Books for/about - vatican

Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's

Publisher: Viking Adult
Authors: R. A. Scotti

ISBN: 0670037761
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Summary: A Mixed Bag
I've been waiting for a popular history dealing with the Renaissance, Reformation, Catholic Reformation, etc. And at first glance this book is it. It's an easy and absorbing read, and endlessly fascinating.

And yet ... this story crumbles under closer inspection. Two examples, among many:

"By the end of Leo's disastrous, eight-year pontificate, all the main players in the first building phase of St. Peter's were dead: Guiliano della Rovere, Donato Bramante, Guiliano da Sangallo, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, Raphael Sanzio, and Agostino Chigi."

Aye. Guiliane della Rovere was Julius II. Of course he was dead at the end of his successor's reign. Scotti covers Bramante, Raphael, and Chigi in decent detail. But da Sangallo is only mentioneed a few times, and Fra Giocondo is only introduced once. It was a shock to realize they were 'major players.' And others, notably Michelangelo, were very much alive.

It seems minor, but over and over Scotti introduces secondary characters as if we know them already when, in fact, she has never mentioneed them before.

Other passages just confused me. The Sack of Rome is particularly confusing - I had to put the book down and look it up on Wikipedia to know what she was talking about.

I can still recommend the book as an excellent read ... but it should have been a classic, and could have been with a touch better editing.

Summary: Scotti makes St. Peter's a living thing
I read a lot of history, and this book is one of my favorites. Scotti manages to take you along on the miraculous construction of St. Peter's against the changing backdrop of Italian politics and war. It's the story of the Renaissance Popes who started the project, the later ones who shepherded its completion and the great geniuses -- Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini -- who left their marks on this project. I can't wait to visit Rome and see all of St. Peter's treasures that Scotti reveals in her book.

Summary: Filled With The Renaissance Spirit
R.A Scotti has turned her fiction writing skills to producing the biography of the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral. St. Peter's is so famous and so omnipresent as an image or a backdrop that its true history has been forgotten or at least overlooked by most people. Basilica demonstrates that the story of the construction of the cathedral is as enthralling as the building itself.

St. Peter's was begun in the early 1500s at the height of the High Renaissance. It was constructed in fits and starts, with many different architects and under the eye of 18 different Popes, throughout the turbulent 16th century, fought over, abandoned, used as a stable, and revived time and time again. Its original plan was modified, sometimes as an improvement and sometimes not, many times, so that the final structure barely looks like the original architect's sketches. Enormously expensive, St. Peter's required only the finest materials and the highest technology available. Its cost was a contributing cause of the Protestant Reformation, and its different stages of construction were affected by the see-saw of political and religious changes in Europe.

I enjoyed Scotti's descriptions of the different building techniques and methods that were used throughout St. Peter's construction, but I felt that the best parts of Basilica were the short biographies of the different popes, architects, artists, and politicians who had an part to play in the building process. Bramante, Julius II, Michelangelo, Bernini, and many others now seem like real people, not just names in a history book. And that's an accomplishment as valuable as any of the treasures to be found within St. Peter's Basilica.

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Vatican Council II: The Conciliar & Post Conciliar Documents

Publisher: Costello Publishing Co
Authors: Austin Flannery

ISBN: 0918344395
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Summary: What Does the Church Teach?
So you want to know what the Church teaches? Then this is the book for you! It explains the teaching of the Second Vatican Council held by the Catholic Church. It is a book for life really. A book to have for studying your faith - whether you are 15 or 80+. So buy one a keep it beside your Holy Bible, and Catholic Catechism. It is so deep. We are talking about Theology of 2000+ years - the experience and living Tradition of the Church.
Though you may have to read a paragraph more than once due to its richness and depth, you will find many a pearl inside. Take for example the saying, "Man is the only creature on earth that was created for His own sake"
The role of the clergy and laity is explained succintly. If you want to understand what Vatican II was about this is for you.
If you are serious about your Catholic Faith this is a must buy! It has definitely helped me in my faith. You will discover what the Holy Spirit said to the Church in Vatican II.

