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Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents Hardcover – September 29, 2020

4.8 out of 5 stars 4,920 ratings

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The New York Times bestselling author of The Benedict Option draws on the wisdom of Christian survivors of Soviet persecution to warn American Christians of approaching dangers.

For years, émigrés from the former Soviet bloc have been telling Rod Dreher they see telltale signs of "soft" totalitarianism cropping up in America--something more
Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Identity politics are beginning to encroach on every aspect of life. Civil liberties are increasingly seen as a threat to "safety". Progressives marginalize conservative, traditional Christians, and other dissenters. Technology and consumerism hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state. And the pandemic, having put millions out of work, leaves our country especially vulnerable to demagogic manipulation.

In
Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. He tells the stories of modern-day dissidents--clergy, laity, martyrs, and confessors from the Soviet Union and the captive nations of Europe--who offer practical advice for how to identify and resist totalitarianism in our time. Following the model offered by a prophetic World War II-era pastor who prepared believers in his Eastern European to endure the coming of communism, Live Not By Lies teaches American Christians a method for resistance:
  
  SEE: Acknowledge the reality of the situation.
  
  JUDGE: Assess reality in the light of what we as Christians know to be true.
  
  ACT: Take action to protect truth.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can't happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms.
Live Not By Lies will wake them and equip them for the long resistance.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“As a new cultural revolution aims to institutionalize a tyranny of ideological clichés, Dreher renews Solzhenitsyn’s great call to ‘live not by lies.’  I cannot imagine a more timely and urgent book, or one with a more enduring spiritual, political, and cultural message.”—Daniel J. Mahoney, coeditor of The Solzhenitsyn Reader

“In this remarkably prescient book, Dreher sets Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s timeless appeal to ‘live not by lies’ as the cornerstone of his own bold warning. His suggestion of a dawning post-Christian, ‘pre-totalitarian’ society is impossible to dismiss in light of the patient case he builds for his passionate, if provocative, thesis.”
—Ignat Solzhenitsyn, conductor and pianist

“With characteristic foresight, Rod Dreher has written an invaluable compendium of how to live fearlessly under totalitarianisms, old and new. Better still, the book is a counsel of hope and joy for even the bleakest days—and an encouragement we need, especially today in this time of cascading crises.”
—Patrick Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed

"
Live Not By Lies will cement Rod Dreher’s reputation as the most important Christian thinker of our age."Crisis Magazine

“Christians who care about the future of the gospel in America should give heed to Dreher's manual.
Live Not by Lies is a timely, perhaps even prophetic book."Touchstone Magazine

About the Author

Rod Dreher is a senior editor at The American Conservative. He has written and edited for the New York Post, The Dallas Morning News, and National Review, and his commentary has been published in The Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard. He is the bestselling author of The Benedict Option, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Crunchy Cons, and How Dante Can Save Your Life.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sentinel
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593087399
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593087398
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.23 x 0.93 x 9.28 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 4,920 ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a must-read that offers good insights and is well-written and easy to read. Moreover, the book serves as a source of hope and encouragement, with one customer noting how it led them through a range of emotions. Additionally, customers appreciate its authenticity, particularly the author's interviews with real people from Eastern Europe, and consider it very timely, with one review highlighting its relevance to current cultural situations.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

198 customers mention "Readability"184 positive14 negative

Customers find the book highly readable and consider it a must-read, particularly for believers and conservative readers with Christian beliefs.

"...There is much more to explore in this fascinating book. I challenge readers to dig deeply into this “treasure chest.”..." Read more

"...This book will provide the reader with the inspiration and strategies required to do just that. I highly recommend it...." Read more

"Just the most important of books for a Christian." Read more

"As advised, on time and fairly priced." Read more

155 customers mention "Thought provoking"151 positive4 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and insightful, describing it as an amazing book of truths.

"...The principles that Dreher shares are invaluable and will be a great encouragement as Christians navigate their way through the social sludge...." Read more

"...Instead, we’re presented with stories of courageous, humble Christian dissidents of several faith traditions who have lived under oppressive..." Read more

"...Because Christianity is built on objective, eternal and transcendent truth, the Christian faith becomes the bedrock of effective resistance...." Read more

"Can't put it down! Very informative and glad I bought it!" Read more

50 customers mention "Encouragement"44 positive6 negative

Customers find the book encouraging, describing it as a source of hope and encouragement that is both sobering and humbling, with one customer noting how it led them through a range of emotions.

