Read Online The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation By Rod Dreher

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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade." —David BrooksIn this controversial bestseller, Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life.    From the inside, American churches have been hollowed out by the departure of young people and by an insipid pseudo–Christianity. From the outside, they are beset by challenges to religious liberty in a rapidly secularizing culture. Keeping Hillary Clinton out of the White House may have bought a brief reprieve from the state’s assault, but it will not stop the West’s slide into decadence and dissolution.   Rod Dreher argues that the way forward is actu­ally the way back—all the way to St. Benedict of Nur­sia. This sixth-century monk, horrified by the moral chaos following Rome’s fall, retreated to the forest and created a new way of life for Christians. He built enduring communities based on principles of order, hospitality, stability, and prayer. His spiritual centers of hope were strongholds of light throughout the Dark Ages, and saved not just Christianity but Western civilization.   Today, a new form of barbarism reigns. Many believers are blind to it, and their churches are too weak to resist. Politics offers little help in this spiritual crisis. What is needed is the Benedict Option, a strategy that draws on the authority of Scripture and the wisdom of the ancient church. The goal: to embrace exile from mainstream culture and construct a resilient counterculture.  The Benedict Option is both manifesto and rallying cry for Christians who, if they are not to be conquered, must learn how to fight on culture war battlefields like none the West has seen for fifteen hundred years. It's for all mere Chris­tians—Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox—who can read the signs of the times. Neither false optimism nor fatalistic despair will do. Only faith, hope, and love, embodied in a renewed church, can sustain believers in the dark age that has overtaken us. These are the days for building strong arks for the long journey across a sea of night.

Book The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation Review :

The Benedict Option is a New York Times bestseller from Rod Dreher, senior editor of The American Conservative. He's a Catholic who set out to write about why things are heading downhill in America, especially for Christian society. He notices many of the problems that have cropped up in America, and gets some of the solutions correct. However, his main purpose for writing the book is not only off base, they're undeniably unChristian.The back and forth of what he was getting right and wrong happened with such frequency I started keeping a log to help prevent me from slipping into a wrong way of thinking and to help keep track of what was happening.The GoodBefore we dive into what Dreher gets wrong in his treatise, let's start with what he gets right. Dreher points out that American Conservatism is not Christian. For the lead editor of a national conservative magazine to say that conservatism will not save us is huge! We must recognize that our political affiliations (Republican, Libertarian, or Democrat) are not Christian in their fundamental nature.Dreher correctly notes that our past Christian leaders told the Christian community that if we just got involved in politics we could change this nation, making it more moral. There are several problems with this. The first of which is that's not what the Bible preaches. It preaches winning over the individual. No where in Scripture are we mandated to make laws that prevent people from sinning, in fact we're told to abide by the laws as long as they don't order us to sin ourselves (Rom. 13:1-7). The second problem is this puts our faith in human institutions to do good, make good laws, enforce them well, and so on. But our faith should be in our Supreme Creator. The one who establishes laws and justice (Psalm 89:14). Putting our faith elsewhere will only lead to disappointment and heartache as our rulers fail to live up to our expectations.Rod Dreher spends a chapter early on talking about Benedict of Nu and his founding of the Benedictine order. In this chapter, Dreher correctly uses Scripture to point to some solid Christian beliefs: the benefit and discipline of prayer, a hard work ethic, denying oneself of pleasure when they interfere with ones devotion to God (asceticism), the value of stability and community, and hospitality.A Christian living in a godly manner, will seek to put God first in all that they do, and in doing so will do all their work as unto the Lord (Col. 3:17). They will display hospitality, knowing that what is theirs really belongs to God. And there is value in living in a close-knit Christian community. Christians are called to give to one another to meet their needs, just as demonstrated in the book of Acts. (The problem with Dreher's reading on this point, is he argues for removing the church from interaction with unBelievers, which is wholly unBiblical.)As the book continues to develop Dreher develops the argument that Christian living is not just about Sunday Morning, but about a lifestyle. And this is wholly true. It's what the Bible preaches! We ought not to give just lip services, but to give God our everything as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1).Dreher also correctly notes that our Christian education in America is lacking. Parents today are not teaching their kids about what the Bible says and why they should obey it. Studies over the years have shown a marked decline in what each generation knows about what the Bible says, fewer and fewer people (both Christian and not) have actually read the Bible cover to cover. This is a failing of our current generation and it needs to be addressed.In his chapter on eros (sexual love), Dreher correctly notes that singles in our culture are marginalized. They're asked questions and referred to in a manner that suggests that the only way they will be fulfilled in life is to get married. He also notes (as I talked about recently) that the Church dis-proportionally targets homosexuality more than any other sexual sin. Instead of helping and supporting those with this struggle to grow and find joy through their struggle. He also correctly identifies the problem of pornography and how it ruins marriages.Lastly, he points out that cell phone usage has become an addiction in our culture. So many of us started out using a cell phone to look at the news, or do productive things, but now our cell phones have become so ingrained in our