Robert Hugh Benson has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 4 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is Lord of the World.
Lord of the World
Summary
Secular humanism has triumphed. Everything the late Victorians and Edwardians believed would bring human happiness has been achieved: Technology has made it so no one needs to work for a living, the social sciences ensure a smooth-running social order, and, in the name of tolerance, religious beliefs have been uprooted and eliminated except for a single holdout - a largely discredited and rapidly shrinking Catholic Church. Yet people are unhappy. What has been created is a sterile world of crass materialism, a world without spiritual dimension, a world where people daily choose legalized euthanasia over the emptiness of existence. Out of this culture of despair, there arises a charismatic leader: Julian Felsenburgh. Soon the masses are in Felsenburgh's thrall, and he becomes leader of the world. But in their eagerness for change, have the citizens of the world embraced the Antichrist and hastened the end of days? Father Percy Franklin remains a bastion of stability, even as the Catholic Church disintegrates around him. Finally outlawed and driven underground, it is only this small and shrinking church that stands against the "Lord of the World".
Public Domain (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Lord of the World
Summary
Where Huxley and Orwell have often been described as prophets of our political world, Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World has gained some equal praise as a prophecy of the religious world. This dystopian science fiction novel published in 1907, prophesies a modern world where the antichrist reigns in the form of philosophical relativism and secular interference. How the world is further built on tolerance and personal freedoms but how religious life, slowly but surely, becomes the receiver of intolerance. Museum Audiobooks strives to present audiobook versions of authentic, unabridged historical texts from prior eras which contain a variety of points of view. The texts do not represent the views or opinions of Museum Audiobooks, and in certain cases may contain perspectives or language that is objectionable to the modern listener.
Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks
Confessions of a Convert
Summary
Robert Hugh Benson (1871 - 1914) was an English Anglican priest who left the Anglican church to became a Roman Catholic priest in 1904. He was a prolific writer (perhaps most famous for his fictional book Lord of the World), who also progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911. In this audiobook he recounts his life, focusing mostly on his decision to join the Roman Catholic church. It is a powerful story of the journey of a man who withstood the social pressures of his time to do what he thought was right.
Public Domain (P)2020 Patristic Publishing
Lord of the World
Summary
In an airplane news conference on his return from the Philippines in January 2015, Pope Francis mentioned Robert Hugh Benson’s Lord of the World and said, “I advise you to read it.” It wasn’t the first time the Holy Father had praised the book since becoming pope. This 1907 futuristic narrative has been hailed as the finest work of this unsung but influential author and son of the archbishop of Canterbury, whose conversion to Catholicism rocked the Church of England in 1903. The compelling book includes a new introduction, a biography of Benson, and a theological reflection. Popular young adult books such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, as well as literary classics such as Walker Percy’s Love in the Ruins and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, have created a growing interest in dystopian novels. In one of the first such novels of the 20th century, Robert Hugh Benson imagines a world where belief in God has been replaced by secular humanism. Lord of the World describes a world where Catholics are falling away and priests and bishops are defecting. Only a small remnant of the faithful remains. Julian Felsenburgh, a mysterious and compelling figure arises, promising peace in exchange for blind obedience. Those who resist are subjected to torture and execution. Soon, the masses are in Felsenburgh’s thrall, and he becomes leader of the world. Into this melee steps the novel’s protagonist, Fr. Percy Franklin. Dauntless and clear-sighted, Franklin is a bastion of stability as the Catholic Church in England disintegrates around him. Benson’s harrowing plot soon brings these two charismatic men into a final apocalyptic conflict. With an imagination to rival H. G. Wells and theological insight akin to G. K. Chesterton, Benson’s astute novel has captured the attention of many today, including Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. This new edition makes it easily available and features an insightful introduction by Rev. Mark Bosco, S.J. and a brief biography of Benson by Martyn Sampson.
Public Domain (P)2020 Ave Maria Press