{"product_id":"the-benedict-option-isbn-9780735213302","title":"The Benedict Option","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.\" —David Brooks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this controversial bestseller, Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 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. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 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. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e 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. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Benedict Option \u003c\/i\u003eis 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.“The Trump era…has not made \u003ci\u003eThe Benedict Option\u003c\/i\u003e…less timely, but more so….Conservative Christians active in politics have no choice but to do the best they can from that unsteady, wavering position. But only a robust counterculture, a healthy sense of their own freakishness and, yes, a few St. Benedicts will save them if they fall.”\u003cbr\u003e—Ross Douthat, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Benedict Option\u003c\/i\u003e is already the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade.\"\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e—David Brooks, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm more missionary than monastery, but I think every Christian should read this book. Rod Dreher is brilliant, prophetic, and wise. Even if you don't agree with everything in this book, there are warnings here to heed, and habits here to practice.”\u003cbr\u003e —Russell Moore, president, The Ethics \u0026amp; Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “A terrific book: provocative in its content, shrewd in its insights, vivid and engaging in its style.  The strength of \u003ci\u003eThe Benedict Option\u003c\/i\u003e is not just its analysis of our culture’s developing problems but its outline of practical ways Christians can survive and thrive in a dramatically different America.  This is an invaluable tool for understanding our times and acting as faithful believers.”\u003cbr\u003e —Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"This is the kind of book I am going to use to get the thoughtful people in my congregation reading and discussing. It is going to be helpful to the very people who have to live on the front line.\"\u003cbr\u003e —Carl R. Trueman, Westminster [PA] Theological Seminary; writer for \u003ci\u003eFirst Things\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “An insightful and optimistic plan of action for Christians who are starting to realize just how hostile American culture is to their faith.”\u003cbr\u003e —Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, senior editor, \u003ci\u003eThe Federalist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e“\u003c\/b\u003eDeeply convicting and motivating. This book will be a grounding force for the Church in the decades ahead.” \u003cbr\u003e —Gabe Lyons, author of \u003ci\u003eGood Faith\u003c\/i\u003e; president of Q Ideas\u003cb\u003eROD DREHER\u003c\/b\u003e is a senior editor at The American Conservative and the author of \u003ci\u003eCrunchy Cons\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHow Dante Can Save Your Life\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Little Way of Ruthie Leming\u003c\/i\u003e.Chapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Great Flood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e No one saw the Great Flood coming.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The newspaper said heavy rains were headed to south Louisiana that      weekend in August 2016, but it was nothing unusual for us.      Louisiana is a wet place, especially in summer. The weatherman      said we could expect three to six inches over a five-day period.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e By the time the rain stopped, the deluge had dropped over thirty      inches of water on the greater Baton Rouge area. Places that no      one ever imagined would see high water disappeared beneath the      muddy torrent as rivers and creeks hemorrhaged and burst their      banks. People fled their houses and made it to high ground with      minutes to spare. Some had not even that much time and were lucky      to clamber with their families onto their roofs, where rescuers      found them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I spent the Sunday of the flood at a makeshift shelter in Baton      Rouge. My son Lucas and I helped unload the rescued from National      Guard helicopters, and we joined scores of other volunteers in      feeding and helping the thousands of refugees flowing in from the      surrounding area. Men, women, families, the elderly, the well-off,      the very poor, white, black, Asian, Latino-it was a real \"here      comes everybody\" moment. And nearly every one of them looked      shell-shocked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Serving jambalaya to hungry and dazed evacuees, one heard the same      story over and over: We have lost everything. We never expected      this. It has never flooded where we live. We were not prepared.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e These confused and homeless evacuees could be forgiven their lack      of preparation. Few had thought to buy flood insurance, but why      would they? The Great Flood was a thousand-year weather event, and      nobody in recorded history had ever seen this land underwater. The      last time something like this happened in Louisiana, Western      civilization had not yet reached American shores.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We Christians in the West are facing our own thousand-year      flood-or if you believe Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a      fifteen-hundred-year flood: in 2012, the then-pontiff said that      the spiritual crisis overtaking the West is the most serious since      the fall of the Roman Empire near the end of the fifth century.      The light of Christianity is flickering out all over the West.      There are people alive today who may live to see the effective      death of Christianity within our civilization. By God's mercy, the      faith may continue to flourish in the Global South and China, but      barring a dramatic reversal of current trends, it will all but      disappear entirely from Europe and North America. This may not be      the end of the world, but it is the end of a world, and only the      willfully blind would deny it. For a long time we have downplayed      or ignored the signs. Now the floodwaters are upon us-and we are      not ready.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The storm clouds have been gathering for decades, but most of us      believers have operated under the illusion that they would blow      over. The breakdown of the natural family, the loss of traditional      moral values, and the fragmenting of communities-we were troubled      by these developments but believed they were reversible and didn't      reflect anything fundamentally wrong with our approach to faith.      