lives we have trouble when we're in places without cellphone and data coverage. We instinctively grab out cell phones when conversations lull... we can't bare to be with each other in the boring times...The BadBefore I get into the list of problems with this book, I want to start with the most glaring problem, the lack of pointing to Scripture for support. This book is 10 chapters long (plus an intro and conclusion) but in only 3 chapters does he reference the Bible. One of those chapters is about the Benedictine Rule, where he examines Benedict's rules for living, so the Scriptures used there are there because the were part of the rules themselves. It's very hard to make such a long rambling argument adhere to Scripture without referencing it, and as we shall see his argument is based mostly on his feelings about how society has evolved, and not how Scripture says we ought to live.Rod makes continual points about how Christianity in America is under attack for various things, but most of the cases he brings up center around bigotry and legalistic folly. The people cited are those that have taken what Scripture says and become pharisaical about it. This is problematic. As I've interacted with unbelievers, most of the ones that find Christianity distasteful, find it that way because of the hypocrisy and legalism of many of its adherents. For instance, when I open up about how homosexuality is sinful, but that the way the church has handled it is wrong, unbelievers often open up with a willingness to hear more. The more legalistic we get the more we push people away, just as the Pharisees did in Jesus day.At several point, Rod talks about how the old ways are better (often citing nostalgia as the reasonable proof). This is a common sentiment of many believers. Things seem so much better in ancient days. I've heard people talk about how great the early church was in meeting the needs of its people (Acts 5), and how great it would be to return to such days. But in thinking such thoughts we forget about how corrupt the body of Christ was then. Look at the sexual immorality that plagued Corinth or the legalism that ran rampant in Galatia... Paul wrote his letters to call out the Church for its many sins. When we synthesize these thoughts, we need to recognize that some things from ancient times were better, but some things today are better too. We need to continually strive for the best of both worlds. Strive for the best we can be today.Rod Dreher's chapter on education was full of lack of Biblical understanding. He argues that Christians should remove their children from public education. The argument notes that removing them from being taught by secular philosophy protects them from the issues of this world and allows you to shape them with truth. One of the problems with this, is that we often do our best learning by seeing others failing and failing ourselves. To remove us from that opportunity creates a false shelter (or bubble) that makes us more prone to bigger failings later.Rod takes the bubble protection plan one step farther and argues that we should remove our children from all school institutions (public, private, and other) and create new schools that teach our values. In doing so, he specifically removes the weight of parenting from the parents and puts in on the community. This is not what the Bible teaches. The responsibility of education (moral, intellectual, and spiritual) falls on the shoulders of the parent (Gen. 18:19; Deut. 4:9-10, 6:1-7; Pro. 22:6, 29:15; & Eph. 6:4). To move that responsibility anywhere else is to deny the commands of Scripture. No matter what method of education we use to educate out kids (public, private, home school, or boarding school), it rests on the parents to ask good questions and correct any errant teaching or bad morals the children begin to take on. Each method of education has its own pitfalls and boons, and the wise parent will choose the best method for each individual child.The main point that Dreher seeks to make in his book is that Christians need to create Christian communities to separate themselves from the world. He argues that Christians need to stop buying from and working for unbelievers. This kind of communal living is not a new idea, it has been espoused by many over the years. While some have been effective with it, it is not a Biblical idea nor is it normally effective. In the missionary world, we have seen time and time again that missionaries that live in compounds are less effective at gaining converts than those that live with the people. Life on life relationship is the best way of showing the world how we are different from them (Matt. 5:16).Paul showed how this is true when he went on his missionary trips. He lived with the people working among them, as a tent maker. He undoubtedly showed a hard work ethic and strong moral and ethical fiber. Then in his off time he would go to the places of debate within the community and talk about what Christianity truly was (Acts 18:1-3).The notion that we should not buy from unbelievers is ludicrous. At no point in the Bible were the Jews forbidden from trading with other nations. They weren't told to put up an impassible border wall and keep out the infidel. In fact, they were called to do no harm to the sojourner (Ex 22:1 & Ex 23:9), a clear sign that outsiders were allowed in their land. And Paul made it clear that there was nothing wrong with eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols (since idols hold no power), which means someone had to buy that meat from pagans (1 Cor 8). The principles that we can see from these stories (and others) is that we are to be actively engaged with those unBelievers around us. We must live where we are, and redeem our worldly interactions by finding ways to turn conversations to Christ, invite coworkers to our parties, and in general point a spotlight at Jesus, the author and redeemer of our souls.All this to say, Rod Dreher argues that we should separate ourselves from the world, and build walls around us like the old monastics did, and the reasoning he gives for this is entirely based on what he feels will make Christianity strive and not based on what the Bible calls believers to do. His call for our separation from the world is dangerous as it eliminates our ability to show the world what they're missing in Jesus. It is dangerous because it is built on examples from history viewed with rose colored glasses and not on the immutable Word of God. It is dangerous because it is feelings driven and not God centered.I highly recommend "The Gospel Comes with a House Key" by Rosaria Butterfield as a biblically based alternative to this book.
