Catholics, Orthodox, & The Benedict Option

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In the article "Catholics, Orthodox, & The Benedict Option," Rod Dreher writes - "Last week, I had a fascinating conversation with Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in a podcast that has just been released today. In it, he asked me if I thought that Evangelicals had what it takes to do the Benedict Option. I told him I didn’t know. He said the answer is no, they don’t — but that historical Reformation Protestantism does. He goes on to say why Evangelicals need to draw much closer to their roots in the thought and practices of Reformation Christians. Well, what about Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians? Do they have what it takes to do the Benedict Option?"

Read Rod Dreher's latest book, The Benedict Option: he discusses what is necessary to preserve a Christian society in the midst of today's neo-pagan, post-Christian culture. It is not withdrawing into monasteries, but rather forming among dedicated followers of Christ "thick bonds" that are able to withstand neo-paganism that is often disguised as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," a mushy-pablum substitute for real Christianity.

In Part 2 of his two blog posts on "Catholics, Orthodox, & The Benedict Option," Dreher describes in detail ten steps priests, pastors, and laypeople could take to restore a Christian society in their churches:

Prepare their congregations for hard times to come.

Build a culture of prayer and contemplation.

Talk about what makes Christians different from the world, and the risk of losing our distinctiveness, and indeed our faith, through assimilation.

Take your parish school to the classical model.

Encourage community building, in part through doing traditional liturgies, communal prayers, and feasts.

Bring back fasting.

Don’t fear hard teaching.

Present the Christian life as a pilgrimage and an adventure.

Talk about real life.

Challenge your congregation to get its hands dirty.

This is just a "bare bones" outline, so read both the first article and part 2 to get the whole story! Also, subscribe below to get our free weekly newsletter: