the issue of emigration. In this essay, I describe some ways that the government hopes to do this through the Romanian National Strategy of Development for 2030. While this strategy does address some of the root causes of emigration, I argue that it is insufcient. I then suggest that the Christian tradition has resources to resist materialist motivations for emigration. While emigration is an issue that challenges the entire Romanian public, I ofer Christian ideas and practices as “possibilities for consideration within the [Christian] community and for the

21 World Bank, From Uneven Growth to Inclusive Development: Romania’s Path to Shared Prosperity (Washington, DC: World Bank, June 4, 2018), 17, https:// openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/29864.

22 Zamfr, “How Good or Bad Was the Romanian Strategy of Transition, 36.” Zamfr states that the emigration of highly educated citizens continues as an intense phenomenon, citing the migration of physicians as being of particular public concern.

23 Litra, “The Demographic Changes of the Last Quarter of Century in Romania.”

24 Rotariu Traian, “Notes on the Demographic Transformations in Postcommunist Romania,” Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Sociologia, no. 1 (2019): 6. While the nomenclature specifes types of migration—“temporary migrants,” and “permanent migration,” “repeat migration,” “seasonal migration,” and “circular migration”—the data used here refers to those that are not “usually resident” in Romania, having changed their domicile.

25 “ReThink România.” sake of the society.”26 Specifcally, I argue that Christian ascetic practices and desert spirituality can both cooperate with and critique the goals outlined in Romania’s National Strategy of Development. While Christian practices and spirituality may primarily infuence Christians in Romania, it may also serve as public theology, providing models, values, and practices that help the Romanian public to resist emigration trends.

Migration is a public issue, and attempts have been made to address it through public policy. Before I discuss the ways that Christian ascetic practices can address materialist motivations for emigration, allow me to describe a policy approach articulated by the Romanian government in their development strategy. The National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Romania (NSD) projects that by 2030 Romania will be “a powerful member of the European Union in which the disparities among the countries will be reduced, and Romanian citizens will be able to live in a country in which the state serves the needs of each citizen in an equitable and efcient way, with increasing and constant preoccupation for a clean environment.”27 While this statement rings of government propaganda and platitudes,28 it does resonate with the aspirations of Romanians who have migrated or plan to

26 Scott Paeth, “Whose Public? Which Theology? Signposts on the Way to a 21st Century Public Theology,” International Journal of Public Theology 10, no. 4 (2016): 42.

27 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 18.

28 Ruxandra Trandafoiu asserts that “state-led initiatives and policies to address mass emigration are largely absent in Eastern Europe. Instead, we see attempts to solve post festum some of the more observable efects of emigration and usually those which have a higher traction in the media or are weaponized by political opponents.” Ruxandra Trandafoiu, The Politics of Migration and Diaspora leave. The standard by which the NSD measures development indicators is the European Union (EU) average.29 Diminishing the disparity between Romania and Western Europe and increasing equity for every citizen would address major causes for emigration as Romanians have been pulled abroad by more developed markets that demand both high and low skilled labor. Conversely, the comparatively under-developed economy of Romania is driving Romanians out. The minimum net salary is about $320 per month, which is fve to six times less than minimum salaries in the western EU.30 Although there is a growing middle class in Romania, over a third of the country’s children live below the poverty line, with 21.5% living in severe material deprivation.31 Romanian emigrants repeatedly say that they would rather be in their home country and would return if the political and economic environment improved.32 in Eastern Europe: Media, Public Discourse and Policy (New York: Routledge, 2022), 41.

29 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 21.

30 “Living Conditions in Europe - Income Distribution and Income Inequality - Statistics Explained,” https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/ index.php/Living_conditions_in_Europe_-_income_distribution_and_income_ inequality#Income_distribution.

31 “Poverty Rates Are High among Children in Romania, Report Finds,” Romania Insider, https://www.romania-insider.com/children-poverty-romania-report.

32 “Am întrebat 100 de români dacă vor să se întoarcă în România,” Republica,https:// republica.ro/am-intrebat-100-de-romani-daca-vor-sa-se-intoarca-in-romania.

