BOOK REVIEW: Saints vs. Scoundrels

Saints vs. Scoundrels by Dr. Benjamin Wiker examines the impact key ideas have had on history.  The author does this by crafting a series of lively dialogs between historic figures — one always Christian, the other always atheistic.

Dr. Wiker holds an MA in religion and a PhD in theological ethics from Vanderbilt University.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Veritas Center for Ethics and Public Life at Franciscan University, having taught at multiple Catholic colleges and universities during his long career.

The historic figures Dr. Wiker has chosen to pair with one another are:

• St. Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau;
• St. Francis of Assisi and Niccolo Machiavelli;
• Flannery O’Connor and Ayn Rand;
• St. Thomas More and England’s King Henry VIII; and
• Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) and Friedrich Nietzsche.

In each instance, Dr. Wiker provides insight into the influence which the backgrounds and life choices of these historic figures had on their ideas.  More than that, he cuts to the heart of the worldly philosophies espoused and the flaws inherent in them.

While the dialogs are engaging, they are, also, deadly serious since the consequences for mankind of such philosophies – naturalism, machiavellianism, objectivism, humanism, and existentialism – have been profound.

Saints vs. Scoundrels is available at Amazon.com and EWTN.com.  I highly recommend the book to all those seeking a deeper understanding of the ideas that have shaped the modern world.

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