Dec 2, 2022

Dr. John Rao begins with a discussion of the ancient rhetorical dislike of Plato and his insistence that a knowledge of truth had to precede action. The entry of the Church onto the political and social scene brought this insistence down to the popular level and won for her an even greater hatred from "word merchants"....

Dec 2, 2022

Already in the ancient world, a "Grand Coalition" of anti-Catholic forces had gathered together. This included not only the "word merchants", interested in selling recipes for "success", but also philosophers who did not want to deal with theology, men who loved power for power sake, and ordinary people who simply...

Dec 2, 2022

The term "The Black Legend" specifically describes a set of lies regarding Catholic Spain. Dr. John Rao speaks here of a broader "syllabus" of Black Legends, developed through the ages, accusing the Church of destroying the State, peace, education, philosophy, the family, and human freedom in general.

Dec 2, 2022

Dr. John Rao explains that in the early Middle Ages, from the 500's through the 900's, the Church had a number of battles with Byzantine Emperors and pagan influenced men in the civil service, all of whom resorted to "Black Legends" to attack her. One major example of these emerged during the Iconoclast Controversy,...

Dec 2, 2022

Dr. John Rao shows that the period from the 1000's-1200's saw a rediscovery and reapplication of the fullness of Roman Law with its emphasis on the power of the State. Many people were in such awe of the Roman Empire's achievement that they thought her law and legal decisions had to take precedence over philosophical...