Politics, Theology, and Spiritual Autobiography: Dag Hammarskjöld and Thomas Merton—A Case Study

Abstract

(1) Background: Among the most important authors of spiritual autobiography, Dag Hammarskjöld and Thomas Merton must surely mentioned. The first one, a Swedish Evangelical, and the second one, an American Cistercian monk, provide valuable and interdisciplinary works. Among the topics found, their political theology is also present. Noticing its relevance, we will try there to take into account the way the aforementioned topic is reflected in their work. (2) Results: Aspects such as communism, racism, diplomacy, or love will constitute some of the topics that we will bring into attention in this research in an attempt to present the particularities, common points, and differences of the approaches of the two relevant authors, one from the Protestant space and the other from the Catholic one, both with an ecumenical vocation and openness to dialogue. (3) Methods: As for our methods, we will use the historical inquiry, the analysis of documents, and the deductive and the qualitative method. (4) Conclusions: The work will therefore investigate the aspects of political theology found in their research and will emphasize their vision, the common points, the use of Christian theology in the understanding of political and social realities, but also the differences that may occur between their approaches. At the same time, the role played by the context where they lived, worked, and wrote will be taken into attention in order to provide a more complex perspective on the relationship between their life and work.

1. Introduction

Both Dag Hammarskjöld and Thomas Merton were representative authors for the theological field of the 20th century and for the spiritual autobiography genre. The first one, part of the Evangelical Lutheran area, was also a political personality that played a main role in the field of international diplomacy. The second one, a Cistercian monk, was also involved in humanitarian initiatives and had a complex and sometimes a revolutionary view on the space of politics. In their memorial notes, they both left valuable thoughts on political theology. The relevance of their ideas is proved by the successive editions of their works (Hammarskjöld 1972, 2000; Erling 2010; Merton 1948, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963a, 1963b, 1968, 1969, 1976, 1985, 1993, 1994, 2005, 2018), and by the monographs, studies, and articles dedicated to them (Globerman 2011; Morariu 2018, pp. 1–5; 2021, pp. 1–5).

Noticing both their role in the field of political theology, where, one was practically involved in the diplomatic life, as a General Secretary of ONU, while the other was interested in political life and topics such as democracy, we will try there to bring into attention the way in which the political theology is reflected in works such as Markings (Hammarskjöld 1972; Erling 2010; it will be the last one that we will use there, due to the comments made by Bernard Erling and the accuracy of English translation of his ideas) or the diaries of Thomas Merton. We will also try to bring into attention the common points of their teachings and the differences between their visions. The question that this research aims to answer is the following: how is the political theology reflected in the spiritual autobiographies of Dag Hammarskjöld and Thomas Merton? The methodology will be the specifical one. Therefore, together with the historical enquiry, we will also use the deductive one, and when necessary, other methods.

2. Dag Hammarskjöld and Political Theology

Despite of the fact that he was not a theoretician of political theology such as Carl Schmit (Schmitt 1985) or Erik Peterson (Peterson 2011, p. 147; Petrache 2021–2022, p. 225), for example, Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) was a man interested in theology, politics, and diplomacy who had an interdisciplinary formation. In the spiritual autobiography published posthumously by his collaborators (Urquhart 1972, p. 79), he provided notes on the topic. Diplomacy taught him an aspect that will be referred in his notes, namely the fact that: “We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours” (Lopez 2012, p. 10). He did not see this as a reason for capping and resignation to the fate. On the contrary, will use it as a pretext for the seeking of freedom and as a motivation in order to fight for it. His two mandates as a General Secretary of the Organisation of United Nations will prove that. The Suez crisis (Cordier and Footes 1977, p. 83), Lebanon Crisis (Nantet 1986, p. 330), Congo Crisis (Aulen 1969, p. 125; Van Dusen 1967), Korean war, and many other global problems of the time that could degenerate into a war, were fixed due to his contribution to seeking peace and diplomacy. Linking together diplomacy and religion, he noted the need for freedom the following in his diary:

“Always: here and now—in that freedom which is one with detachment, in the still-ness that is born out of tranquillity. But this freedom is a freedom during activity, this tranquillity is a tranquillity among people. The mystery is a constant reality in the one, who in this world is himself free, a reality in calm maturity during affirmation’s receptive attentiveness. The way to sanctification in our time necessarily passes through the world of action”