Summary: TRANSLATION ERROR
The actual documents of Vatican Council II are required reading for anyone who wants to know what the Catholic Church really teaches. This translation is suspect however. In paragraph 25 of the Dogmatic Constitution Of The Church, Lumen Gentium, the translation here is: "when he (the pope) proclaims by an absolute decision a doctrine .....". The Latin text has "definitivo actu" which is clearly translated (by anyone who knows even pig latin) "by a definitive act." This loose translation is highly significant for the document goes on to say that doctrines so defined, by a definitive act (definitivo actu), are "rightly said to be irreformable." This egregious error makes the whole translation highly suspect.
This error has been used by liberals who contend that the ordination of women to the prieshood is still open. IT IS NOT!
I recommend the Sixteen Documents of Vatican II by Pauline Books & Media, also available from Amazon.

Summary: Provides a General Explanation and Apologetic for Vatican II
Any student of modern Catholicism should have this book. What Vatican II did in its influence of present day Catholic perspectives and outlook is well-known. What is often forgotten is the documents outlining the future understanding of what the Roman Catholic Church is.

Catholics high school level and up should be introduced to this, particular those students concerned with understanding the official apologetic on tough issues. Protestants of all denominations will see how their own history has been intertwined with Roman Catholicism, and, from this volume, appreciate the similarities and differences. In fact, I bought my copy in a conservative Protestant bookstore, as the nearby Catholic store only sold gift books.

In this first volume, "The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents," you'll quickly see is not a teaching book like the new Catechism is intended. Instead, it is a collection of key papers, decrees and statements explaining Rome's view on issues as varied as the

* liturgy
* worship music
* requirements to receive communion
* ecumenism
* bishops
* training of priests
* nonChristian religions and the Catholic Church's relationship to them
* defining and explaining divine revelation
* lay people
* religious liberty
* missionaries

In many ways, this is far more substantive than the Catechism, in that it provides a more thorough Scriptural base in its reasoning. It is more of an anthology of legal decrees, and yet it accessible. It isn't in legalese, but it may refer to Articles and other documents unknown to some readers.

The introduction realizes the reader may not be a Vatican scholar, and a quick, but useful overview of biblical and extrabiblical abbreviations. Each section thereafter has an introduction to provide context behind the need for developing the given decree.

The appendix is strong, and will lead serious researchers to the precise document in question.

The book appears to be set in a 10 pt. Times, with just a quarter to half inch margin, and the volume itself is delivered with an awkward dimension. The book is thicker than it should be, and the solution would've been bigger pages, and thus, a thinner book instead of the current 1062 pages. There is a study edition which is said to accommodate these concerns.

I fully recommend "Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents (Vatican Collection, Volume 1)." It is just part of the beginning to understand the vastness of modern Catholic theology, but it is a highly readable book, and is officially recognized by Rome for its reliability.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