“La întrebarea privind motivele pentru care nu iau în calcul întoarcerea în România, cele mai frecvente răspunsuri au fost: corupția (47,41%), situația economică a țării (23,27%), situația-politico-economică (20,86%), nivelul scăzut de trai (16,37%), problemele din sistemul de sănătate (7,75%) și lipsa oportunităților (5,17%).” “Of the 100 Romanian emigrants surveyed about their motives for not returning to Romania, “the most frequent answers were: corruption (47.41%), the country’s economic situation (23.27%), the political-economic situation (20.86%), the low standard of living (16.37%), problems with the health care system (7.75%), and lack of opportunities (5.17%)” [my translation].

In response to these realities, the NSD focuses on the individual human who is the primary actor for his or her own development.33 The individual, as a free citizen, collaborates with the state in creating the conditions in which his or her aspirations can be achieved. Because inequalities are seen as a major hindrance to development, the NSD addresses this in the state’s adoption of legal measures.34 These include periodic increases to the minimum wage (Law nr. 196/2016), social assistance for those at risk of poverty or social exclusion (Law nr. 292/2011), and a legal structure for developing a social economy that focuses on employment for vulnerable groups (Law nr. 219/2015). The strategy also seeks to ameliorate inequality by providing funding for vulnerable children and their families, establishing quality standards for sustainable services, and developing a national system of indicators of social inclusion.35

It is not only the inequality felt by low wages, material poverty, and social exclusion but also perceptions about life in the West and the “American Dream” that drive emigration.36 Because poverty is interpreted as something more than the lack of income, a “consensual approach” allows public opinion to determine what are the “necessities” of life, rather than experts or norms.3738 The consensual approach views poverty as multi-dimensional and dynamic. For example, where a computer (durable good) or a vacation (social inclusion) were not seen as necessities by past generation of Romanians, they are considered necessary today for a decent standard of living.39 In this regard, the NSD also proposes the reduction of “relative poverty,” which is understood according to “national defnitions.”40 Although the NSD recognizes that perceptions of poverty needs to be addressed, it has no suggestion of how to infuence these perceptions. Where the strategy does speak to shifting paradigms and mentalities, it is in reference to consumer behavior, which the NSD believes it can change through education.41 Yet lacking a proposal for engaging perceptions about poverty and livelihood is a shortcoming of the NSD.

33 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 13.

34 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 23–25.

35 Ibid., 24–25.

36 Danacica, “Characteristics of Migration in Romania,” 193.

37 Iulian Stanescu and M. Dumitru, “Poverty and Social Exclusion in Romania: A Consensual Approach to Material Deprivation,” Calitatea Vietii 28 (January 1, 2017): 12.

38 Cosmin Briciu, “Poverty In Romania: Dimensions of Poverty and Landmarks of Poverty Research,” Journal of Community Positive Practices, no. 3 (2014): 11–14.

Along with severe poverty and relative poverty, corruption is also a major motivation for emigration. Corruption remains endemic to the Romanian political system. Currently, Romania rates 61 out of 180 countries on the corruption index.42 Of course, corruption exists in the countries to which Romanians emigrate. Yet, there are two important diferences. First, corruption in Romania represents a signifcant cause of inequality in Romania. Property that had been confscated by the communist government was re-privatized after 1990. This was “the main source of a complex corruption system that swallowed the entire state . . . establishing the new rich class.”43 Tom Gallagher calls this massive transfer of wealth in Romania as the “theft of a nation.”44 Second, corruption in Romania subverts notions of society being a meritocracy. In a meritocratic society, citizens have access to achieving their aspirations through intelligence, education, creativity, and adaptability.45 Romanians perceive that other countries have a relatively more stable political environment and that there is higher meritocracy.46 Due to corruption, Romanians emigrate to societies where higher income can be earned through individual will and work.

39 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 21.

40 Ibid., 23.

41 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 78–80.

42 “Transparency International - Romania,” https://www.transparency.org/ country/ROU.