(Erling 2010, p. 146)

The constant seeking for peace is, for the Swedish diplomat with economical, literary, and juridical studies, both a work for the diplomacy as well as for the soul. As a Christian deeply rooted in the principles of his faith, Hammarskjöld understood both the relevance of peace as a phenomenon with political consequences, together with the one of the soul. His spiritual autobiography comes to prove it and has, under certain points, prophetic relevance. Thus, as Ryan underlines:

“Markings, a testimony to Hammarskjöld’s cultivated practice of conscious self-scrutiny, is marked by honesty, acute perception and a sense of immediate experience. His writing, with its affective texture, his mastery of rhythm and images, reflects a man of a poetic sensibility”

(Ryan 2016, p. 120)

If political freedom is in most cases the fruit of a complex work that implies dialogue, diplomacy, and, in most of the cases, the work for finding a common interest, the one of the soul is something defined by two main aspects: the relationship with God and the struggle with the self for self-improvement at any level. For the Swedish diplomat, such as for Thomas Merton too, freedom is a central point. Hammarskjöld draws attention to the fact that the road one makes in order to discover his or her self is a long one and it also has challenges. In the notes that could be surely used in the self-disclosure work (Catona and Greene 2016, pp. 1–4; Nitya 2023, pp. 14–17), the diplomat underlines the following fact:

“The longest journey/Is the journey inwards./The one who has chosen his destiny,/Who has begun the trek Towards his own ground/(does such a ground exist?)/Still among you,/He is outside the fellowship,/Isolated in your feelings/As one condemned to death,/Or one whom imminent departure/Prematurely dedicates/To each person’s final solitude”

(Erling 2010, p. 54)

The author also understands the fact that sometimes an intention can be misinterpreted, and is aware of the fact that, in many situations, the attempt to obtain peace among countries or people can cause troubles to the one who does it. His relationship with the Russian president Khruschev (Urquhart 1972, p. 89; Hanley and Melber 2011, p. 10) in which, in several situations, he pled for his replacement as a General Secretary of ONU, comes to prove that he was speaking from his own experience. Moreover, in certain situations, he even uses some of the notes in order to make an allusion to certain political or diplomatic realities, masked under the presentation of some inner states. Thus, for example, in a note speaking about the misunderstanding of his intentions, he underlines the following:

“The purer the eye of the intention is, the more strength the soul finds within itself … But it is very rare to find a soul entirely free, whose purity is not at all sullied by some stain of a secret searching for itself… Work, therefore, to purify the eye of your intention in order that it might be single and upright”

(Erling 2010, p. 118)

The use of two terms from the theological field in the discourse related with political theology is also interesting, namely: forgiveness and love. They are related with his Christian approach of the topic. Similar to Merton’s case, they are seen as elements that shall define the relationships between people, institutions, or states and would constitute even premises of dialogue in case of conflict. This explains why Dag Hammarskjöld considers them to be keywords of his spiritual notes.

Similar to when he uses Christian terms in an attempt to provide an interdisciplinary approach to entrepreneurship, the diplomat called also the “custodian of brush fire peace” (Lash 1961, p. 5), insisting on honesty in ones work and on the fact that personal freedom should not be obtained when it is conditioned by the sacrifice of someone else’s. Different notes, some of them having landmarks of time or space, others related only to the spiritual experiences of the author and to the way in which some of the events that he lived through influenced his way of acting or thinking, make arriving to this topic almost redundant in his notes. Thus, for example, shortly before his death, he noted in the diary the following:

“Easter 1960. Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality through the fact that the one who ‘forgives’—in love—takes upon himself the responsibility for the consequences of what you did. It therefore always involves sacrifice. The price of your own liberation through the sacrifice of another is that you yourself must be willing in the same way to liberate, irrespective of the cost”

(Erling 2010, p. 254)

Despite his formation as a lawyer, economist, and philologist, and despite his rich work in diplomacy, Hammarskjöld always approached the realities of his time in a pragmatic way. Therefore, even when he spoke about mystics and the inner aspects of the spiritual life, he understood it as being always related with the practical field. For him, as was the case also for other mystical authors from the Christian space (see, for example: Athonite 1976, p. 23), there is not a genuine mystical vocation without relevance in practical work (Erling 2010, p. 146).

