Robert Hugh Benson

Lord of the World

Luke Hartwell

This is the dystopian novel that Pope Francis has twice urged Catholics to read (in 2013 and again in 2015), calling it "prophetic." Before Huxley, before Orwell, and long before Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner, and The Hunger Games, Robert Hugh Benson wrote a story of the coming of the Anti-Christ that today is considered one of the first modern dystopian novels. Lord of the World, published in 1907, presents a world controlled by Freemasonry, with only a small Catholic minority bravely opposing them. Benson's portrayal of the Freemasons as dominated by Marxism and Humanism made the novel a counterpoint to the socialist-themed dystopias written at the same time by H. G. Wells (The Sleeper Awakes) and Jack London (The Iron Heel). Introduced and edited by Luke Hartwell, author of Atom Heart John Beloved.

Dani

Benson explores the idea of ideological colonisation, which consists of legally imposing a way of thinking, therefore deprecating all other ideologies or religions. In the book we witness the death of the Christian Church, the "death of Rome" by Julian Felsenburg, portrayed as the perfect man which convinces the whole world of his new religion which is a kind of individualism which everyone seems to be hypnotised about. <br />Written more than a hundred years ago prophetically, the story depicts ways of moral dictatorship not unknown to us today, especially in "modern minded" or "progressive" countries.

Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. His father died suddenly in 1896, and Benson began to question the status of the Church of England, eventually obtaining permission to join the Community of the Resurrection. He made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England, but as he continued his studies and began writing, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position. On September 11, 1903, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1904 and was sent to Cambridge. He continued his writing career along with the usual elements of priestly ministry. He was named a Monsignor in 1911.

Lord of the World

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