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How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization Paperback – September 18, 2012

by Thomas E. Woods (Author), Antonio Canizares (Introduction)

265 customer reviews

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Ask someone today where Western Civilization originated, and he or she might say Greece or Rome. But what is the ultimate source of Western Civilization? Bestselling author and professor Thomas E. Woods, Jr. provides the long neglected answer: the Catholic Church. In the new paperback edition of his critically-acclaimed book, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, Woods goes far beyond the familiar tale of monks copying manuscripts and preserving the wisdom of classical antiquity. Gifts such as modern science, free-market economics, art, music, and the idea of human rights come from the Catholic Church, explains Woods. In How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, you’ll learn:

Why modern science was born in the Catholic Church
How Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith
How the Catholic Church invented the university
Why what you know about the Galileo affair is wrong
How Western law grew out of Church canon law
How the Church humanized the West by insisting on the sacredness of all human life

No institution has done more to shape Western civilization than the two-thousand-year-old Catholic Church—and in ways that many of us have forgotten or never known. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is essential reading for recovering this lost truth.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Thomas E. Woods, Jr. holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard, and his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. A senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, he is the author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestsellers Meltdown, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, and How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization. Woods won the $50,000 first prize in the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Awards for his book The Church and the Market. He lives with his wife and four daughters in Topeka, Kansas.

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Regnery History; Reprint edition (September 18, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596983280
ISBN-13: 978-1596983281
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 265 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #157 in Books > History > World > Civilization & Culture
- #220 in Books > History > World > Religious > Christianity
- #220 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Churches & Church Leadership > Church History

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WI-Brunner

A great book! Most people have been taught a revisionist ...

September 16, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A great book! Most people have been taught a revisionist history, in which it seems that Western civilization was born in pagan Greece and was stunted until it was reborn in either a falsely-secular Renaissance or the break of the French revolution. Many of the deeply held values, and almost all of our treasured institutions either originate in, were developed, or preserved through the Catholic Church. Thomas E. Woods, Jr., offers a valuable correction that many need in their historic outlook, but sadly few will heed.

10 people found this helpful

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Brian SwanSword

The book title says it all.

February 13, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

One of the best books I've read. Thomas Woods, Jr. has four Ivy League degrees, which he puts to work exposing the biggest lie of all history. Far from holding back scientific discovery, the Roman Catholic Church is credited with so many scientific discoveries that it is the single greatest source of scientific discovery and invention, period.

Little known, but factual, the Catholic Church invented hospitals and Universities. It invented the seven-note musical scale. More moon craters are named after Jesuit priests than any other group. The US Constitution is based on Roman Catholic doctrine rehashed to exclude Catholicism.

Thomas Woods cites over 400 academic references to support his claims.

17 people found this helpful

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Ephraim

Incredibly Inspirational

January 6, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I am a 60 year old catechumen, and just started reading this book (about 1/4 through it), and I must say this is a magnificent book. It flows and reads very nicely. Although I do not have a lifetime as a Catholic and have done nothing for it or Christ, I felt many moments of swelling joy and the pride of newborn association with it.

I also felt betrayed by the so-called education we as a society have been given by our bigoted institutions. But for this, in part, perhaps it would not have taken me this long to find the right church. Raised a Baptist, and subject to a secular educations, I had a built in prejudice against Catholics and had crossed it off my list of possibilities, without ever having given it a fair hearing.

If you are a Catholic, read this for a boost of faith. If you are not, read it to properly counter many misconceptions to which I am sure you have been exposed.

7 people found this helpful

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John P. Morris

"How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization" is something we all need to know.

May 4, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Whether Catholic or not; believer or unbeliever; facts are facts, even when they disabuse us of our cherished fallacies and prejudices. And such is, in my humble opinion, what Thomas Woods accomplishes by redressing distortions and exploding errors. It is remarkable that a work of such scope can be as terse and read so breezily; that events, people, and times can be as clearly laid out. “How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization” is an antidote to the removal of Western studies from American education and an aid to a right understanding of the Catholic Church and the world’s debt to her.

