How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization

By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Narrated by: Barrett Whitener

Ask a college student today what he knows about the Catholic Church and his answer might come down to one word: "corruption". But that one word should be "civilization".

Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted. But what is the ultimate source of these gifts? Best-selling author and professor Thomas E. Woods, Jr., provides the answer: the Catholic Church.

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. Woods' book is essential reading for recovering this lost truth.

©2005 Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"I recommend Professor Woods's book not only to anyone interested in the history of the Catholic Church, but also to any student of the history and development of Western civilization." (Dr. Paul Legutko, Stanford University)

SO much information!

I loved the fullness and scope of the work. The reader was a strange choice, but by the end of the first chapter, I zoned his idiosyncracies out and just focused on listening and taking notes.

Finding the sources of ideas is important to study of any sort. This book digs to the root of so many disciplines and pillars of what today we call Western Civilization that it seems almost indespensible after reading it.

I own the book in both the hard copy and audio because I wanted the bibliography.

Great history

Should be required reading for anyone interested in western history. Modern critics show their ignorance when they repeat old canards about how to hw Church is against science. The author shows that modern science wouldn't exist without the Church

Enlightening and essential history

As a Catholic I learned a lot with this book, and I take a lot of pride, eve moreso after listening. How rich and vast this faith tradition is! Definitely recommended. God be praised!

an interesting polemic

Woods convincingly negates the liberal position that the church, and more specifically Catholicism was a net force for cultural regression since the classical era. These style of polemics become complicated in consideration of broader cultural influences over such large periods of history. Wood's contention that Catholicism has been more beneficial than Protestantism, or that Christianity is a more significant than Western society; is negated by huge variances from country to country. I would contend that indigenous cultures among European countries accounts for a large factor of cultural and technological progress.

Nice reading

I absolutely recommend this book! Show’s us in a understandable way how come Catholic Church have a historical importance during the development of the civilization. Nice !

Very Nice

I enjoyed this book very much. It is interesting to hear a history of Catholic intellectual development.

Why didn’t I learn this in school?

Great lessons not only for Westerners but all People. This books smashes a lot of the misleading conventional opinions about the Catholic Church that are predominant in mainstream education, culture and narrative. If we don’t know our past, how will we determine our future?

Very Insightful

The information laid out by the author is extremely thorough, however after hearing his position on Catholicism's role on modern civilization leaves the reader in awe. As if one had an "aha" moment. So that's why we do those things. Great read. Can't wait to share this info and invite others to purchase. Thank you. From an aspiring apologist.

excellent insights

nice insights on history and they deserve to be illuminated. One incidental comment, you mentioned Martin Luther being such a enemy of the Catholic Church, this brings to mind Eric Metaxas' book on Martin Luther and how Luther really was not an enemy, he was trying to correct what he thought was morally wrong and it all got swept away into the public, unintentionally by Luther, and he was caught in the controversial male storm that irreverisbly ensued, Of course Luther stuck to his beliefs but I don't think he was really such an enemy of the catholic church as once stated.

Similar to Baghdad House of Wisdom

As it turns out, if it wasn’t for the Catholics and the Muslims, then we wouldn’t have almost any records from the foundational thinkers of all of civilization. I am so appreciative of this creation and stewardship of so many of the institutions we use still.