43 Stanescu and Dumitru, “Poverty and Social Exclusion in Romania,” 129.

44 Tom Gallagher, Modern Romania: The End of Communism, the Failure of Democratic Reform, and the Theft of a Nation (New York: New York University Press, 2005).

Because corruption is a leading cause of emigration, the NSD discusses emigration under its goals for “peace, justice, and efcient institutions.” The NSD calls for improved judicial systems that include improving the quality of acts of justice that ensure transparency and accessibility to the citizenry.47 However, no concrete specifcities for increased transparency are proposed.

The NSD realizes that unless demographic trends are changed, Romania’s population may be under eleven million by 2100. The loss of population means less human capital contributing to Romania’s development. The NSD calls for the creation and implementation of a national strategy for demographic growth but provides no details on what this involves.48 The NSD’s explicit policy proposals that do relate to migration are those that support Romanian citizens working abroad by ensuring legal non-discriminatory treatment through state authorities. Through these protections, government policies maintain connections with emigrants. Cynically, one might view these political measures as a way to court the Romanian emigrant vote and to encourage ongoing remittances. What is lacking from the NSD is any proposal for using public funding to keep Romanians from emigrating or for tax incentives to encourage emigrants to invest in Romania.

45 Danacica, “Characteristics of Migration in Romania,” 191.

46 Ibid., 190–91.

47 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 99.

48 Ibid., 100.

To summarize aspects of the NSD that relate to emigration, it focuses on the individual citizen as the central actor for development. The powerful members of the EU are held as the standard for development by which Romania is measured. The NSD acknowledges both severe and perceived poverty, which are addressed through legal measures that provide income and material support for those in the lower class. However, this does not infuence perceptions of poverty and livelihood. The only way that the NSD seeks to change mentalities is through education on changing consumer behavior. The NSD speaks to the issue of corruption, which is another major motivation for emigration. However, other than vague plans for transparency and easier access to judicial systems, the NSD does not propose laws to limit corruption. In general, the NSD attempts to provide material solutions for material causes of emigration. Yet, even with state actions, emigration continues. Although some emigrants returned to Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey estimates that 730,000 plan to emigrate in 2022, stating relatively low wages and corruption as their primary reasons.49

The NSD does mention religious groups as entities in a multicultural society and as a potential partner for the transmitting of values needed to create a more equitable and sustainable world.50 I contend that religious groups— specifcally Christian communities—can contribute much more than this to the partnership. I suggest that Christian ascetic perspectives and practices can cooperate with and critique the NSD’s proposals, specifcally in response to materialist motivations for emigration.

49 “Studiu: 730.000 de români spun că vor să emigreze în 2022. „Probabil unii dintre ei sunt cu bagajele făcute”,” Libertatea, last modifed November 19, 2021, https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/studiu-730-000-de-romani-spun-ca-vor-saemigreze-in-2022-probabil-unii-dintre-ei-sunt-cu-bagajele-facute-3843987.

50 Celac and Vadineanu, Strategia Naţională pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă a României 2030, 98.

When we think of ascetic practices, we may have images of those intentionally subjecting themselves to austerity, repression, or even bodily harm. The Christian tradition is rich with a diferent vision of asceticism which can shape one’s perspective and desires and, I argue, can provide resources to resist material motivations for emigration. Before exploring resources in Christian asceticism, I will frst look at our contemporary understanding of asceticism, which has been greatly infuenced by Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber. After incorporating important lessons from them, I will then apply Christian ascetic practices as ways to resist motivations for emigration.

Nietzsche perceives asceticism both positively and negatively. In a positive sense, Nietzsche understands asceticism as humans’ need to curtail their “natural” or “animal” instincts. “Nietzsche’s ‘natural asceticism’ involves . . . a struggle of ‘nature’ with and against itself.”51 This is not a denial of the natural body but a disciplining of it for power. He likens this asceticism to the struggle of an athlete who exercises in order to gain strength. This involves the sufering of the self for the sake of oneself. Asceticism is practiced perhaps most exemplary in the philosopher. Nietzsche’s fctional character Zarathustra is an example of a philosopher who ascetically withdraws from society in order to be a free thinker and to avoid following the herd.52

51 Tyler T Roberts, “‘This Art of Transfguration Is Philosophy’: Nietzsche’s Asceticism,” The Journal of Religion 76, no. 3 (July 1996): 406.