10 people found this helpful

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Carlos A. Zubillaga

I thoroughly enjoyed it, therefore I give it a 5

March 4, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Most people are biased regarding the Catholic Church, whether pro or against. For many decades now most historians have been on the "against" side, and many myths and misunderstandings are preponderant about the Catholic Church and particularly regarding the Middle Ages, so called the Dark Ages. This book, although written by a Catholic, brings to bear many historical facts that provide a much more balanced view, not only about the Middle Ages but also about the role of the Catholic Church throughout its 2000 year history.

It is also well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it, therefore I give it a 5.

9 people found this helpful

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Naylor

what the secular world does not want you to know

February 28, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Fascinating account of how the Catholic Church built Western Civilisation. With roots in Ancient Greek civilisation, the Catholic Church first introduced the notion that all men are equal under God, introduced the legal rights of nation states and their peoples be they religious or not, sponsored breakthrough science, introduced universities to the world, gave the world some of the most beautiful works of art and architecture, inspired medical research, promoted philosophical debate and moved forward from ancient sages such as Socrates, pushed for the rights of women in society and becoming the greatest source of charity and financial support to poor people's throughout the world.

12 people found this helpful

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Mac McCormick III

Woods does a good job highlighting and explaining the positive contributions of the ...

September 25, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an interesting read and fits in well with recent scholarship on the Dark Ages as a time that wasn't so dark. Woods does a good job highlighting and explaining the positive contributions of the Catholic Church to Western Civilization but he does so from the Catholic perspective. It's quite obvious throughout that it is a book written with an axe to grind, that axe being a defense of the Church from its detractors. As a History, it lacks objectivity but it does its job well as a defense. It is that lack of objectivity which brings me to my three star rating but I do think it's a book worth the read. It's thought provoking and may just help change your opinion of not only the Catholic Church but the Dark Ages and the Medieval World.

10 people found this helpful

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Walt Poe

Every page is a slow door creaking open

May 12, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This was a very good book. It was a very hard book to read to be honest with you. There is so much negativity towards the catholic church. We are so used to the negative parts so much that the negative parts actually become the most known parts of History for us and we forget or ignore the True History. Yes the church did some bad stuff. Yes, the church still does bad stuff. That's Life. The mystery of Christ and Grace helps softens the blow of reality. Ok we all know it, But lets not over shadow completely and just focus on the bad stuff. This book opens up a door that's been closed for many years. Every page is a slow door creaking open and letting light in....very good read and very refreshing on History and the Church as a whole.

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Most recent customer reviews

HarriedHarriet

All verifiable facts of history!

Great book! So many facts!👍🏻⚜️

Published 2 days ago

Hazel Kliner

Amazing book. Highly recommend it

Amazing book. Highly recommend it. I bought it on audible and the paperback. Well worth the time and money,

Published 22 days ago

C.R.

Too much apology to be good

The Catholic Church achieved a lot. That's true. Science was not invented during the period called "The Enlightenment". That's also true.Read more

Published 1 month ago

Laus Deo

Great read! Thanks

Published 1 month ago

E.J.

Five Stars

A must read for the struggling Catholic in your life.

Published 2 months ago

Amazon Customer

The Catholic Church didn’t build western civilization it was built ...

The Catholic Church didn’t build western civilization it was built by the Greek assembly way before papal Rome existed

Published 3 months ago

snozek

use this instead of a Western Civ book.

Alright, the reader needs to be gotten used to. . . but aside from that, the book is marvelous. By chapter 2 you will forget about any complaints about the reader.Read more

Published 3 months ago

Brian in Colorado

Wish I'd learned this in school

Fascinating book! Chock full of facts and stories I had never heard before. There are so many things that we take for granted that I never knew about their origins.

Published 3 months ago

Alex Deutschmann

Know the real impact of the Catholic Church in our culture

A very interesting book that reveals the profund impact of the Catholic Church in our culture. One of the best book a have read.

Alex Deutschmann S.

Published 5 months ago

SusieQ

Pretty heady, but it’s an excellent book

Not finished but very informative. Pretty heady, but it’s an excellent book!

Published 5 months ago

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