"BY WHAT AUTHORITY?" tells the story of how Catholics suffered at the hands Queen Elizabeth the Ist of England. It is the story of the English Reformation from a Catholic perspective. Monsignor Hugh Benson achieved this depiction without the use of the stereotypes that characterized virtually all such productions in his day. He is a lover of truth and ferrots out those who embrace error and evil because they want to love their sin for ego sake.
This is an intriguing book. The characters are clearly cut, defining virtue and vice in each. And though it was written over 100 years ago, the Elizabethan persecution of "Papists" rings true even today when it is considered "with it" to openly mock and denounce the Catholic Church with the Papacy at its head.
At a time when pressure is mounting against the Church on many fronts, we would do well to read this book and understand that if we are blind to the past we are doomed to repeat great tragedies.
It goes to where will each of us spend our eternity!