Our religious leaders told us that strengthening the levees of law      and politics would keep the flood of secularism at bay. The sense      one had was: There's nothing here that can't be fixed by      continuing to do what Christians have been doing for      decades-especially voting for Republicans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Today we can see that we've lost on every front and that the swift      and relentless currents of secularism have overwhelmed our flimsy      barriers. Hostile secular nihilism has won the day in our nation's      government, and the culture has turned powerfully against      traditional Christians. We tell ourselves that these developments      have been imposed by a liberal elite, because we find the truth      intolerable: The American people, either actively or passively,      approve.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The advance of gay civil rights, along with a reversal of      religious liberties for believers who do not accept the LGBT      agenda, had been slowly but steadily happening for years. The U.S.      Supreme Court's Obergefell decision declaring a constitutional      right to same-sex marriage was the Waterloo of religious      conservatism. It was the moment that the Sexual Revolution      triumphed decisively, and the culture war, as we have known it      since the 1960s, came to an end. In the wake of Obergefell,      Christian beliefs about the sexual complementarity of marriage are      considered to be abominable prejudice-and in a growing number of      cases, punishable. The public square has been lost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Not only have we lost the public square, but the supposed high      ground of our churches is no safe place either. Well, so what if      those around us don't share our morality? We can still retain our      faith and teaching within the walls of our churches, we may think,      but that's placing unwarranted confidence in the health of our      religious institutions. The changes that have overtaken the West      in modern times have revolutionized everything, even the church,      which no longer forms souls but caters to selves. As conservative      Anglican theologian Ephraim Radner has said, \"There is no safe      place in the world or in our churches within which to be a      Christian. It is a new epoch.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Don't be fooled by the large number of churches you see today.      Unprecedented numbers of young adult Americans say they have no      religious affiliation at all. According to the Pew Research      Center, one in three 18-to-29-year-olds have put religion aside,      if they ever picked it up in the first place. If the demographic      trends continue, our churches will soon be empty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Even more troubling, many of the churches that do stay open will      have been hollowed out by a sneaky kind of secularism to the point      where the \"Christianity\" taught there is devoid of power and life.      It has already happened in most of them. In 2005, sociologists      Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton examined the      religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers from a wide      variety of backgrounds. What they found was that in most cases,      teenagers adhered to a mushy pseudoreligion the researchers deemed      Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e MTD has five basic tenets:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over      human life on earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as      taught in the Bible and by most world religions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about      oneself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except      when he is needed to resolve a problem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Good people go to heaven when they die.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This creed, they found, is especially prominent among Catholic and      Mainline Protestant teenagers. Evangelical teenagers fared      measurably better but were still far from historic biblical      orthodoxy. Smith and Denton claimed that MTD is colonizing      existing Christian churches, destroying biblical Christianity from      within, and replacing it with a pseudo-Christianity that is \"only      tenuously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e MTD is not entirely wrong. After all, God does exist, and He does      want us to be good. The problem with MTD, in both its progressive      and its conservative versions, is that it's mostly about improving      one's self-esteem and subjective happiness and getting along well      with others. It has little to do with the Christianity of      Scripture and tradition, which teaches repentance,      self-sacrificial love, and purity of heart, and commends      suffering-the Way of the Cross-as the pathway to God. Though      superficially Christian, MTD is the natural religion of a culture      that worships the Self and material comfort.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As bleak as Christian Smith's 2005 findings were, his follow-up      research, a third installment of which was published in 2011, was      even grimmer. Surveying the moral beliefs of 18-to-23-year-olds,      Smith and his colleagues found that only 40 percent of young      Christians sampled said that their personal moral beliefs were      grounded in the Bible or some other religious sensibility. It's      unlikely that the beliefs of even these faithful are biblically      coherent. Many of these \"Christians\" are actually committed moral      individualists who neither know nor practice a coherent      Bible-based morality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e An astonishing 61 percent of the emerging adults had no moral      problem at all with materialism and consumerism. An added 30      percent expressed some qualms but figured it was not worth      worrying about. In this view, say Smith and his team, \"all that      society is, apparently, is a collection of autonomous individuals      out to enjoy life.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e These are not bad people. Rather, they are young adults who have      been terribly failed by family, church, and the other institutions      that formed-or rather, failed to form-their consciences and their      imaginations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e MTD is the de facto religion not simply of American teenagers but      also of American adults. To a remarkable degree, teenagers have      adopted the religious attitudes of their parents. We have been an      MTD nation for some time now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"America has lived a long time off its thin Christian veneer,      partly necessitated by the Cold War,\" Smith told me in an      interview. \"That is all finally being stripped away by the      combination of mass consumer capitalism and liberal      individualism.