"...But if you are, then this is the solid rock in which that world will be broken...." Read more

"...It’s also very personal. We’re not given trite Scripture verses that fit nicely on a coffee mug...." Read more

"...They give advice on how to stand firm, how not to be bitter or hateful under persecution, how they kept their kids in the faith and what they are..." Read more

"...This should include topics such as: history of Christian dissent, trends past and present in persecution, why do nation states suppress churches,..." Read more

32 customers mention "Writing quality"32 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written and easy to read, with one customer noting that the author is not repetitive.

"...This riveting work helps readers discover what it means to live not by lies...." Read more

"Rod Dreher writes very well. So well, in fact, that I have had to go back and read a paragraph again. Not because it is difficult, or ponderous...." Read more

"This book gave language, even a title, to what I see happening around me in the USA...." Read more

"...Timeless examples of true virtue in this world with convincing rhetoric to encourage people to defy these warped leaders...." Read more

16 customers mention "Timeline"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book timely, with several noting it is very timely for our current cultural situation, and one mentioning it is current as today's headlines.

"...Christians, in the face of the worst crimes of all centuries, stood fast For god and for their brothers and sisters. This is a must read." Read more

"...Timely, thought-provoking, and interesting. Unfortunately, that is about it...." Read more

"...It is a timely book with a clear-eyed and rather frightening view of the American future, and one whose warnings all believers should heed...." Read more

"...I had difficulty putting it down. It is as current as today's headlines and tomorrow's events it." Read more

10 customers mention "Authenticity"10 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the authenticity of the book, particularly noting the author's interviews with real people from Eastern Europe.

"...I like it because it's realistic and he doesn't brighten the message to appeal to readers...." Read more

"Best part of the book is the interviews the author conducts on people who lived through Communism before the Iron Curtain fell...." Read more

"This book was disturbing, but truthful and challenging. I have recommended it to not only my kids, but many others...." Read more

"...It is realistic but hopeful. It gives practical things for Christians today to pursue." Read more

You must read this book
5 out of 5 stars
You must read this book
This is a great book and you should absolutely pick it up. He does an excellent job comparing the current culture we live in with those of eastern europe from 50 to 100 years ago. The points he raises are certainly worth considering. He does an excellent job bring back to life the history of the church from the soviet occupation. This is a history that deserves more attention, and has acute answers for current Christians. Our current culture is not aware of oppression of communist dictators. I have spoken to many who do not know what a gulag is. This is to our detriment. He does a great job expounding upon the oppression related to christians. Dreher also does a great job showing the soft oppression in communist culture too. Explaining that oppression is not just gulagas and Piteshti. It was often denial of jobs, education and opportunity. Something that I am sure the communist would say is just holding people accountable.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2020
    When Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was annexed from the country he loved, he published a parting message to the Russian people. “Live Not by Lies” was a bold challenge to the brutal totalitarian system that raved countless thousands of people.

    Rod Dreher picks up where Solzhenitsyn left off in his new book, Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents. This riveting work helps readers discover what it means to live not by lies. The author interviews Christians who endured the days of totalitarianism behind the Iron Curtain and gains a wealth of information that both inform and inspire us today.

    Part One: Understanding Soft Totalitarianism

    Part one explores the underbelly of what Dreher refers to as soft totalitarianism. “A totalitarian state,” according to Hannah Arendt, “is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rules decide it is.” Mussolini defined totalitarianism as, “Everything within the state, nothing outside the sate, nothing against the state.” Wherever this worldview reigns, mankind declines, and decays.

    The author explains the essence of soft totalitarianism:

    "Today’s totalitarianism demands allegiance to a set of progressive beliefs, many of which are incompatible with logic – and certainly with Christianity. Compliance is forced less by the state than by elites who form public opinion, and by private corporations that, thanks to technology, control our lives far more than we would like to admit."

    A cursory glance at culture reveals the rise of social justice, the “woke revolution,” radical environmentalism, acceptance of sexual deviancy, reverse racism, and identity politics. Soft totalitarianism includes educational propaganda like the “1619 Project,” an attempt to brainwash students and cause them to abandon the principles that help birth the United States of America. The list goes on and on. Yet more and more people are willing to accept this radical ideology for the sake of convenience.

