Another name for the Benedict Option is the Great Fundamentalist Retreat of the early 20th century, when we abandoned the culture to secular forces. A better choice is the Wesleyan Option. Following their founder’s dictum—“Practical holiness throughout the land”—the Wesleyans transformed 18th-century Britain. From the bottom, they evangelized and created small discipleship and fellowship groups. From the top, they elected Wilberforce and others to Parliament, ended slavery, and enacted other transforming legislation. We do not need to retreat but to respond like the Wesleyans. Evangelicals and other social conservatives must promote more constructive policies than the secular hedonists.
Leslie Conway Coomer
Oakland City, IN
I consider The Rule of Saint Benedict one of the most powerful and practical handbooks on pastoral leadership ever written, allowing that some of what he suggested was specific to his time and not ours. So I read about the Benedict Option with great interest and anticipation. However, I was disappointed in three ways. First, that the rationale introducing the idea was cast in terms of recent culture wars and seemed to reflect a nostalgia for a “Christian” America that never existed rather than a vigorous pursuit of Christian discipleship. Second, that it did not include any interaction with how the Anabaptist tradition has wrestled with these issues nor any of the other voices from intentional Christian communities. And third, that it felt like a withdrawal into an insular fortress rather than challenging leadership that presents the larger society with attractive alternate ways to live.
Norman Stolpe
Milwaukee, WI
I believe Dreher’s thinking is flawed. Jesus prepared his disciples for confrontation and its consequences, not strategic withdrawal. In the Gospels, Jesus confronted the Jewish leaders, the powers of darkness, and the sicknesses of the human body, and commanded his disciples to do the same. In John 13–17, Jesus’ last lecture, he covers the disciples’ rules of engagement, the consequences of that engagement, and the resources available for that engagement. The disciples aggressively confronted the world “while God added his testimony through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Heb. 2:4, ISV).
Paul Lloret
Lancaster, SC
A good look at what living in Christian community would practically look like.
Rod Dreher states that “the sixth-century father of Western monasticism responded to the collapse of Roman civilization by founding a monastic order.” That is not completely correct. Benedict’s Rule is a composite of several earlier “rules.” Augustine’s rule was widely used at least 120 years before the Rule of Saint Benedict emerged.
Bob Gilbert
Kennesaw, Georgia
The heightened polarity of our times is revealing the broken leg on which this strain of evangelicalism is standing. To suggest that a movement toward monastic-type communities is a truer reflection of Christ’s church is a far greater danger than a culture that is hostile to our faith. By example to his disciples, Jesus was continually prompted by compassion to move toward those outside the boundaries with grace, mercy, and love.
Eric Branstrom
San Clemente, CA
Intentional communal living may mean Christians living more monastic lives. Perfect piece by @roddreher.
Good word from @TheRichardClark in @CTmagazine on technology, social media, and local church community.
@M_Y_Emerson
I grew up in a caring community of Christ followers but spent most of my life living at a distance from them. I wanted something more exciting. Yet, as I turn to Scripture, I realize God uses the normal and not just the exciting. I’ve started going to the Internet less for community and have found [community] among these imperfect, awkward people who have loved me even when they didn’t understand me.
Thank you for this article, CT. May you guys be a voice of peace and faithfulness to the broken in an age of cynicism and doubt.
Amen. While these other books may be helpful, I am seeing more and more resistance to holding them up to the light of Scripture and keeping Scripture as our ultimate standard. In fact, I see many who have read helpful Christian books but have not read their Bible.
Lisa Voogd Sikkema
I disagree. Any time you discuss and read Scripture, it’s Bible study. Guides can be helpful. Let’s not complicate it.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
Eastern Orthodox poet Scott Cairns reflects on his new collection, his journey of faith, and poetry’s capacity to apprehend inexhaustible realities.