As it can be seen, Dag Hammarskjold’s spiritual autobiography brings into discussion also political theology. For the Swedish Lutheran diplomat coming both from a family with a rich heritage in the cultural and political field (Lyonn 2006–2007, p. 81; Cordier and Footes 1977, p. 195), politics and diplomacy are important. At the same time, influenced probably by his mother, who had a special relation with Archbishop Nathan Soderblom (Lash 1961, p. 24; Drăgoi 2014, p. 32), he also insisted on the fact that Christian terms such as forgiveness, love, or mystical put into practice should be inserted into the discourse of the public space.

3. Thomas Merton’s Approach on Political Theology

In comparison with Dag Hammarskjöld, Thomas Merton (1915–1968) was not a politician or a man of diplomacy, but a Cistercian Monk without any political affiliation. He was not part of a political party, nor a supporter of one. He published a series of spiritual journals that have been reprinted successively, quoted and investigated by the scholars, and constitute the topic of discussion and debate for different areas of Christian spirituality. His focus was rather on himself and on his interior transformation. Similar to other writers of the time, he was also interested in the situation of the world (on a social, political, religious, or cultural level) and provided notes on aspects that can be classified among the elements of political theology (Morariu 2021, p. 3). His approach in this field has been previously investigated (see: Morariu 2021, pp. 1–5). Still, we will bring it into attention again, bringing into debate new aspects of it and realizing a comparison with the Swedish diplomat previously mentioned.

Ecology (Jensen 2020, pp. 7–18), communism (Merton 1948, p. 133), war (Merton 2018, p. 156; Carneiro 2016, p. 205), facism (Merton 1976; Feurherd 2021, pp. 5–6; Horan 2020, pp. 63–82), or spiritual life (Roddy 2020, p. 47) can be considered among the keywords of any investigation related to his spiritual autobiography. He provided valuable pages dedicated to each one of them in an attempt to prove that a man with a mystical vocation is also aware of the problems of the society that he lives in. As a pacifist, he insisted on the fact that the war does not represent a solution in any situation (Merton 1948, p. 214). He only agrees with the idea of war as a form of defense and only in exceptional situations. Conscious of the fact that a war of aggression cannot be justified under any circumstance, he points out a clear perspective on the topic. The only accepted form of war as an answer must be, according to the American Cistercian monk, self-defense (Merton 1948, p. 311).

In fact, encyclical letters from his time and also later, released by popes such as John XXIII, or John Paul II, come to prove the fact that he was totally in convergence with the doctrine preached by the Church that he belonged to. Moreover, it brings him into the broader context of the seeking for peace that defined, during the 20th century, the entirety of Christianity. In an approach that comes close to Hammarskjöld’s (Hammarskjöld 1972, p. 32), he places in the center of the discourse about peace the idea of love (Merton 1961, p. 16). His Christian approach bears also nuances of political theology and the emphasis is not anymore placed on the international relationships, dialogue between leaders, diplomacy, or other aspects that could be usually encountered in the field, but on God. He in-sists on the fact that everything that happens in the world is a form of manifestation of God’s love and this should be a reason strong enough for peace and for rethinking both social realities and relationships between people.

3.1. War in American Culture

It must be also noticed that Merton understands also the problem in an applied key. Therefore, he is interested in the way American culture sees it. Similar to other contemporary scholars (see, for example: Gheorghiu 2019), he condemns his country for attitudes such as the one regarding racism (Commins 2020, p. 59), for the messianism preached by some of its politicians (Merton 1961, p. 179), and for using what he calls the illusion of innocence as a political weapon. The idea of America as the “earthly paradise” (Merton 1961, p. 179) constitutes, for example, an important topic of debate for the Catholic theologian. He considers it as being the one which brings the entire nation into a “black hole” from the spiritual and moral point of view (Commins 2020, p. 60), and therefore he argues with it. Among the relevant texts dedicated to the topic signed by him, the most mentioned ones are dedicated to the Cold War. This document created troubles for him with Church authorities that tried to reduce him to silence. This attempt proved his creativity, both as a monk, scholar, or author of spiritual autobiographies. Thus, as Commins shows, it was an alternative strategy that he used due to the complicated situation that he was in (Commins 2020, p. 59).