    Dreher adds, “And this is the thing about soft totalitarianism: It seduces those – even Christians – who have lost the capacity to love enduringly, for better or for worse. They think love, but they merely desire. They think they follow Jesus, but in fact, they merely admire him.”

    The author warns that Christians who refuse to speak up and resist soft totalitarianism will pay a heavy price. Literary critic and poet, Czeslaw Milosz agrees: “Their silence will not save them and will instead corrode them.”

    Part Two: How to Live in Truth

    Part two helps readers respond biblically and decisively. It shows them how to “live in truth.” The principles that Dreher shares are invaluable and will be a great encouragement as Christians navigate their way through the social sludge.

    Dreher encourages readers to fight for and defend free speech. “To grow indifferent, even hostile to free speech is suicidal for a free people,” writes the author. He encourages truth-telling that is wisdom-based and prudent.

    Dreher admonishes readers to foster cultural memory. He says, “Everything about modern society is designed to make memory – historical, social, and cultural – hard to cultivate. Christians must understand this not only to resist soft totalitarianism but also to transmit the faith to the coming generations.”

    The author urges Christians to cultivate strong family units. “Christian parents”, writes Dreher, “must be intentionally countercultural in their approach to family dynamics. The days of living like everybody else and hoping our children turn out for the best are over.” Fathers, in particular, must lead their families and help them exercise biblical discernment. They must fight for the truth.

    Dreher promotes religion as the “bedrock of resistance.” He continues, “This is the uncompromising rival religion that the post-Christian world will not long tolerate. If you are not rock-solid in your commitment to traditional Christianity, then the world will break you. But if you are, then this is the solid rock in which that world will be broken. And if those solid rocks are joined together, they form a wall of solidarity that is very hard for the enemy to breach.”

    We must stand in solidarity. “Only in solidarity with others can we find the spiritual and communal strength to resist,” says Dreher. He adds:

    "And this is the thing about soft totalitarianism: it seduces those – even Christians – who have lost the capacity to love enduringly, for better or for worse. They think they love, but they merely desire. They think they follow Jesus, but in fact, they merely admire him."

    "Each of us thinks we would be like that. But if we have accepted the great lie of our therapeutic culture, which tells us that personal happiness is the greatest good of all, then we will surrender at the first sign of trouble."

    Conclusion

    There is much more to explore in this fascinating book. I challenge readers to dig deeply into this “treasure chest.” In the end, both varieties of totalitarianism enslave people. Dreher reminds us, “Hard totalitarianism depends on terrorizing us into surrendering our free consciences; soft totalitarianism uses fear as well, but mostly it bewitches us with therapeutic promises of entertainment, pleasure, and comfort.” It is to this end that we must resist soft totalitarianism with all our might or we, along with the proverbial frog in the kettle will slowly boil in a kettle that appears safe but will, in the final analysis, result in a grizzly death.

    Live Not By Lies delivers a powerful and unforgettable message. The price of liberty is costly. This much is true. “There is no escape from the struggle,” writes Dreher. “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance – first of all, over our own hearts.” Live Not By Lies is a must-read book for freedom-loving Christians. To ignore the principles that Dreher sets forth would be foolhardy at best. Heeding the warning of the author will help pave the way for fruitful discussion and greater liberty in the coming days.
    63 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2020
    My Recommendation
    Live Not By Lies will disturb you. At the same time, it will also be a source of hope and encouragement. This book is a wake-up call, a speed bump, a check engine light of sorts to those of us in the West who have been sleep walking through life. Sure, we’re aware of the hardships and persecution Christians have faced under totalitarian regimes. We’ve empathized and been respectful, maybe even made a donation to a relief cause. And then we’ve gone back to sleep telling ourselves, “That could never happen here, and even if it began to, Jesus would come to rescue us before things got really bad.” Church history doesn’t support this view of the Christian life. But we don’t know church history, at least not like we should. We find ourselves caving into the clarion call to embrace a lifestyle of personal peace and affluence as Francis Shaffer called it back in the 80’s. Or, a lifestyle of Hot Tub Religion, as Packer tagged it in the 90’s. Our response to pursuing our best life now has been gradual and incremental. We’ve drifted slowly to a place where many will willingly give up and trade their freedom for personal safety. Live Not By Lives will shake you out of your slumber and complacency. It did me.