This positive view of asceticism is in stark contrast to Nietzsche’s critique of the “ascetic ideal.” While Nietzsche’s thought is complex, I look at two important features from the third essay in his Genealogy of Morals: asceticism as rejection of this world for the sake of the future world and asceticism as a means of power over the weak.

Nietzsche believes that the “ascetic ideal” was introduced by Christianity. Nietzsche thinks that Christians interpret the sufering of unfulflled desires as a means for attaining eternal life, salvation, and immortality. Nietzsche believes that this asceticism—in its practices of poverty, chastity, fasting, sufering, and denying pleasure—negates this world for the sake of the future world. In her analysis of Nietzsche’s view of asceticism, Tylor Roberts says that this is Nietzsche’s primary problem with the “ascetic ideal.” He thinks that Christians refuse the reality of sufering by framing confict as one between this world and the next. As self-abnegation and self-castigation, Nietzsche views this religious asceticism as “unnatural” and ultimately self-destructive and opposed to life.53 Against this, Nietzsche sees confict as occurring “within nature at the heart of the human soul.”54

52 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche and Walter Arnold Kaufmann, Thus Spoke

Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (New York: Modern Library, 1995); Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, “On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic: By Way of Clarifcation and Supplement to My Last Book, Beyond Good and Evil” (Oxford University Press, 1996), 114.

53 Nietzsche, “On the Genealogy of Morals,” 79, 94. See also the Introduction, xviii.

54 Roberts, “‘This Art of Transfguration Is Philosophy,’” 407.

Nietzsche criticizes the “ascetic ideal” not only for undermining ideals that celebrate the earth, the body, and the self but also for oppressing the weak.55 He thinks that priests have coopted asceticism. Instead of seeing their sufering as a result of the actions of the powerful, the weak are taught by the priests that they are responsible for their own sufering. Because humans are born in sin, as some Christians teach, sufering is deserved. In the midst of sin and sufering, ascetic practices become a means of power by which the weak can acquire eternal life. Being convinced that sufering is their own responsibility, the weak accept life-denying ideals with the hope of receiving eternal life and, consequently, any ideas of vengeance toward the strong are assuaged.56

While we may not agree with Nietzsche’s reading of Christian asceticism, we can draw at least two important lessons from his critique that are relevant to any proposal for ascetic practice. First, asceticism cannot be based on repression or on the rejection of the world; rather, it must be motivated by an afrmation of life. This positive view of asceticism acknowledges struggle, but it is a struggle within and for this world. Second, ascetic practices cannot be imposed but rather adopted through one’s own agency. Otherwise, the proposal for asceticism becomes an oppressive system.

Another thinker who has infuenced contemporary understandings of asceticism is Max Weber. Weber brings two features important to our discussion about asceticism: a this-worldly focus and its relationship to modern capitalism. Himself a reader of Nietzsche, Weber observes that the “ascetic ideal” is transformed by Protestantism.57 Asceticism had been understood within medieval Catholicism as the privilege of the monastics (mystics) who denied themselves and the world, following the consilia evangelica (chastity, poverty, and obedience) for the sake of the “otherworld.”58 Following the Reformation, asceticism, according to Weber, became a “this-worldly” practice of frugality, industriousness, and the reinvestment of proft. Ascetic self-denial is not practiced merely for the coming world (as per Nietzche’s critique) but functions for the sake of this world. This “Protestant ethic” was practiced in daily activities with the hope that good behavior and labor would result in prosperity, which would signify God’s favor and election for eternal life.59 While holding to justifcation by faith and grace and not by works, Protestants believed they were “proving one’s faith through worldly activity.”60 Thus, a prosperous life was a sign of grace.

