Merton and the Protestant Tradition

Thomas Merton’s mature monastic perspectives included his increasing openness to persons of other faith traditions that included Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. Through personal contacts and by correspondence, Merton practiced hospitality to experiences of faith by those seeking God in ways that might differ from but also complement his own Roman Catholicism. This volume explores Merton’s dialogues with Protestants, especially with Protestant seminary professors and their students from Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, who would visit him in his hermitage that had originally been built to house these interfaith dialogues. The volume displays Merton and his Protestant interlocutors at their ecumenical best, listening to one another in a communion marked by love and hope.