How the Catholic Church built Western civilization
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [241]-265) and index.

Western civilization has given us the miracles of modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of the rule of law, a unique sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, a philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts that we take for granted as the wealthiest and most powerful civilization in history. But what is the ultimate source of these gifts? Author Woods maintains: the Catholic Church. In this book, you'll learn: why modern science was born in the Catholic Church; how Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith; how the Catholic Church invented the university; why what you know about the Galileo affair is wrong; how Western law grew out of Church canon law; and how the Church humanized the West by insisting on the sacredness of all human life.--From publisher description.