55 Nietzsche, “On the Genealogy of Morals,” 96.

56 Ibid., 101–104, 114. See also Introduction, xviii.

In Weber’s understanding, Protestants view “the pursuit of wealth as an end in itself [as being] reprehensible,” but believe that attaining fruits through one’s labor is a sign of God’s blessing.61 In this way, material possessions are viewed positively. While detached from monastic life, asceticism is still practiced by Protestants but through hard work, by delaying the spontaneous enjoyment of wealth, and, instead of consuming profts, wealth is reinvested so as to multiply. Luxury and unjust gain are denounced as is leisure that leads to indulgence.62 However, Weber says that after capitalism is up and running, the use of wealth no longer needs to be informed by a religious motivation and meaning. As the dominant means of economic exchange, capitalism forces people to “adapt to its behavioral dictates.”63 This is what Weber famously termed the “iron cage” that traps individuals, condemning them to commodifed labor, exploitation for the sake of proft, and the rationalization of production as an end in itself. The “bureaucratic, legal, and economic calculation and control is a deliberate attempt to separate moral questions from political and economic ones.”64 While in no ways advocating for religion, Weber describes those living in the cage as giving themselves to “mundane passions,” sensualism, and emptiness.65

57 Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Kindle Edition. (Charles River Editors, 2011), loc. 101.

58 Ibid, loc. 579 and 1023.

59 Ibid, loc. 912, 1516, and 1525.

60 Ibid, loc 1039.

61 Ibid, loc. 1649.

62 Ibid, loc. 1631.

While there are various implications from Weber’s perspective on Protestant asceticism, he understands asceticism as a restriction not on the acquisition of wealth but on its inappropriate use. Also, Protestant asceticism, according to Weber, is not practiced through withdrawal but by engaging society and capitalist markets. This-worldly asceticism discourages impulsive avarice and covetousness and encourages hard work, delayed gratifcation, and reinvestment of profts. Through the ascetic use of wealth, resulting prosperity in this world is viewed as a sign of blessings to come in the next world. However, as the capitalist economy is detached from religion and from hopes for the next world, it becomes an “iron cage” in which its inhabitants are trapped by materialism. Without entering the debates about Weber’s thesis, I follow Kathryn Tanner’s observation that the capitalist market is “conduct forming,” but religious beliefs also have practical efcacy through the lived values, attitudes, and actions that can “undermine rather than support” “fnance-dominated capitalism.”66 Instead of advocating for ascetic practices as a means to wealth, we will propose that these practices can cultivate resistance to market pressures and to the iron cage.

63 Kathryn Tanner, Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021), 26.

64 Luke Bretherton, Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019), 38.

65 Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, loc. 1764-1773.

As do many people today, Nietzsche and Weber understand asceticism as repression or austerity. Although this antagonism toward the body and world-denying posture can be found in church history,67 the vision of asceticism in the New Testament is just the opposite, where the ability to go without is because there is more than enough. Jesus tells his disciples to give to those in need (Matt. 6:2) and to give even to those who take from them (Matt. 5:40–42) because the Father has abundantly provided for all their needs just as he has adorned the lilies of the feld and fed the birds of the air (Matt. 6:25–33).

As David Bentley Hart points out, asceticism does not mean “prudent moderation” but rather extravagance.68 According to the Christian vision, asceticism “presumes an inexhaustible plentitude” where “anxiety over scarcity of resources . . . is something of a sin.”69 Based on the abundant provision of God, the Christian ascetic is a “giving of the self without reserve.”70

I will now look at Christian practices of asceticism to identify ways in which it can address motivations for emigration and critique the proposal of the NSD.

In order to share out of plenitude, one needs to have the capacity to see it.71 Sarah Coakley views asceticism as the cultivation of the senses so that, among other things, the abundance can be seen. This ability to see, however, is not immediate. Against expectations of asceticism to produce “instant, commodifable efects,” this cultivation takes time.72 We can this process by adapting for heuristic purposes the traditional language of mystical theology: purgation, illumination, and union.73 The purgative period is one in which the neophyte delineates the diferences between Christian and non-Christian life. Regarding our discussion on seeing abundance, this is a period of recognizing the provision of God. The illuminative period is one in which the Christian does not only imitate Christ but recognizes him in the poor and stranger and in which rules cease being tools of judgment and become means of fourishing. Here there is awareness that the provision of God is not only for oneself but is given to be shared with those in need. The path to union is made by waiting on God to act on them by the Spirit through the ongoing practices of prayer, contemplation, and worship.74 Through continued ascetic practice, one has glimpses of fulflled union and of the abundance provided by God.