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The data from Smith and other researchers make clear what so many      of us are desperate to deny: the flood is rising to the rafters in      the American church. Every single congregation in America must ask      itself if it has compromised so much with the world that it has      been compromised in its faithfulness. Is the Christianity we have      been living out in our families, congregations, and communities a      means of deeper conversion, or does it function as a vaccination      against taking faith with the seriousness the Gospel demands?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nobody but the most deluded of the old-school Religious Right      believes that this cultural revolution can be turned back. The      wave cannot be stopped, only ridden. With a few exceptions,      conservative Christian political activists are as ineffective as      White Russian exiles, drinking tea from samovars in their Paris      drawing rooms, plotting the restoration of the monarchy. One      wishes them well but knows deep down that they are not the future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Americans cannot stand to contemplate defeat or to accept limits      of any kind. But American Christians are going to have to come to      terms with the brute fact that we live in a culture, one in which      our beliefs make increasingly little sense. We speak a language      that the world more and more either cannot hear or finds offensive      to its ears.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Could it be that the best way to fight the flood is to...stop      fighting the flood? That is, to quit piling up sandbags and to      build an ark in which to shelter until the water recedes and we      can put our feet on dry land again? Rather than wasting energy and      resources fighting unwinnable political battles, we should instead      work on building communities, institutions, and networks of      resistance that can outwit, outlast, and eventually overcome the      occupation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Fear not! We have been in a place like this before. In the first      centuries of Christianity, the early church survived and grew      under Roman persecution and later after the collapse of the empire      in the West. We latter-day Christians must learn from their      example-and particularly from the example of Saint Benedict.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e One day near the turn of the sixth century, a young Roman named      Benedict said good-bye to his hometown, Nursia, a rugged village      pocketed away in central ItalyÕs Sibylline mountain range. The son      of NursiaÕs governor, Benedict was on his way to Rome, the place      where promising young men seeking a place in the world went to      complete their education.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This was no longer the Rome of imperial glory, the memory of which      remained after Constantine's conversion made the empire officially      Christian. Nearly seventy years before Benedict was born, the      Visigoths had sacked the Eternal City. The collapse of the city of      Rome was a staggering blow to the morale of citizens across the      once-mighty empire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e By that time, the empire was governed in the West from Rome, which      had long been in decline, and in the East from Constantinople,      which thrived. Yet Christians throughout the empire mourned      because Rome's suffering forced them to confront a terrible fact:      that the foundations of the world they and their ancestors had      known were crumbling before their eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I dictate, sobs choke my      utterance,\" wrote Saint Jerome in its aftermath. \"The city which      had taken the whole world was itself taken.\" So great was the      shock that Jerome's contemporary, Saint Augustine, wrote his      classic City of God, which explained the catastrophe in terms of      God's mysterious will and refocused the minds of Christians on the      imperishable heavenly kingdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The city of Rome did not disappear, but by the time young Benedict      arrived, Rome was a pathetic shadow of its former self. Once the      world's largest city, with a population estimated at one million      souls at the height of its power in the second century, its      population plummeted in the decades after the sack. In 476,      barbarians deposed the last Roman emperor of the West. By the turn      of the sixth century, Rome's population had scattered, leaving      only one hundred thousand souls to pick over the ruins.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The overthrow of the Western empire did not mean anarchy. To the      contrary, in Italy, things went on much as they had gone for      decades. Theodoric, the Visigoth king who ruled Italy in      Benedict's time from his capital in Ravenna, was a heretical      Christian (an Arian) but made a pilgrimage to Rome in the year 500      to pay his respects to the Pope. The king assured the Romans of      his favor for them and his protection. In fact, the best he could      do was to manage Rome's decline.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We know few particulars of social life in barbarian-ruled Rome,      but history shows that a general loosening of morals follows the      shattering of a long-standing social order. Think of the decadence      of Paris and Berlin after World War I, or of Russia in the decade      after the end of the Soviet empire. Pope Saint Gregory the Great      never knew Benedict, but he wrote the saint's biography based on      interviews he conducted with four of Benedict's disciples. Gregory      writes that young Benedict was so shocked and disgusted by the      vice and corruption in the city that he turned his back on the      life of privilege that awaited him there, as the son of a      government official. He moved to the nearby forest and later to a      cave forty miles to the east. There Benedict lived a life of      prayer and contemplation as a hermit for three years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This was normal in the first centuries of the church, and it      continues in some places even today. In the third century, men      (and even a few women) retreated to the Egyptian desert,      renouncing all bodily comfort to seek God in a solitary life of      silence, prayer, and fasting. They took to an extreme the      scriptural injunction to die to self to live in Christ, obeying      the Lord's command to the rich young ruler to sell his      possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him. Saint Anthony of      Egypt (ca. 251-356) is believed to have been the first hermit. His      followers founded communal Christian monasticism, but the figure      of the hermit remained a part of monastic life and practice.","brand":"Sentinel","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300224061669,"sku":"NP9780735213302","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780735213302.jpg?v=1767738309","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-benedict-option-isbn-9780735213302","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}