"What Benedict and his monks] set themselves to achieve... was the construction of new forms of community within which the moral life could be sustained so that both morality and civility might survive the coming ages of barbarism and darkness. If my account of our moral condition is correct, we ought also to conclude that for some time now we too have reached that turning point. What matters at this stage is the construction of local forms of community within which civility and the intellectual and moral life can be sustained through the new dark ages which are already upon us..." -Alasdair MacIntyre, After VirtueIncluding a new translation of the writings of St. Benedict himself, topically organized and with commentary for practical application. When Rod Dreher published his book The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation in 2017, he had already been speaking about the concept of the Benedict Option (or BenOp, for short) for a number of years. Dreher's original articulation of the Benedict Option took its inspiration not only from a 6th century holy monk from Nursia, Italy, but also in part from the highly influential work of Alisdair MacIntyre, After Virtue. Both MacIntyre and Dreher call out the fact that modern society in the secular global West is no longer conducive to the Christian way of life in any meaningful sense of the term-and that this has been the case for in fact quite some time. The Benedict Option was proposed by Rod Dreher as a strategy for Christians living in a post-Christian world, but that strategy has been around for over 1,500 years, and this book you right now hold in your hands is the original guidebook (the OG, if you will) from Benedict himself for how to do it. Let us be bold and follow where Christ our Master is leading us and, following this way, we will come to the wellsprings of new and everlasting life. This book contains the most important wisdom in Benedict's own words, organized topically in a fresh and accessible modern translation, along with commentary on Benedict's own advice on putting the Benedict Option into practice. Additionally included are the two essays: "On Christian Culture" and "What We Can Learn from the Monastery."
