The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

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Josh
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

Post by Josh »

temporal1 wrote:i'm not convinced that what you're describing conflicts with my questions.
although the Underground Railroad is openly spoken of today, it was not, at the time.
and, although your relatives were part of a large group that moved together, others did not, and, mostly, "lost their numbers," marrying outside their faith.

i will guess, because they came from a strong group, they anticipated becoming strong, as they moved to new locations. this did not always happen. my family records reflect that much.
Bill, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Quakerism really ever depended on "marrying inside the faith" and wasn't an isolated ethnic sect. My own family history has more mixed Quaker-non Quaker marriages than it does Quaker-Quaker marriages (in fact, I'm not aware of any that fit the latter category)
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Bill Rushby
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

Post by Bill Rushby »

Josh:

Friends were endogamous into the mid-19th Century, and had a strong ethnic base (although not all British). Conservative Friends were endogamous into the 20th Century.
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Josh
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

Post by Josh »

Bill Rushby wrote:Josh:

Friends were endogamous into the mid-19th Century, and had a strong ethnic base (although not all British). Conservative Friends were endogamous into the 20th Century.
My family must have been "pioneers" then (our records go back to just before the civil war), and frankly I'd say not with very encouraging results.
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

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deleted for double submission.
Last edited by Mrs.Nisly on Mon Jul 03, 2017 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mrs.Nisly
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

Post by Mrs.Nisly »

I am currently reading the Benedict Option. It really puts into words the very things that I have learned about society and the culture, and what orthodox Christians and conservative Anabaptists can and are doing about it.

Like Josh, I am disappointed that he has not researched the Anabaptist faith tradition that has practiced already what he is proposing, for generations.
For Conservative Mennonites who don't quite get their own faith tradition and think it is nothing but a barrier to evangelism, I think reading this book would give them an excellent perspective from someone who isn't conservative Mennonite who is making an argument for the Conservative Anabaptist worldview however implicitly.

My mind was drawn to Arnold Snyder's book on Michael Sattler and I wondered how influential was the Rule of Benedict on forming Sattler's thought, which in turn influenced the early Swiss brethren. But I also wondered about the differentiation that Leroy Beachy makes between the Swiss Brethren from Zurich and the later Anabaptist converts from Canon Bern and Steffisburg who were mostly the ones who separated in the Ammon/Reist schism. These mostly came from Reformed Churches, not Catholic.

Has the Rule influenced or shaped the Anabaptist tradition?
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mike
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

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I'm close to finishing up the book and am fascinated by his conclusions and proposed solutions. In some ways his attempt to generate a movement dubbed "Benedict Option" is similar to the the buzzphrase "Kingdom Christianity" promoted by David Bercot and others within conservative Anabaptism.

Particularly interesting so far are:

- His encouragement for Christians to withdraw their children from public schools in favor of "classical" Christian schools or homeschooling.

- His warning that Christians will be forced from many professions and may have to focus on working in trades as a result, even if that results in a loss of earning potential.

- His advocating for Christian business to form associations, and to focus on patronizing fellow Christian businesses and hiring fellow Christian employees even if that means higher costs.

His primary theme is the idea that Christians have failed to stem the tide of American culture away from Christian values and must get used to being a minority whose freedoms are under severe threat.

These themes sound familiar to conservative Anabaptists of course. Unfortunately he does not go so far as to say that Christians should remove from politics altogether, or from the armed services. He does have many good things to say; however, it remains to be seen how effective his views will be in the Christian circles that might read his book: Catholic, Orthodox, and likely some evangelicals.
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MaxPC
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Re: The Benedict Option .. (Hoax?)

Post by MaxPC »

mike wrote:I'm close to finishing up the book and am fascinated by his conclusions and proposed solutions. In some ways his attempt to generate a movement dubbed "Benedict Option" is similar to the the buzzphrase "Kingdom Christianity" promoted by David Bercot and others within conservative Anabaptism.

Particularly interesting so far are:

- His encouragement for Christians to withdraw their children from public schools in favor of "classical" Christian schools or homeschooling.

- His warning that Christians will be forced from many professions and may have to focus on working in trades as a result, even if that results in a loss of earning potential.

- His advocating for Christian business to form associations, and to focus on patronizing fellow Christian businesses and hiring fellow Christian employees even if that means higher costs.

His primary theme is the idea that Christians have failed to stem the tide of American culture away from Christian values and must get used to being a minority whose freedoms are under severe threat.

These themes sound familiar to conservative Anabaptists of course. Unfortunately he does not go so far as to say that Christians should remove from politics altogether, or from the armed services. He does have many good things to say; however, it remains to be seen how effective his views will be in the Christian circles that might read his book: Catholic, Orthodox, and likely some evangelicals.
That's a good summary, Mike. I would also add that his proposals aren't new. The Catholic Back to the Land Movement (from which Plain Catholics have had their beginnings) is 100+ years old. Then there are the families who moved away from cities to be near monasteries 1500 years ago and who farmed the land. I feel that this book is proposing the same concept for a new era: flee the secular and seek God in the quiet when civilization becomes uncivilized. I would go so far as to say the concept of fleeing secularism is being re-treaded in this book.
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Max (Plain Catholic)
Mt 24:35
Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding but only in revealing his own mind.
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God
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