66 Tanner, Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism, 4–28.

67 Employing Nietzsche’s terminology, Ware calls this “unnatural asceticism.” Kallistos Ware, “The Way of The Ascetics Ware,” Scribd, 7–9, https://www.scribd. com/document/123585359/4458163-The-Way-of-the-AsceticsKallistos-Ware-pdf.

68 David Bentley Hart, The Hidden and the Manifest: Essays in Theology and Metaphysics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017), 295.

69 Ibid., 297.

70 Ibid., 295.

71 Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality and the Self: An Essay “on the Trinity” (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 20.

In Coakley’s discussion on asceticism, the ability to see is related to how one desires. Desire is a fundamental aspect of the human self, which when misdirected is sin and when properly directed is fulflled in God,75 who is the “the source and goal of all human desire.”76 Through ascetic practices, especially contemplative prayer, desire is surrendered to God who reorders it.77 This formation of desire also implies that appropriate dissatisfactions are cultivated.

72 Sarah Coakley, The New Asceticism: Sexuality, Gender and the Quest for God (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2015), loc. 1704–1705.

73 This is used heuristically rather than prescriptively as we do not suppose that this path is necessarily linear or chronological, but circular and messy.

74 Sarah Coakley, “Deepening Practices: Perspectives from Ascetical and Mystical Theology,” in Practicing Theology: Beliefs and Practices in Christian Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 92–93.

75 Coakley, God, Sexuality and the Self, 59.

76 Coakley, The New Asceticism, loc. 334–335.

Each follower of Christ is responsible for their own asceticism, yet as Coakley also points out, the practices do not guarantee proper sight or proper desire. She contends that “everything depends on the context, tenor, freedom and fruits of the community in which they are produced and maintained, and the notion of God that inspires and sustains the whole.”78 This means that while the individual is of central importance for asceticism, they need a community with whom to practice. Together, ascetics direct desires to God and identify and share abundant provision with one another and especially to those in need.

The efects of a community’s ascetic practices lead us to discuss their efect on the public life. Charles Mathewes thinks that the Christian participation in public life is itself an ascetical process. He views the citizenship of Christians in society as “a means of training . . . in their fundamental vocation as citizens of the kingdom of heaven.”79 This involves critically analyzing the challenges for engaging public life, such as the “the fuidity and increasing marketization of our occupations, our relationships, and even our identities.”80 Mathewes suggests that Christians confront these challenges, which are often inescapable, by enduring them. One endures the world with hope—which may never be fulflled in this lifetime—by “waiting properly” with God until our longings are ultimately satisfed by God.81 This ascetical hoping and enduring of society builds our ftness for the New Creation.82

77 Coakley, “Deepening Practices: Perspectives from Ascetical and Mystical Theology,” 343.

78 Coakley, The New Asceticism, loc. 536–540.

79 Charles T. Mathewes, A Theology of Public Life, Cambridge studies in Christian doctrine 17 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 2.

80 bid., 10.

Engaging public life as an ascetic practice presupposes vulnerability, a “learning to sufer in the right way.”

83 By inhabiting the tension in public life between love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self, one is vulnerable to others, open to their points of view, and refuses to impose one’s own ideals on others.84 In this way, asceticism is the learning to live with other people in society where one is purged of the temptation to instrumentalize others.85 Through ascetic engagement with public life, one’s perspectives, attitudes, and behaviors are chastened and shaped.

Having discussed Nietzsche’s and Weber’s infuence on our understandings of asceticism and contemporary views on the Christian ascetic tradition, I will now identify some implications for the issue of emigration. Nietzsche’s critique must be heard: ascetic practices cannot be imposed. Any potential emigrant who adopts ascetic practices must freely choose them. Moreover, ascetic practices are not to be understood as the rejection or repression of the world or body. Rather, they are freely chosen and grounded in the faith that God’s provision is abundant. The ascetic struggle is a discipline with and for the self (the struggle of potential immigrants to stay) and the world (in their Romanian community).

