Coming to a world near us?

An eerily prescient novel well worthy of our attention today.

With the continual barrage of dark and depressing news issuing from Rome, Washington, D. C., and elsewhere these days, it is difficult to avoid making comparisons of the present state of things and where we are headed, in this country and much of the west, with the dystopian realm of the Antichrist in Robert Hugh Benson’s masterpiece, The Lord of the World.

Benson, an Anglican priest who was received into the Catholic Church and later ordained, wrote this work in reaction to H. G. Wells’s strong support and belief that atheism, Marxism, and eugenics were the keys to paradise on earth. A century later, we can see who called it correctly, though our sages in government, academe, and lately in commerce, don’t seem to have learned a thing.

On the flyleaf of the edition this writer owns, it mentions The Lord of the World was a favorite of the late Pope Benedict XVI, which comes as no surprise. What is surprising is the novel is also claimed to be a favorite of Pope Francis. Perhaps so, but it seems to this writer he regards it less as a novel and more as a how-to guide.