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	Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Authors: Ross King
ISBN: 0142003697 List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $10.88 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: 4 Reviews: Summary: An Enjoyable History I do enjoy history about this period in Italy if it's not too dry. This certainly met the bill. It's so entertaining to get a book of history that reads like fiction. I kept having to remind myself that this was, in fact, history. Mr. King manages to bring to life the characters of the Pope, Michelangelo, and all his contemporaries in an entertaining and information way. My only complaint with the book was that the color plates did not include many of the features of the ceiling that were discussed at length and although some of the other art work discussed in the book were illustrated, some were not. I kept having to go find examples on the internet to look at while I was reading. My star ratings: One star - couldn't finish the book Two stars - read the book, but did a lot of skipping or scanning. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection or search out other books by the author Three stars - enjoyable read. Wouldn't add the book to my permanent collection. Would judge other books by the author individually. Four stars - Liked the book. Would keep the book or would look for others by the same author. Five stars - One of my all time favorites. Will get a copy in hardback to keep and will actively search out others by the same author. Summary: "For the People of Rome in 1511, Raphael was Beautiful but Michelangelo Sublime" In 1505, Michelangelo Buonarroti was commisionned by Pope Julius II to design and create a tomb for the latter. The Pope was naturally impressed after seeing the artist's "Pieta" and had him return to Rome to begin work on the project. Despite being preoccupied with a project, Michelangelo headed to Rome and began on the new enterprise with enthusiasm. But the unreliable Pope suddenly left Rome on one of his colorful military expeditions and forgot about the busy sculptor, reneging on the fiscally dependent artist. Outraged at this betrayal of what he considered mutually conceded trust, Michelangelo ceased work and fled back to Florence disgusted at the Pope's fickle attitude. Returning after a succesful campaign, the Pope remembered the work on his tomb and had Michelangelo recalled. Michelangelo, one of the most admired and lauded artists in those heady days of the Italian Renaissance, was a notoriously difficult man whose temperamental personality was something to be reckoned with, refused the request of the Pope and aired his grievances. Busy with his previous project, he was perhaps the only man to refuse the Pope. But Julius was a character himself: dubbed "Il Papa Terrible", he had an equally volatile personality and would not consider any breaches to his demands. Eventually, out of fear of reprisal should he further refuse the hot-tempered sovereign, he returned to Rome to continue his aborted undertaking. To his surprise and regret, the Pope now ordered him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a prominent and storied edifice whose importance meant much personally to the Pope and was the place where new Popes were elected. The artist, more of a sculptor than a painter, protested. Worse, Michelangelo had to paint using fresco, one of the most difficult mediums used in painting, an artform which he was not too experienced with. Brushing aside all complaints, the Pope ordered him to proceed to work. Grudgingly, the artist began, and thus came to be what is considered one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of art. Ross King relates the creation of the sublime work of art and the world around it. He depicts Michelangelo's challenges in beginning the daunting task ahead of him, which included the painstaking and demanding use of fresco, the architecture of the chapel, unreliable assistants, an impatient and demanding patron, and his volatile family, among others. He describes simply the creation and meaning of the different scenes and symbols of the paintings, making one aware of how the "Creation of Adam" was made and who the inspiration for Holofernes was. He dispels popular myths, like the famous legend that Michelangelo toiled on the work while lying on his back, paint dripping on his face, and that he worked alone. Amidst this the author depicts early 16th-Century Rome and includes the cast of famous figures who shaped events in the tumultuous city. Rome was a filth-ridden metropolis inhabited by pilgrims and prostitutes, the eternal city run by a decadent clergy where homosexuality and syphillis ran rampant. In this environment ran a confluence of some of the prominent keyplayers of the day: the aforementioned Julius, the warrior pope who undertook extravagant building projects and military expeditions like donning his robe; the fiery and fanatical Savonarola, whose incendiary declamations ironically mirrored his fate; the poet Ariosto, part-time diplomat and scenemaker; the devoted and cynical Luther; and the great Raphael, whose competition with Michelangelo fuelled and inspired each other to greater heights in their works. A good rendering of a definitive moment in art history, "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" is a tale of man's struggle to satisfy his muse, and the rewards to humanity it brings. Summary: A good starting place As a new art student I've taken a real interest in the lives of artisits. This has been one of the best books so far. What I really liked about this book was the fact you didn't have to know anything about Michelangelo or the time period to enjoy and understand this book. It's more than just the story of the Sistine Chapel, it also goes into the things that were going on around Michelangelo while he was working on it. It also gives you some insight as to how he felt about himself (not the nicest guy) and how his confidence grew inspite of the fact he was competeing with Rapheal (who was a nice guy)and other factors including the weather and the effect it was having on the ceiling. If you want a good all around book on Michelangelo this would be a really good one to start with. My only complaint is it could of had a few more pictures of some of the paintings described in the book. Summary:

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	The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version: With Illustrations from the Vatican Library Publisher: Turner Pub Authors: Turner Pub
ISBN: 1570361584 List Price: $450.00 Amazon Price: This item is currently not available. Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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Vatican II: The Crisis and the Promise

Publisher: Servant Publications
Authors: Alan Schreck

ISBN: 0867166096
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Summary: VATICAN II -- NOT ITS "SPIRIT," "GHOST," "INTENT," "I-WISH-IT-WERE"
Peter Henriot once described Catholic social teaching as "our best kept secret." The same can be said about Vatican II. Lots of things have been claimed in the "spirit" of the Council, but what the Council actually said remains, in many ways, "our best kept secret."

Alan Schreck, professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, wants to lift that veil. His book, structured in question/answer format, explains the teaching of the sixteen documents of Vatican II. He also provides background on how the Council came about and what has fueled the "crisis" that lead various extremes to heap blame for ecclesiastical problems on the Council itself.

Pope John Paul II described the Second Vatican Council as "the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century." The Council was, after all, about what it meant to be a Catholic today.

Schreck's book emphasizes the bracing challenge of being a Catholic in the modern world. He puts special stress on the role of Catholic laity who, from a conciliar perspective, remain the Church's hope for setting the contemporary world ablaze for Christ.

So just who are we?