81 Ibid., 11–13.

82 The New Creation is not understood as an ethereal experience in the heavens or simply a future reality but the age that is already inaugurated by the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit as frst fruits of the New Creation in creation, and especially the church, that anticipate its consummation.

83 Mathewes, A Theology of Public Life, 11.

84 Ibid., 303–304.

85 Ibid., 304.

From Weber, we see how ascetic practices connect to the capitalist market. However, if the market is not informed by a “religious ethic” or theological vision, it becomes an end in itself, trapping its inhabitants in a cage of materialism.86 This poses a question to potential emigrants: is moving to a more opportune economy motivated by something more than material gain? Can religious beliefs and practices of potential emigrants infuence the way they see and engage the market? Weber’s analysis may also serve to critique the NSD, which provides nothing more than a materialist response to perceived materialist needs. Without a deeper vision to support human fourishing, the strategy does not respond to a fuller spectrum of human need and desires.

Taking up Coakley’s and Mathewes’ proposals for Christian ascetic practices, we see that they ofer a way to form the practitioner’s vision, desires, and behavior. Embarking on the ascetic journey through regular disciplines of prayer and communal worship, one consents to the action of God who shapes vision and desires. For the potential emigrant, this may lead to not only seeing the obvious defciencies of their homeland but being able to recognize its assets and possibilities. This is a place where Christian asceticism can contribute to the insufciencies of the NSD’s consideration of the consensual approach to understanding relative poverty. While it is important to identify needs and to help one another meet needs, Christian asceticism stands to change perceptions by seeing resources and by not simply desiring what others are perceived to have. Christian asceticism also opens one’s eyes to see others. So, ascetic practices lead potential emigrants to not only consider their own needs but the needs of others and how their staying or going may afect them.

86 I am not assuming that Weber’s reading is correct or that capitalism as practiced in a particular time by Protestants was an ideal. I am contending that Christian faith and practices can inform the way one interacts with the market.

Afections are also shaped by God through ascetic practices. Disciplines that deny self-gratifcation make one aware of what is desired. For the potential emigrant, this is an invitation to explore their desires and motivations and recognize that moving (or staying) for materialistic gain will not ultimately satisfy. Because only God can fulfll one’s ultimate longings, one is freed from the frustration of being unsatisfed by one’s homeland and from the expectation that they will be satisfed abroad.

The NSD’s focus on the individual coheres with the individual choice and responsibility of practicing Christian asceticism. However, as Coakley states, these practices are sustained and guided by a community of ascetic practitioners. While asceticism does not guarantee whether one emigrates or not, it points to the need for communal Christian refection and discernment of motivations, desires, and behavior.

This Christian perspective also sees engagement with society as an ascetic practice. Instead of being dissatisfed with society and choosing to leave, the potential emigrant can see engaging society, the challenges of loving others, and the inability to efectuate change as an opportunity to grow in ftness for the New Creation. In this way, rather than viewing society as something to fee, it can be perceived as a “good” in the ways that it shapes oneself by engaging it 87

87 I am not suggesting here that engaging society now is only a “good” for what it can do for those who engage it, but that we need to learn to see society as a “good.”

Christian ascetic practices can help resist motivations to migrate by helping one to see existing resources in one’s homeland, by shaping desires so as to not be driven by materialistic gain or by what others have, and by forming the practitioner through enduring the world and its attempts to reduce one to materialist component or its temptations to instrumentalize others. We now turn to how Christian asceticism also provides a vision for engaging society from which many want to take fight.