    In part one of this timely book, author Rod Deher makes the case that a form of totalitarianism, soft as opposed to hard, is surfacing and gathering momentum here in the west. The camel’s nose is already in our tent through social media, our on-line purchasing habits, and all the smart devices that make life so much easier. We willingly expose our private lives on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We’ve become dependent on the affirmation these platforms provide. “Cookies,” i.e. surveillance capitalism through Google, continuously assist us with our purchasing decisions. They anticipate what we are likely to buy, ad after ad after ad. Alexa and Siri, our digital assistants, are listening, always ready to “help.” Our continuous use of these tools is having a conditioning affect, leading us to surrender privacy and political liberties in exchange for the comfort we desire. We’re willingly turning over the control of our lives to the “experts” who know better than we do what we need and what we should want. Our long-held opinions and ethical standards have been weakened by on-line social justice warriors as they continuously chisel away.

    There is hope. Part two of Live Not By Lies provides us with a resistance strategy. It’s also very personal. We’re not given trite Scripture verses that fit nicely on a coffee mug. Instead, we’re presented with stories of courageous, humble Christian dissidents of several faith traditions who have lived under oppressive conditions. They’ve walked the path it appears were just embarking on. Coming from mainly from Eastern European countries, they have lived the faith they confess.

    What struck me about their stories is how continuously they looked beyond themselves to living a costly, self-sacrificial lifestyle. For them, it was a daily picking up of their crosses and following Jesus. Reading their stories made me aware of how little suffering we in the West have gone through, how insulated we have been.

    They stressed a lifestyle of:
    • Confessing and following Christ as opposed to simply admiring him
    • Speaking and living the truth
    • Cultivating a godly character
    • Gathering in small groups for encouragement and communicating resistance tactics
    • Passing on family and cultural memories
    • Being willing to suffer

    The conclusion of Deher’s book leads us to ask ourselves a question reminiscent of the title of Francis Shaffer’s 1976 book, How Should we Then Live? How should we live? The title answers the question- Live Not By Lies! We can’t afford to live in denial of what’s happening. Our children need us to face the truth, speak the truth, and prepare them for the coming on-slough of manipulation and control.

    This book will provide the reader with the inspiration and strategies required to do just that.

    I highly recommend it.

    ~ Curt Bumcrot, MRE
    61 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2025
    Just the most important of books for a Christian.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2025
    As advised, on time and fairly priced.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Bergenaar
    5.0 out of 5 stars Onmisbaar!
    Reviewed in the Netherlands on September 19, 2023
    Het is te hopen dat dit boek heel snel in het Nederelands vertaald zal worden (grote kans, is mijn inschatting), want dit zou iedereeen moeten lezen: met alle recente ontwikkelingen in onze cultuur en alles wat gezegd en beweerd wordt, geeft dit boek een stevig fundament voor wat we kunnen leren van degenen die iets hebben meegemaakt dat - misschien niet voor het oog, maar zeker wat betreft achterliggende principes - cruciaal is om te begrijpen!
    Report
  • Stephen S
    5.0 out of 5 stars Permission to be couragous
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2025
    Rod offers us a clear choice. In the Christian worldview.. there is me and my honourable living relationship with Christ.. and this expands out to how I treat my wife.. my children... my friends.. etc. A healthy community is built upon God dwelling in individuals and families. Today's Woke world tells a very different story. It tells us that us that if we support a range of laws in support of various minorities.. then a new world can be built. The problem is not that we shouldn't have compassionWoke citizens become politically led citizens.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELENTE
    Reviewed in Mexico on July 22, 2023
    Que el subtitulo no te engañe, sin duda hay un lugar y un tiempo para hacer lo que el autor propone, y este parece ser uno de esos momentos. Que Dios te dirección en el contexto en el que vives!!
  • MME E OVERDEVEST
    5.0 out of 5 stars very good book
    Reviewed in France on January 2, 2021
    to read especially now!
  • Michaelo El Grando
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book!
    Reviewed in Germany on March 27, 2024
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    Michaelo El Grando
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Very good book!

    Reviewed in Germany on March 27, 2024

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