3.2. History as a Tool

In order to re-discover and use the value of peace, he will use different examples from history. As expected, the one of Lincoln could not be avoided, due to the prestige of the former president of the USA (Commins 2020, p. 55). While the aforementioned leader invited the American citizens, both from the North and South, to act on the “better angels of their nature” (Commins 2020, p. 55), Merton invites the strangers to cast out “America foulest demons” (Commins 2020, p. 55). His words will had a big impact both on the society of the time and will be used also in the context of crises such as the missiles one.

Thus, it can be said that his understanding of the political realities goes beyond the theological approach. Conscious of the realities of the time and visibly against the war, he understood that the reasons behind the wars are more complex than they appear to be. He was also aware of facts that were neglected by most of the people of his time. Conscious of the fact that, in normal situations, an individual will not be considered as important for the general situation of the world, he spoke about it. In a note that speaks both about the way Nazi experiments during the Second World War were not taken into consideration by the individual who disrespected them, he drew the attention to the fact that, divided, people have no voice to be heard by the leaders of the world. Some actions could help, but still the individual alone could be easily reduced to silence by the ones who consider him as not being convenient (Merton 1948, p. 214).

3.3. Communism

As it has been already mentioned, among the main topics that define Merton’s understanding of political theology, communism can be considered a keyword. His spiritual autobiography keeps notes containing different remarks on it. The fact that, during his youth, the future Catholic monk joined them and considered this form of organization of the state as a solution, made him later to repent. It constitutes probably also an explanation of the frequent references to it in his spiritual notes. In an attempt to make a public confession, he speaks about his first meeting with communism:

It was some four years since I had first read the Communist Manifesto and I had never entirely forgotten about it. One of those Christmas vacations at Strasbourg I had read some books about Soviet Russia, how all the factories were working overtime, and all the ex-moujiks wore great big smiles on their faces, welcoming Russian aviators on their re-turn from Polar flights, bearing the boughs of threes in their hands. Then I often went to Russian movies, which were pretty good from the technical point of view, although prob-ably not so good as I thought they were, in my great anxiety to approve of them. Finally, I had in my mind the myth that Soviet Russia was the friend of all the arts, and the only place where true art could find a fringe in a world of bourgeois ugliness. Where I ever got that idea is hard to find out, and how I managed to cling to it for so long is harder still

(Merton 1948, p. 132)

If this was his first impression, the later contacts with it will surely make it change. The comparison with Pagan Rome (Merton 1948, p. 133) will be related both with the materialistic defining elements of the society, vanity, but also other principles. For him, between capitalism and communism, there will not be a big difference in the understanding of social realities, lust, and the need for money (Merton 1948, p. 133). The problem with both of these forms of social organization will be related in his conception with the lack of spirituality and the exclusion of God and religion from the equation. The fact that in the beginning he felt close to communism can be also related with his capitalism background. As he will confess, he felt unhappy with the society that he lived in (Merton 1948, p. 146). Moreover, the communists that he encountered were his colleagues in university that formed a social circle. As idealists, they represented a calm and enthusiastic face of the problem and gave him the impression that a communist is “calm, strong, definite people, with very clear ideas as to what was wrong with everything” (Merton 1948, p. 146). In a note that looks rather similar to an attempt of mea culpa from his spiritual notes, Merton insists on the fact that he idealized this form of political and social life and at the same time his affinity to it must surely be seen in relationship to his immaturity, and he also defines it as a lack of logic (Merton 1948, p. 135). Later analysis of the topic will convince him that it cannot constitute a solution and will bring him far away from it, or from its representatives (Morariu 2021, p. 3). Moreover, when he had the occasion, he criticized communism, its forms of manifestation, and both its attitude towards individual and society.

