Trojan Horse in the City of God: How Godlessness Crept Into the Sanctuary--And How to Thrust It Out Again [Paperback]

Dietrich Von Hildebrand (Author), Hubert Van Zeller (Author), John O'Connor (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Trojan Horse in the City of God is a pull-no-punches analysis of the causes of the continuing Catholic chaos. In today's Catholic parishes, false ideas about God and His Church seem more common than statues and holy water. Confusion and disillusion are rampant, and no one seems to know how to reverse Catholicism's decline. Yet the path out of this crisis was mapped long ago. In these prophetic pages (first published in 1967), renowned Catholic philosopher Dietrich von Hildebrand exposes the poverty of the sad and confused ideas of all too many contemporary Christians, contrasting those errors with the majestic and unchanging truths of Divine Revelation. You'll find here an arsenal of defenses for the unchanging, eternal Faith. Von Hildebrand shows again and again that ideas that many modern Catholics take for granted are actually subtle but potent threats to the integrity of the Church. He exposes the secularization that threatens to rot away the Church's very sources of strength. And he demolishes a great deal of the woolly thinking that is found today even in the highest reaches of the Church. Von Hildebrand will bring you the comforting reassurance that the light of sound reasoning has not vanished from our world; nor has fidelity to Divine Revelation and to the the fountainhead and guardian of that Revelation, Christ's Catholic Church. This incisive and thought-provoking book will enlighten you about Vatican II: how its message has been distorted and twisted within the Church. You'll find out why the terms progressive and conservative are inadequate for the realities of the Church, and why the Church is essentially unchanged throughout the ages, before and after Vatican II. You'll learn why true reform in the Church can never change the Church's fundamental nature, and why there must always be struggle (not just dialogue!) between the Church and the world. Above all, von Hildebrand explains why secularization, if unchecked in the Church, will destroy the true Faith. And you'll discover much more that will help you combat, more effectively than ever, the errors that sap the Church's strength today!

Editorial Reviews

Review

A strong, clear, noteworthy book for those who see clearly the evils in the Church but feel defenseless in the face of seductive arguments and not yet capable of refuting them. -- L'Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper

An extraordinary book! Shows the right and wrong philosophies applied to Vatican II and warns of the consequences if those errors multiply. -- Fr. Michael Scanlan, T.O.R.

An impassioned, powerfully argued book. Traditionalists and progressives can draw rich, sometimes painful spiritual lessons from it. -- Dinesh D'Souza, author of Illiberal Education

I encourage all Catholics to profit from the profound insights of this great philosopher. -- Most Reverend John J. Myers, Bishop of Peoria

The light shed by this new edition is desperately needed. It should be required in every parish. -- Donna Steichen, author of Ungodly Rage

Trojan Horse has lost none of its relevance. We have not yet surmounted the crisis. -- Christoph Cardinal Schnborn, General Editor: Catechism of the Catholic Church

Von Hildebrand goes to the roots of 'cafeteria Catholicism' and 'dissent.' If every pastor in America read this book honestly, we could have a counter-revolution! -- Peter Kreeft, author of A Critique of Moral Relativism

We can ask whether von Hildebrand's critique of distorted interpretations of the council is still valid today. I believe it is, because so many of his warnings were ignored and even ridiculed in 1967. -- John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York

About the Author

Dietrich von Hildebrand (1889-1977) was remarkable for his keen intellect, his profound originality, his prodigious output, his great personal courage, his deep spirituality, and his intense love for God. He wrote dozens of books on philosophy and spirituality. Truth, goodness, and beauty are the hallmarks of all of his works.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918477603
• ISBN-13: 978-0918477606
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,980,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced, Intelligent, and Readable, March 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Trojan Horse in the City of God: How Godlessness Crept Into the Sanctuary--And How to Thrust It Out Again (Paperback)

Recently, I have been reading quite a few of Alan Watts books in an attempt to understand the worldview he, and others like him, represents. This has, in turn, led me into Vedanta-ism, New Age-ism, modernism, secularism, moral relativism, existentialism, nihilism, determinism, behavioralism, humanism, and probably a few more -isms that I have lost track of and haven't seen since college anyway. What began as an intellectual adventure turned into a descent into hell. How do people live with this stuff? Personally, I prefer the Light of Christ, but it seems so hard to come by these days.

Luckily for me, and Amazon.com's seemingly endless link system, I came across several wonderful books which served as a rope to haul my head out of that pit. One of those books is Von Hildebrand's book, "Trojan Horse in the City of God." He is observant and he writes it as he sees it. The Second Vatican Council has been much abused, both by Progressives who have twisted its message almost beyond recognition, and by Traditionalists, who mostly spit when the subject of the Council comes up. I appreciate Von Hildebrand's recourse to calm reason and well-derived philosophical argument.

The book is easy enough to read, given the complexity of the subject matter. The chapters are short, and are divided into even shorter sections. Easy to pick up and put down and return to later.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to figure out what it means to be a Catholic Christian in the present age, and who wants to be able to counter some of the nonsense that so often passes for Catholic teachings these days.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic overview some major problems facing the Church, February 19, 2000

By 

Nicholas A. Zientarski (Silver Spring MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trojan Horse in the City of God: How Godlessness Crept Into the Sanctuary--And How to Thrust It Out Again (Paperback)

Von Hildebrand has written many great books on some key problems that exist in the Roman Catholic Church and gives thoughtful reflections in this volume on where "we should be". Not a radical conservative or restorationist, he tells it like it is and makes you think. Easy read, but a lot of meat! Highly recommended for anyone who cares about the Church and her future!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Fallacies of Progressive Catholicism, August 10, 2002

By 

Sammy Jo "sammy_jo" (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trojan Horse in the City of God: How Godlessness Crept Into the Sanctuary--And How to Thrust It Out Again (Paperback)

Written in 1970, and revised in 1993, TROJAN HORSE IN THE CITY OF GOD offers a prescient analysis of the crisis in the Catholic Church. Dietrich von Hildebrand was a convert to Catholicism who resisted the rise of Nazism. He foresaw the horrors to come as Nazism first emerged in Germany; and in this book he demonstrates the same ability to read the signs of the times.

Unlike many books written by traditional Catholics, von Hildebrand begins by conceding that prior to Vatican II, the Church was in need of reform. He points to the excessive legalism that threatened to squelch the spirit - especially as expressed in religious life. His great insight here, though, is that the antidote to the problem is not excessive liberalism, but rather the need to refocus on our primary task as Catholics, which is to seek transformation in Christ.

TROJAN HORSE catalogues the tendencies in progressive Catholicism that led us away from genuine spiritual renewal. Many of the errors von Hildebrand identified in 1970 have taken firmer hold today: disregard of tradition; secularism; an overemphasis on the immanence of God at the expense of His transcendence; scientism; and others. The book is very readable and moves briskly from topic to topic. Many penetrating insights are to be found along the way.

There are a few minor weaknesses in the book, however. Von Hildebrand critiques the errors of progressive Catholicism without always identifying exactly who has espoused the error. In the few cases when the errors that he discusses seem, in fact, to have ebbed away this can be a bit confusing. There are sections of the book which do seem dated. Still, this is an excellent analysis of the problems that confront the Church today - and it reminds us of what should really matter to us as Catholics.