“The Benedict Option”
A Necessary Preface
by Jefrey D. Breshears
Our Areopagus Dinner & Dialogue series this summer focused on Rod Dreher’s new book, ‘The Benedict Option”. Dreher is a writer and senior editor at The American Conservative blogsite, and “The Benedict Option” is one of the most relevant and important Christian books in recent years. Not only has the book sparked considerable interest, but also considerable controversy. In the course of reading reviews and listening to comments over the past several months related to “The Benedict Option”, it occurred to me that some kind of Preface needed to precede any thoughtful and focused discussion of the book.
In particular, there are three basic questions that should be addressed in order to clearly understand Dreher’s thesis and his seminal arguments. Unless there is a consensus agreement on these issues, any discussion and debate on the relative merits of the book are probably fruitless and futile. The following is a condensed version of my article, “The Benedict Option: A Necessary Preface.”
