How the Catholic Church Built Western CivilizationWritten by Thomas E. Woods, Narrated by Barrett Whitener
Reason for Reading: I have an interest in Church history and history of religion.
Review
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is an apologetics treatise about how the Catholic Church contributed to the development of science, philosophy, art, and culture. For someone who has not read a lot of books on the subject - who wishes to be disabused of the belief that the Catholic Church shunned science and tried to halt the progression of culture - this book is an excellent introduction. It covers a wide variety of topics in a superficial survey of how the Church changed and promoted civilization. On the other hand, if you're like myself and are well-read on the subject, this book lacks depth. Although there was a wide variety of information discussed, there was very little that it discussed in greater detail than I already knew. Therefore, I would highly recommend this text to someone who'd like an introduction to the topic - it's well-written, well-researched, and interesting. But if you're looking for depth and detail, this may be worth just a quick read.
This audiobook was well-narrated by Barrett Whitener. No complaints there! :)
This looks extremely interesting to me. Tok bad it is a little too general. Without a doubt the Catholic Church, particularly in the monasteries kept the fires of culture and learning alive in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally I am currently reading Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth. One of the themes of that work is how the Byzantine Empire preserved Western Civilization in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
It WAS an interesting book...but I was hoping for more detail rather than a general survey. General surveys need to be written too, though! It is surprising how many people don't realize that most of the Middle Ages scholars were members of the Catholic Church. :)
DeleteI'll be eagerly awaiting your thoughts on Lost to the West. Hopefully you enjoy it! Perhaps if you like it, I'll pick it up. :)
Rachel it is surprising how many people do not know how the Catholic Church kept learning and christianity alive through the middle ages. I once had an interesting conversation with a cousin of my husband's that was in state of denial about this fact. This looks like an interesting book - I may have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteVery surprising. I wonder if these people just ignore history and make up their own histories? I mean, there's so much documentation!
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