Merton Quest For The Living God Analysis

On March 18, 1958, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut in Louisville, Thomas Merton had an experience that changed the way he viewed the world and everyone in it. Merton had an epiphany that changed his self-understanding and his sense of mission. On this day, Merton acquired an awareness of unity that he wanted to share with the world so everyone would wake up from our dream that everyone is separate. Merton is not the only theologian that tried opening the eyes of the world. Elizabeth Johnson in her book, Quest for the Living God, also talks about the Christian goal of unity across different topics. Both of these theologians ultimately have the same goal but discuss it in very different ways. Thomas Merton was Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky and a brilliant writer. In the short twenty-seven years he spent at the monastery, he brought about profound changes to the idea of …show more content…
Both of these brilliant writers realized that without love they would not know God. Merton believes that in order to be united with others we must stop violence and war altogether. Although Christians may never succeed at taking the violence and aggressiveness out of their daily lives, it is a goal everyone should strive to achieve to become more united. Merton also believed that in order to unite with others one must find themselves first. They must wake up from the illusion of a false self. Elizabeth Johnsons approach to being united is a little different. She believes the doctrine of the Trinity acts as a guide to communion. Johnson also argues that humans are all made up of the same material, stardust, just in different forms. This means humans are distinct and not separate, so stop acting separate from the world. Even though these two excellent authors value unity and peace greatly, they express it in different