The Benedict Option

A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation

The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West. American churches are beset by a rapidly secularizing culture, the departure of young people, and watered-down pseudo-spirituality. Political solutions have failed, as the self-destruction of the Republican Party indicates, and the future of religious freedom has never been in greater doubt. The center is not holding. The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age.

The good news is that there is a blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. The Benedict Option shows believers how to build the resilience to face the modern world with the confidence and fervor of the early church. Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to complacency, Dreher shows why churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it.

©2017 Rod Dreher (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Challenging but insightful.

A book that will fuel many important discussions among Christians. Dreher's realistic assessment of modern culture can tend towards pessimism, and in some ways it is a declaration that the war is over, we lost, and what are camps in the hills going to look like.

Radical challenge

The Benedict Option is a radical challenge to painfully recognize and prepare for the cultural challenges confessing Christians must navigate now and in the near future.

my review

Good entry level reactionary Catholicism. would recommend as a first read for people interested in that side of politics/Catholicism

Must-Read!

This is a must-read for orthodox Christians today. Even if you disagree on some points, Dreher gets you pondering in general. You also receive an accessible primer on intellectual and theological history.

Refreshing and Timely

A wonderful and timely book for Catholics (and all Christians) who feel themselves torn between Christianity and modern society.