The Benedict Option

I first heard about this book a little over a year ago when I attended a book club meeting at my former church in Tulsa.   They were choosing the books they would read and discuss over the coming year and so I got to hear a little about each book recommended by the various women in attendance.  The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher was one of the one they chose. 

I would have liked to have been able to join them when they discussed it but alas Tulsa is too far to commute to for a Saturday morning.  By the time I read it it seemed that everyone else on the internet who had read it had finished it and was done discussing it. 

I enjoyed the book although there was much that made me think the author has missed some of the main problems and solutions.  As I read the first half, I kept saying to myself, "Yes, but...."    I was saying yes to his identifying many of the problems we see in Western and particularly American society but disagreeing with some of his conclusions or solutions.   The real solution is the gospel.  Transformed, renewed people are - or are supposed to be - salt and light in a society.  And the gospel message, "repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" is sadly absent in all too many churches today.   So I'd say we need to get back to basics first of all. 

Looking at the reviews on Goodreads it seems that many people take his advice (mostly contained in the second half of the book) as saying Christians should just close themselves off from society completely.   I did not get that out of the book.  Rather, he seemed to me to be saying a lot of things that are already encouraged in the churches and Christian ministries I hear from a lot - build up your church, be involved, realise that current society may limit your business options so plan accordingly, be self-controlled in the use of all of God's common graces (food, technology, etc), and make disciples (starting with yourself and your children).  He uses a lot of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox terminology and examples but it's easy enough to take the Biblical ideas he presents and think of them in a Reformed or Evangelical context. 


I enjoyed the book, and recommend it.