"We are the people gifted with God's Word, who are challenged to know and live that Word as it comes to us in sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition and through the teaching office of the pope an the bishops. We are the people whose worship of God as a community in the liturgy is the fullest expression of who we are and the summit of our life. Thus we are challenged to worship our Lord reverently and faithfully, in spirit and truth. We are the people of God whose fullness resides in the Catholic Church. Yet we recognize the gifts and grace of God at work in other baptized believers. We are the people of God, challenged to take up the mission of Christ in every sphere of human life: the family, politics, economics, social and cultural life, education and the mass media. Our aim is that Christ may be truly Lord of all, in every aspect of life" (pp. 279-80).

Obviously, the best introduction to Vatican II would be for Catholics to read the Conciliar documents themselves. Since its documents remain, four decades after the Council, "best kept secrets," Schreck's book provides a good summary survey of each text's salient points. Key themes like the universal call to holiness, the Church as communion and People of God, the reform of the liturgy, the apostolate of the laity, the renewal of religious life, ecumenism, and the theological anthropology of Gaudium et spes are all explained in understandable language. The author also provides citations to post-Conciliar documents to show the continuity of Catholic teaching, properly noting that Conciliar teaching should be read together with what preceded it and what followed it. Vatican II was about adaptation, not innovation. The Council itself (as opposed to the "meta-Council" of some writers) frequently based its reforms on appeals to a more broadly understood past: liturgical renewal, for example, was supposed to be "reform by remembering," recognizing that the Church's liturgical tradition did not reach back only to Trent.

My major criticism of the book is Schreck's somewhat superficial and imbalanced presentation of the sources of the ecclesiastical "crisis" some attribute to Vatican II. No one can deny the problems the Church has faced these past forty years, but in perspective the Lefebvrists were minor players in that "crisis." To begin-for lack of a better term-with the extreme right's critics of the Council lacks perspective. "Catholic" theology faculties in the U.S. have not been roiling with people who say Paul VI went too far. Furthermore, to lump a Catholic critic like James Hitchcock in with a revisionist like Gregory Baum is distortive. Schreck's analysis of Conciliar "crisis" is particularly disappointing when compared with his superior exposition of the Council's "promise." Lopping off the first 35 pages (the "crisis") would lose little and help the rest of this book a lot.

A useful book for parish discussion groups, adult religious education, and general readers, this book fills a gap by making the teaching of Vatican II available to all. Recommended.
(My review originally appeared in the Dec 4 NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER)

Summary: "Will the Real Vatican II Please Stand Up?"
With "Vatican II: The Crisis and the Promise", Alan Schreck rescues the misunderstood council from the clutches of dissenters on the Left and the Right.

In an accessible Q&A format, he guides readers through a tour of the important conciliar documents and explains the cultural milieu in which the bishops gathered from 1962-1965. Terms like "collegiality" and "people of God" are explained crisply, concisely and always charitably. He does this mostly by -- surprise! -- citing the documents themselves.

What does Vatican II teach about priestly celibacy? women's "ordination"? the role of the laity? You'll find answers here.

Sadly, extremists on the Left and the Right misrepresent the council as a cataclysm that launched a revolutionary new church and religion. Although countless abuses were committed in the name of the Council's amorphous spirit, Schreck places Vatican II in its proper context within the 2,000-year tradition of the "ever ancient, ever new" Church.

Whenever I hear someone ascribe an especially nutty idea to "the spirit of Vatican II" or breathlessly assert that Vatican II changed this or that, I usually grab my copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Now I'll also grab "Vatican II: The Crisis and the Promise."

Summary: Rich Content in Readable Format
Philosophy professor Allan Schreck is concerned that the views of Vatican II's more vocal dissenters may leave the impression that the council itself or its teachings are tainted, leading others to forgo study of its teachings. It is not surprising, then, that his purpose is to provide a true understanding of Catholic doctrine as found in council documents. And in keeping with this focus, Schreck uses format, style, and language inviting to those famous "people in the pews."

The areas of major dissent are dealt with primarily in the fifty-some pages of the first section under the headings Vatican II the Crisis and the Critics; The Deeper Crisis in the Church Since the Council; and Setting the Record Straight. The remaining eleven chapters examine Vatican II teachings on topics including Scripture, worship, Christian unity, and the challenge to bishops, priests, and religious. Three chapters are devoted specifically to what we can learn from the council about the role of the Church and its members in the modern world. In each case, the author uses quotations from council documents and examples of ways we might apply the teachings.

