Rod Dreher's Benedict Option issues a call for orthodox Christians to develop communal ways of living that can transmit and preserve the faith amid the ruins of late modernity. The work of Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor moves along similar lines, albeit with a call for deeper engagement with our secular age. Since Dreher draws on Taylor's analyses, the publication of his book seems an occasion for exploring Taylor's vision of the Christian response to late modernity.
Critics of Taylor don't always see how his thought represents an extended act of aggiornamento grounded in appreciation for the nouvelle théologie of De Lubac, Chenu, and Congar (among others). Taylor has said in a number of contexts that it was De Lubac, Chenu, and Congar who helped him find his way back to the faith. For Taylor, an investment in Christian tradition, particularly as it is understood through the witness of its saints (the communion sanctorum), can provide a balm for those wrestling with the buffered self of our secular age.
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