Have you ever wondered how we got here? Have you ever wondered how Western civilization arrived at the brink of suicide? How did a thoroughly Christian culture give rise to the very ideas that seek to kill it? Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Western civilization has never been conquered from without; it is being conquered from within. How do philosophies like deism, fatalism, Marxism, atheism, and secular humanism arise from within the confines of the Christian theological culture that is Western civilization? Also, why are there always exactly two sides to every fundamental disagreement? Why is it either liberal or conservative, sovereignty or freedom, rational or volitional, meticulous order or complete chaos, Catholic or Protestant, Lutheran or Reformed, God or humanity, the one or the many? Why is there never a third option, or even an option that can bypass the dichotomy? This book attempts to provide a framework that seeks to begin answering some of those questions. The answer may be something very ancient and almost forgotten in today's world. Theological decisions were made long ago that planted the seeds for the destruction of both church and civilization. What are they? Read and find out.

Have you ever wondered how we got here? Have you ever wondered how Western civilization arrived at the brink of suicide? How did a thoroughly Christian culture give rise to the very ideas that seek to kill it? Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Western civilization has never been conquered from without; it is being conquered from within. How do philosophies like deism, fatalism, Marxism, atheism, and secular humanism arise from within the confines of the Christian theological culture that is Western civilization? Also, why are there always exactly two sides to every fundamental disagreement? Why is it either liberal or conservative, sovereignty or freedom, rational or volitional, meticulous order or complete chaos, Catholic or Protestant, Lutheran or Reformed, God or humanity, the one or the many? Why is there never a third option, or even an option that can bypass the dichotomy? This book attempts to provide a framework that seeks to begin answering some of those questions. The answer may be something very ancient and almost forgotten in today’s world. Theological decisions were made long ago that planted the seeds for the destruction of both church and civilization. What are they? Read and find out.

Why would a man retire from his job and take off on a unique 4,000-mile walk around France? What possessed him to wear out his sixty-year-old hips and knees when he could spend a comfortable retirement at home? In this fascinating book Terry Cudbird reveals the obsession which is long distance walking--the intoxicating freedom to go where you want, the escape from the complications and paraphernalia of everyday life, the unpredictable encounters. His itinerary covered the six sides of the French hexagon. In a year's walking he passed through the Pyrenees, the Languedoc, Provence, the Alps, the Jura, Alsace, Lorraine, Picardy, Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine. En route he discovered the astonishing variety of France's regions; their culture, history, languages, architecture and food. He passed through cities and hamlets, idyllic mountains and bleak plains, the heat of Le Midi and the cold of Le Nord. The author relates the highs and lows of a sometimes gruelling trek: the dramatic changes in landscape, the unexpected acts of kindness but also the guard dogs, snorers in hikers' refuges, storms, man-eating insects, blisters, exhausted limbs, lack of water and a rucksack which was always too heavy. Most important, he met hundreds of French people, many with an unusual outlook on life and interesting stories to tell: hermits, hippies, pilgrims, monks and farmers to name but a few. He made some lasting friends. Terry Cudbird's journey is rich in incident and observation. It is also, in part, the story of an individual coming to terms with his parents' old age and growing dementia. Through walking he finds not only a source of endless new horizons but also the means of accepting the past and its loss. This book will be of interest to walkers, lovers of France and anyone who has ever dreamt of encountering real adventures not far from home.

Some of the most portentous events in medieval history—the Cathar crusade, the persecution and mass burnings of heretics, the papal inquisition—fall between 1000 and 1250, when the Catholic Church confronted the threat of heresy with force. Moore’s narrative focuses on the motives and anxieties of elites who waged war on heresy for political gain.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1860.