The Benedict Option

One of the most talked about ideas in Christian intellectual especially high church and relatively consevative/reactionary circles is Alasdair Macintyre's idea that our culture is in a state of unstoppable decline and our best option is to reteat into communities that are still capable of preserving the virtues and preserving our culture through the comming dark ages. Now I haven't read Macintyre so I can only comment on my impressions, but I see two clear problems with this.

One is that this idolatry of western culture and the western church. The gospel does not need europe to exist. The gospel is a proclamation of the saving grace of Jesus not an institution. Churches have existed and thrived for millena in parts of the world where christianity does not have hegemony and europe isn't present. yet theses churches have developed a culture capable of living alongside muslims and others, the strongest examples were Iraq and Lebanon but the U.S. invasion made life much more difficult for the Christians there.

It is folly to assume that our western church is the best way to proclaim and teach the gospel. I love it, specifically the worship of the Anglican chuch but that does not mean that the gospel is reliant on my fiercly defending the cultural church I call home. And if it is true that our culture is in decline, which seems the inevitable way of hubris, then the church will adapt itself and the spirit will move as the spirit wills and raise up her church again.

Secondly, I find the narrative that many commentators on Macintyre tell us about the preservation of western knowledge to be highly questionable. It is true that much of greco-roman knowledge especially the Bible was preserved by monastic communities. It is equally true that much was preserved and developed on by Muslims. Those often derided in history, and today, as barbarian hordes are the reason we have Aristotle and that everyone knew the world was round before Columbus even if he didn't listen to th rather acurate measurements done by Islamic scholars.

There is not a clear paralel between our time and the fall of the Roman empire but if we choose to make one let us be honest. Both times are characterized by the church's aquisence to empire and a concern for preserving itself. But very little changes we live in a world simultaneously corrupted by sin and glorius in the grace of God. the challenge is for Christians to live their lives as well as they can in families and churches that build each other up if this is indeed a dark time and if there are darker times coming then the light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

I refuse the Benedict option.