The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELER

Already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade. --David Brooks

In 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 actu-ally the way back--all the way to St. Benedict of Nur-sia. 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 Chris-tians--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.

Dreher, Rod: -

Rod Dreher has been an editorial writer and columnist for the Dallas Morning News, a film critic for the New York Post, and current senior editor at the American Conservative. He is the author of several books.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780735213302
ISBN 10	0735213305
Title	The Benedict Option
Author	Rod Dreher
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Prentice Hall Press
Year published	2018-04-03
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable