History of Western Civilization

Father Mitch Pacwa explains the influence of Carl Jung on the Church. Why did Carl Jung believe in astrology? Father Mitch Pacwa explains what influenced him and how he has...

The Spanish Civil War, in an intellectual sense, was the great political event of the Twentieth Century. Representatives of every possible political and social position produced by the modern world...

Dr. John Rao explains that in the early Middle Ages, from the 500’s through the 900’s, the Church had a number of battles with Byzantine Emperors and pagan influenced men...

Mr. Michael Davies tells the riveting story of Thomas a Becket, the 12th Century Archbishop who was first the close friend and Chancellor of King Henry II of England, and...

Dr. John Rao discusses the reactions to Chalcedon and the Monophysite Movement. Monophysites were active in both Egypt and Syria. Eventually they developed a parallel hierarchy which split the Church...

Christopher Ferrara, J.D. shows that the discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics undermine the materialist, Neo-Darwinian creation myth. Now discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics undermine the materialist,...

Dr. John Rao discusses early Christianity and the Greco-Roman world including the development of monasticism. One cannot understand the Fourth Century and the Church’s reaction both to the Constantinian program...

Archbishop Fulton Sheen gives an impressive eulogy for Bishop Cuthbert M. O’Gara – who heroically survived being imprisoned in China. “There he lies like a commando soldier who smashed the...

Dr. Gerald Bradley brilliantly traces the origins of the pervasive secularism and anti-Catholicism that we have today. American moral climate before 1943 was very different than it is now. He...

A discussion by Dr. John Rao of the different centers of early Christianity–Alexandria, Palestine, Antioch, Asia Minor, Rome, and Gaul–and the key Church Fathers and institutions through whose work Christian...

Visigothic, Irish, Benedictine, and Anglo-Saxon influences all came together in Frankish Gaul by the early 700’s. The Carolingian Family came to power in an alliance with the Papacy, which could...

Dr. John Rao discusses the various forces which contributed to a revival of Catholic self-confidence in the years 1800-1848. These involved a number of clerical-lay circles in Germany, France, and...

The High Middle Ages had taught that Christians were involved in an exalted but highly complex, hierarchically-organized pilgrimage to God. Obstacles to completion of that pilgrimage came from all segments...

The Council of Constance finally allowed for the return of a unified Papacy located in Rome. But, as Dr. John Rao explains, the restored Papacy was threatened by Conciliarism, political...

Dr. John Rao discusses theological methodology, including whether it was influenced by Descartes and Newton, in the 1600s and 1700s. Another source of debate regarding teaching in the 1600’s and...

Dr. John Rao says that threats to Christian security very much increased with the Ottoman victory over Byzantium. Dr. Rao describes the Ottoman advance, which continued, seemingly unabated, into Africa...

Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro explains how the Inquisition is one of the main targets of the promoters of the Black Legends. Monsignor Barreiro discusses the reasons for the Inquisition, the distinctions...

Mr. Michael Davies gives the history of the Anglican Ordinal. He discusses in detail the Anglican Ordinal from the time of Thomas Cranmer to Leo XIII. Even though prominent Catholic...

Dr. David Allen White analyses the person and poetry of Petrarch, who arguably introduced the literary forms of the High Middle Ages in the 14th century, specifically the sonnet. Petrarch...

In this lecture Dr. WIlliam Marra continues his study of the topics he began in his last lecture. Saint Augustine raises questions about bodily motion in relation to time and...