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The Essential Epicurus: Letters, Principal Doctrines, Vatican Sayings, and Fragments (Great Books in Philosophy)

Publisher: Prometheus Books
Authors: Epicurus Eugene Michael O'Connor

ISBN: 0879758104
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Summary: The Greek Buddha
Epicurus lived in the Athens of Plato. He attracted a host of followers to his preferred teaching place, a garden. There he taught them the ultimately anti-Platonic truths: this life is the only one, it is good, and the best way to live it is by maximizing stable pleasures.

Few philosophers have been more maligned and underappreciated. The Platonists and their ilk (the later Christians) found Epicurus' teachings too much focused on this world and not enough on the other. They thought he taught unalloyed hedonism and accused the Epicureans of wild orgies. Today, an Epicurean is thought of as an effete, wine-sipping decadent. All of these conceptions are completely wrong.

Starting with the truth that everything is made from the material of atoms (after Democritus), Epicurus determined that our consciousness must necessarily die with the death of our bodies. Since this is the only life it should be the sole focus of our efforts. In this mortal life we must maximize our pleasure and minimize our pain. Pleasure is defined as the avoidance of pain and the stabilization of comfort. The most reliable comforts are certainly not sex, drugs, rock and roll-all such things are unstable pleasures that lead to greater appetites. The best pleasures are those that can be controlled without much effort such as good friendship, good cheer, and an appreciation for the simple things. By avoiding epicurean dishes (our misreading) and satisfying our appetites with the most basic, most easily attainable foods, we sate our hunger. The full belly wants neither caviar nor black bread. Taking this principle to all other pleasures, Epicurus finds them easily satisfied.

Much of our turmoil is due to immaterial concerns, the attainment of more power, money, love, and the evasion of death. Epicurus shows, point-by-point, how these concerns can be wrestled into submission. Once the basic pleasures are met and one's anxieties are minimized life becomes simple and good. Before Christianity put non-Chrisitians under the sword, Epicureanism had become immensely popular and was constantly growing. It is time it resumed its natural course.

O'Connor's translations personify the philosopher himself-they are clear and elegant. This is an insightful, exciting, and pleasant read.

Summary: To Epicurus
The first to bring grain to uneasy mortals
in times past was the famous city of Athens
which made life anew and instituted laws:
And first brought delicious consolation to life
when she gave birth to the man of genius so extraordinary
that everything came from a mouth devoted to truth
so that, even though now he is dead, his divine discoveries
spread abroad, carrying his glory to the sky.

For when he saw that whatever men's needs demanded,
so far as may be, to keep their lives in safety,
was there at hand already for their use,
that men had all they could want in the way of wealth
and honor and praise, and pride in successful children;
Yet, at home each was perpetually disquieted
and the mind was enslaved by all its bitter complaints;
He understood that the trouble was in the container
and because of some flaw in it, everything would go bad
whatever excellent things were put into it:
Partly because there were holes and things flowed through them
and there was no possibility of filling it up;
And partly because what did get in was spoiled,
so to speak, by the nauseous taste there was inside.

The truth was what he used to purify hearts with
and he set a limit to fear as to desire;
He explained what it is that all of us really want
and showed us the way along a little path
which makes it possible for us to go straight there;
He showed what evils there are in human affairs
and how they were brought about by the force of nature,
popping up by change or because nature worked that way;
And he showed how best to face each of these difficulties
and proved that the human race was generally vain
in the way it ruminated in its gloomy thoughts.
For just as children are afraid of the dark
their elders are as often as not afraid in the light
of things which there is as little cause to fear
as those which children imagine to frighten themselves.
These grown-up terrors are also no more than shadows
and yet they are nothing that the sunlight can dissipate:
What is needed is the rational study of nature.

Who is skillful enough to produce an adequate poem
about the magnificent world and these discoveries about it?
Does anyone so use language that he can praise appropriately
the man who made these discoveries and left them for us?

Compare what he did with what the other gods did.

I follow you, nothing better has come out of Greece,
and now, where the print of your foot fell, I place my own,
not in jealous competition but out of love
which constrains me to imitate you. For does the swallow
set herself against swans? Or the wobbling kid
think that she should go as fast as a racehorse?
You discovered nature, father: you gave us instruction
and left the whole matter set out in your writings
where, just as bees help themselves in the meadows,
we can replenish ourselves with your golden sayings;
Golden, in that they are of permanent value.

As soon as your theory, the product of an intellect
something more than human, began to make some noise,
the fears that haunt minds disappeared, the walls of the world
gave way, and I saw through all space how everything happens...

