Lord of the World

I just finished reading an excellent book called Lord of the World. It was written in 1907 by a Catholic Monsignor named Robert Hugh Benson. It's an apocalyptic novel set approximately 100 years in the future....meaning about now.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's amazing how prescient the author was. It exactly dovetails with where many can see our world headed. The worship of man, rampant leisure and materialism as the sole focus of life, euthanasia on demand, an increasing hostility toward religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular, the evils of so-called democracy and the manipulation of the masses.

The author does miss some things. He still foresees typewriters and telegraphs as being in common usage and doesn't envision instantaneous worldwide video and audio communications as well as other technological advances like microphones and air conditioning. He also anticipates the triumph of Masonry. (While Masonic ideas have certainly triumphed, if the Masons are actually behind it they're doing a marvelous job of keeping a low profile.) And he doesn't take into account how easily the Church would be co-opted by the forces of modernism. In fact, not only is the Mass still said in Latin, but the Holy Father even orders Catholics around the world to communicate exclusively in Latin. Had he lived to see it, no doubt Msgr. Benson would've recognized right away that ICEL is a tool of the anti-Christ.

Yes, there's a bit of flowery language that's a tough go in some spots. And some of the assumptions are quaint. Like the fact that men would still wear hats. Blah. And even the good monsignor couldn't envisage the horror of women being elected to political office. Nonetheless, it's a good reminder that evil very rarely comes with horns on its head and blood dripping from its fangs. No, the most insidious evil is the one that comes quietly, promising peace and progress....and all you have to do is give up your medieval ideas about worshiping the one True God.