"In the world but not of the world" - that's the calling of followers of Jesus (John 17:13-16). But finding the right balance in this equation has always been challenging for the people of God. In first century Judaism, many Jews opted for isolation from the world, such as the "separated ones" in the sect of the Pharisees, or to a more extreme degree, the ascetic Essene community in Qumran. Others embraced accommodation with the world, like the aristocratic Sadducees or the politically connected Herodians. But Jesus called His followers to chart a different path - insulation from the world and for the world. From the world in the sense that the values of His people would be shaped by God's will and not by the standards of the world. And for the world in the sense that His holy people, firmly rooted and grounded in the faith, would then share the transforming life of Christ with others.In his new book The Benedict Option, Rod Dreher argues that western civilization is in a period of stark decline, not unlike the fall of Rome in the days of the ancient monk for whom the book is named. And just as Benedict left the ruins of Rome to create a new community designed to keep the faith alive so that some day civilization could be rebuilt, Dreher argues that Christians need to strategically withdraw from our degraded culture to revitalize faith, family, and community.Some reviewers have charged The Benedict Option with hysterical alarmism (and a little subtle racism to boot). Others, like Rachel Held Evans, dismissed the book as an example of the "White Christian Industrial Persecution Complex." After all, as Evans argued, Christians make up 75% of the population.It is hard to imagine how these reviewers could have missed the point more badly. As Dreher points out in the opening chapter of the book, while most Americans identify as "Christians," only a minority believe anything that could be traditionally identified as Christianity. Instead, in actual practice most Americans subscribe to what sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton call "Moral Therapeutic Deism." It is "moral" in the sense that most people think we should be nice to each other. It is "therapeutic" because most people think that God just wants them to be happy. And it is "deism" because most people think God is essentially uninvolved with the world (unless they have a crisis and need divine help to be happy again). Adherents of this new religion don't mind "Christianity" so long as it doesn't interfere with the materialism, consumerism, and radical individualism so endemic to our culture.Only those who have decided to accommodate to our culture would fail to see the hostility of the current age to Lordship of Jesus Christ and those who seek to follow Him. Indeed, almost at the same time Rachel Held Evans pontificated about a "Christian persecution complex," Princeton Theological Seminary retracted an honor it intended to give well-known author Tim Keller precisely because of his traditionalist position ("toxic theology" as one critic put it) on sexual ethics. Big government, big business, and big entertainment have all made it clear that they intend to bring as much pressure to bear as they can on anyone or any institution that dares to defy the social agenda of the LGBTQI movement. Those who chirp away about "alarmism" and a "persecution complex"remind me of Detective Frank Dreben in the old Police Squad movie telling a crowd, "Please disperse, there's nothing to see here," while a fireworks factory explodes in front of them!But Dreher's concerns about the collapse of our culture extend far beyond sexual ethics. He sees a culture filled with rampant materialism and exploitive consumerism, but so distracted by technology it isn't even aware a problem exists. And such a culture, having lost its memory of the ancient truths about the deeper spiritual realities of the creation and its Creator, is on the verge of overwhelming the faulty levies of the vapid faith held by so many.So his proposal is a "strategic withdrawal" from the world. Critics have distorted this into a full-fledged retreat at best, or escapism at worst. But that is not at all what Dreher has in mind. What he does intend is that those who truly want to follow Jesus must take this commitment seriously, and to take it seriously in all aspects of life: in politics, at church, in the home, in school, at work, and in the bedroom. This requires an intentional decision to think, live, and love differently than the world.So for instance, families should set regular times of prayer and Bible reading. Politics should be about serving the local community. Churches should be about worship, not entertainment. Education should be about learning virtue (and ultimately, knowing God). Work should be a vocation, a stewardship of the talents and blessings of God for His glory. Sex should be celebrated in the context of marriage between a man and woman as a reflection of the intimacy and life-giving nature of God Himself. And technology should be a servant to these purposes, not a master of the world's purposes.When we built our house, we asked for added insulation to keep the house cooler in the summer. We are "in Florida," but we did not want to be "of Florida"! The Benedict Option is a call for Christians to insulate themselves from the fever heat of a dying culture so that we can be ready to serve the culture with faith still intact. "If we are going to be for the world as Christ meant for us to be, we are going to have to spend more time away from the world..." (p. 19).Since Dreher comes from a Catholic/Orthodox background, some of the discussion of monasticism and high church liturgy was foreign to me. But I have been moved by this book to find ways to intentionally order all aspects of my life around the glory of God rather than the present evil age. It has made me think more rigorously about my private time before God, my work ethic in service of God, my relationship with my wife, and my commitment to love others. I strongly encourage you to read it and see how it challenges you to take your faith more seriously, as it has me.

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