Having identifed ways that Christian ascetic practices help to shape one’s motivations, I now turn to see how they can help engage society rather than fee from it. Some of the popular images of asceticism depict solitaries living in the desert. The movement into the desert does feature in Christian Scriptures and tradition. While often understood as a withdrawal from society, I suggest that this can serve as a model for engaging the world by identifying desolate places, challenging the “demons” that deprive human fourishing, and acting in ways that make society.88

The journey into the desert is a paradigmatic story featured in the Christian Bible. In the book of Exodus, God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness to “sacrifce to the Lord our God” (Exod. 3:18). This journey of worship last forty years—a time in which the Israelites learn to live by God’s hand and not by bread alone (Deut. 8:3), learn to not put God to test for provision (Exod. 17; Deut. 6:16), and to worship the Lord only instead of other gods (Exod. 32; Deut. 6:13).

88 Often, the journeys in the desert are used for theologies of migration, but I am appealing to them as a theology for habitation and for remaining. See Peter C. Phan, ed., Christian Theology in the Age of Migration: Implications for World Christianity (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2020), 33–50, 101–128; Daniel G. Groody and Gioacchino Campese, eds., A Promised Land, a Perilous Journey: Theological Perspectives on Migration (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2008), 62–75.

This journey to the wilderness is also taken by Jesus,89 who is led by the Spirit to battle with Satan for forty days (Matt. 4:1; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:12). Satan tempts Jesus with bread from stones (security and survival), miraculous saving from a public leap of the temple’s pinnacle (prestige), and the world’s kingdoms (power and possessions).90 Where Israel had succumbed to the temptations, Jesus is victorious. Satan fees, and Jesus communes with angels and animals—an anticipatory sign of the restoral of all creation (Mark 1:13; Matt. 4:11; Luke 4:13).

Following the path of Israel and Jesus, some early Christians went to dwell in the wilderness. Often called the Desert Fathers and Mothers, these Christians battled demonic temptations through solitude, silence, and prayer. Popular writers on spirituality, like Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen, interpreted the move to the desert as a fight from society.91 Others, however, have a diferent historical reading. Rather than feeing civilization, the desert ascetics move into the desolate areas that are occupied by the demonic in order to build society.

89 Although there is not room for discussion in this paper, it is important to note John the Baptist’s ministry in the desert and his inspiration for desert spirituality.

90 Henri Nouwen relates these temptations to one’s existential identity: I am what I do, I am what others say about me, and I am what I have (Life of the Beloved). Thomas Keating calls them false programs of happiness through security and survival, afection and esteem, and power and control (Human Condition).

91 Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century (New York: New Directions, 1960), 3–4; Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry, (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991).

Athanasios Papathanasiou says that in the Ancient Near East culture, the wilderness (as well as ruined cities) was not uninhabited but was considered the dwelling place of wild animals and demons.92 Seen in this light, Christian ascetics are pioneers, penetrating the enemy’s territory. St. Antony, one of the frst and most famous Desert Fathers, was reportedly attacked by a demon who said, “Get of our domain.”93 When St. Antony “came to attain the heights of ascesis, the demons went away from him and the wild animals became peaceful towards him.”94 The mission of the desert ascetics was not to “reject contaminated Creation, but seek its purifcation.”95 The desert dwellers are inspired by scriptural texts like: “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations” (Is. 58:12). Isaiah also prophecies that “the desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom” (Is. 35:1). St. Athanasius says that the “desert was turned into a city by monks.”96 While this hagiography may paint an overly idealized picture of the desert, it nonetheless speaks to the intentions and efects of Christian engagement with desolate places that are antagonistic to human fourishing.97

92 Athanasios N. Papathanasiou, Future, the Background of History: Essays on Church Mission in an Age of Globalization, Orthodoxy in Dialogue with the Modern World; (Alexander Press, 2005), 65. For example, see Isaiah 13:21, 34:13-14, Jeremiah 27:39, Zephaniah 2:14, Baruch 4:35.

93 bid., 68.

94 bid.

95 bid., 72.

96 bid., 75.

97 One may be tempted to criticize the ascetic life described here as movement into the desert by social elites, but we could also take examples from quotidian lives of Christians in urban centers in the early centuries. Rodney Stark reports on how Christians remained in cities and cared for others sufering from flth, crime, disorder, and disease—even at the cost of their own lives. Rodney Stark,