By Lucretius
Written 50 B.C.E

Summary: The antidote to human stupidity and greed.
This book does not rely on a god or a saviour to lead a smart and fulfilling life. It relies soley on reason and what an effective use of it by epicurus! Most of epicurus works are either lost or destroyed, but this book contains his essential teachings. Epicurus did not deny the existance of the gods. This would make sense. If the universe is infinite as he says, then all possible things already exist in one way or another. According to epicurus one should live out his natural life, this would be prudent. This life is the only one you get. He writes that by being prudent ie; looking at both sides of an issue to find truth and getting only what you need, you can live a smart and happy life. After life is over one goes to eternal oblivion, free of all suffering forever. The ironic thing about epicurus is that he admits there are gods. If one reads what he writes carefully, one finds that one doesnt need to go to heaven or even to exist. Since it is not needed, one loses nothing. The same thing can be said for the wild goose chase, most people are engaged in for happiness. They want bigger houses, more expensive cars, more cash, etc. and instead of gaining happiness gain more misery. Why? Because the truth is you gain happiness by getting only what you need. Epicurus writes that those who are not satisfied with a little, will never be satisfied even with a lot or even infinity. The more you have above need, the more worry, headache and problems. This in no way is conducive to happiness. These writings are some of the most brilliant in the entire realm of philosophy. This book gets two thumbs up!

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	Living Vatican II: The 21st Council for the 21st Century Publisher: Paulist Press Authors: Gerald O'Collins
ISBN: 0809142902 List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $13.57 Usually ships in 24 hours Buy this book from amazon.com or from amazon.co.uk	Avg Cusomer Rating: Reviews: Summary:

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The Brotherhood: The Explosive Expose of the Secret World of the Freemasons

Publisher: HarperCollins
Authors: Stephen Knight

ISBN: 0586059830
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Summary: It may be biased as hell, but its a fascinating read.
Lets be honest, this book shouldnt be taken as fact. It's another highly embellished anti-masonic writer who has something out for the Freemonry Brotherhood, but it's so full of conspiracy theories (written as conspiracy fact) that one wonders whether or not David Duchovny is tracking some Freemason X-file. For anyone interested in pseudo-history, this is the book or them. Not that it's all false. It's much along the lines of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". There's some relatively unbiased stuff about the formation of the order. I'm just glad i read it before Dan Brown can dissect it for his latest work of historical plagiarism.

Summary: Anti-Masonic Book
Beware! This is an anti-Masonic book and should not be looked upon as a book to provide actual facts concerning Freemasonry. This book is recommended only if one wishes to see the nonsense the anti-Masons are saying about Freemasonry.
For more balanced and factual accounts of the nature of Freemasonry, read: 'Is it True what they Say about Freemasonry?' by Arturo de Hoyos & S. Brent Morris, 'Masonic Questions and Answers' by Paul M. Bessel & 'A Pilgrim's Path: Freemasonry and the Religious Right' by John J. Robinson.

Summary: One of most important things you will ever read 2 survive
Freedom of the press around the world is rather an illusionary lie. Most of the corporate conglomerates have monopolized free speech and freedom of expression that goes hand in hand with it. Each citizen that fails to learn the massive destruction to freedom that has occurred in the G-8 nations is an impediment to that which I try to do for you peacefully, truthfully, and in the true spirit of friendship.
Though the man was not perfect by any means, he was dedicated to personal and national freedom of citizens......Read the personal letters and writings of Thomas Jefferson. The United States today mocks the truth of our sincere beginnings at justice and liberty for all. The prejudices of society in his time kept him from doing many of the things he would have preferred to do. One thing is certain, every centimeter of the land and waterways of the Louisiana Purchase was paid for with gold. No amount of fiat money has yet paid the FULL sterling value for it, nor even come close to such.

For more info on this email sundown1919@yahoo.com or sundown1919@canada.com or visit my website at www.geocities.com/sundown1919

I have been meaning to read this book, you can't find it in the USA because the conglomerates that control the media also control the various printing companies, all paid for by fiat money.....so we have many ligitimate grievances to itemize where fiat money is involved in the payment, it can only represent an IOU for any labor rendered. The law of mortmain kills the corporate claims before they utter even one word.

In the 1960's most of the 50 US states in preparation for the next attrocity, the Uniform Commerical Code, tried to legislate away the long established English Common Law of Mortmain. It prevented abuses of the artificial entites such as the Roman Catholic Church, and to day also involves all such corporations of business.

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