How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

In the wake of Pope John Paul II's death, many are asking: What is the future of the Catholic Church? Given its recent scandals, students of theology might discount its influence on Western civilization and simply cast it off as a corrupt religion. That would be a big mistake; as New York Times bestselling author Thomas Woods chronicles in his book, the Church has had a pivotal role in shaping Western civilization for the last two thousand years. ' How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization uncovers the lost truth of the Church's contributions to our history, including: ' ' How the father of atomic theory, the father of aviation, and the father of Egyptology were all Catholic priests ' How Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith ' How the Catholic Church was the great defender of the sanctity of human life and the individual against the state ' How the Church invented charitable work"and the charitable spirit"as we know it in the Western world ' How the Church bestowed the most unique gift to the World"what we now know as the university ' 'In this magnificent volume, students and faithful alike will come to comprehend the Catholic Church's monumental impact on society and western civilization as a whole.' '“Prof. Woods has put the Catholic Church squarely back where it should be: at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization.� ' "Dr. Paul Legutko , Stanford University