3.4. Racism—Another Keyword of Merton’s Understanding of Political Theology

Another important topic related with political theology that can be found in Thomas Merton’s spiritual autobiography is the racism. As exegetics such as Horan underline (Horan 2020, p. 71), there can be found several relevant notes, meditations, or ideas related to the topic written in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The context was important for the development of his ideas. Thus, action such as the ones of the Ku Klux Clan, apartheid, but also actions such as the ones of Malcom X or Martin Luther King that he was interested in inspired him to write and to adopt a clear and articulated position. Moreover, he defended the last ones in some of his works. Open-minded, he used their arguments, he emphasized them to his contemporaries and he created an openness to dialogue and understanding. His Christian background constituted for sure an important tool that directed him towards that, as well as his inner convictions. He also saw the things beyond their appearances, as it can be seen from some of his notes. Thus, for example, speaking about Martin Luther King Jr. in the 60s, he insisted on the fact that, when approaching the civil rights, he “clearly spelled out the struggle for freedom not as a struggle for the Negro alone, but also for the white man” (Feurherd 2021, p. 5).

Defining himself as a liberal (Feurherd 2021, p. 6), a fact that, for him, represented more than a slogan, he was, from this point of view, a brave and prophetic writer. It was an act of courage in those times for a white man to write about this topic in a society that was very divided in this matter (Horan 2020, p. 71). Moreover, he did not limit himself only to present certain historical arguments or to emphasize an example, but understood that the American ideals are related with the understanding and use of this aspect. Works such as Letters to a White Liberal offer a valuable testimony on this. They were conceived, as the analyzers underline, as an answer to Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (Horan 2020, p. 72) and have a militant character. They also caused problems with his order, which, such as in case of the war, tried to silence him, but without succeeding. The motivation was not a dogmatic, but rather a pragmatic one: the fear of generating a negative social attitude against the church.

On the same note, his essays on native Americans (Merton 1976) must also be observed, where the problem is contextualized and related to the native people, but also his intersections with Buddhism, that come to demonstrate his openness in relationship with the others without borders of race or religion (Di Valerio 2020, pp. 472–75).

4. Conclusions

As we tried to show there too, both Hammarskjöld and Merton were concerned with political theology. Almost contemporaries, they both tried to change the world in their way by bringing into debate religion and spirituality. For both of them, love represents a topic that can shift the socio-political realities or the diplomatic work. While Dag Hammarskjöld insists on its role in relationships between people, Merton puts the emphasis on God’s love as a force that can change realities. Both of them came in contact with communism. While for Merton this form of government seems to constitute, in his youth, an alternative, for the Swedish diplomat, it is, from the beginning, a challenge. Both of them developed a critical approach to it and emphasized its weak points. Another common aspect of their teachings is the need for interiorization. Both Hammarskjöld and Merton are men with mystical vocations who consider that the discover of the self can be related with the improvement of social realities. War is another topic that can be found in both spiritual autobiographies. While the General Secretary of ONU dealt with crises and wars such as Vietnam, Suez, Lebanon, or the Congo Crisis, managing these by using diplomacy and Christian principles to solve most of them, Merton militated thorough his writings against it, considering that the defense war was the only form of war that could be accepted. Although his attitude towards the topic created troubles for him, he never ceased to have a firm opinion against violence and contributed, with his pacifist discourse, to the establishment of a wealthy direction. Indeed, the ways used by the two men were different, due to the context in which they lived and worked and their vocations, but the approaches and results were rather similar, although in different contexts and scales.

While for the American Cistercian racism represented a topic that must be approached and is related to the inner understanding of American principles, for Hammarskjöld, it was part of diplomatic discourse and the understanding of social realities. In certain situations, the way it was understood was also related with the solution to some crises of the time. Both of them had a Christian approach to it and an understanding based on one of the aforementioned keywords, namely love.

Noticing these aspects, we consider that their work shall be discovered and investigated also from this point of view. Due to the way the social realities are presented in their spiritual autobiographies, based on the Christian principles, both Merton and Hammarskjöld develop a complex opinion that can be useful for history, theology, and philosophy, but also in the field of political theology, where, compared with classical authors such as Carl Schmitt or Erick Peterson, they provide a dynamic perspective, marked by some convergences and at the same time, have prophetical accents, starting from the presentation and understanding of their contemporary realities. Although they do not have a total convergence of ideas and they approach, in certain situations, history in different manners, their ideas come from almost the same basis and bring forth similar principles, useful at both theoretical and practical levels.