R H Benson’s Lord of the World: Immanentizing the Eschaton

Robert Hugh Benson's 1907 novel, Lord of the World, might be the first dystopian novel of the modern era. Robert Hugh was the brother of E. F. Benson, the master ghost story teller and author of the hysterically funny Lucia novels. He was a Roman Catholic priest, and Lord of the World is his depiction of what would happen if the antichrist came to power.

Lord of the World begins in a future England with Fr. Percy Franklin and Fr. Francis meeting with a very old man, Mr. Templeton, to learn from him what life was like in the past. It turns out that the "Individualist Party," which is basically the Conservative Party, has been reduced to almost nothing by the more or less Marxist "Humanist Party." The world is divided into three regions of influence: the Eastern Empire (Asia), the West (Europe and Africa), and America (North and South). Euthanasia is widespread, and polite people don't talk about any life after death. Of Christianity, only Catholicism remains (and it is confined to Ireland and Rome), because the Protestant denominations succumbed to the ideology of humanism.

The chapters alternate between Fr. Percy and the British Marxist MP, Oliver Brand, and how they react to the American politician, Julian Felsenburgh. Felsenburgh is a mysterious man who brokers peace between Europe and the East. For this accomplishment, he is hailed as the literal savior of humanity. Extraordinarily quickly, all the nations of Europe fall at his feet and declare him President of Europe, which office he accepts.

Meanwhile, Fr. Percy flies to Rome and meets with Pope John. Even though all of Europe has rejected Christianity, Rome has remained a sovereign state and refuge. Fr. Percy proposes that John create a new order to meet the alarming developments: the Order of Christ Crucified is established. Christians from all over Europe flock to Rome to join this new order, with the understanding that they will be persecuted and probably martyred.

Benson uses Oliver Brand and his wife, Mabel, to illustrate the psychology and beliefs of atheism, and Fr. Percy to illustrate the strength of humble Christianity. Fr. Percy starts as a lowly parish priest, but he is soon elevated to a cardinal in charge of the Order of Christ Crucified. Oliver becomes more devoted to materialism and its "optimistic" view of human evolution, even as mobs commit horrific atrocities against Christians. He twists logic into a pretzel to justify genocide. Mabel, young and naive, is a tragic figure who simply can't accept the contradictions her husband demands she do.

Looming over it all is Felsenburgh, who bears a striking physical resemblance to Fr. Percy. No one knows much of Felsenburgh's background or history, or why he possesses such incredible charisma that people literally worship him. As the story progresses, he steadily gains power, while the Catholic Church seems to be the only obstacle to him. Interestingly, as Felsenburgh gains power and authority, he loses personality. Early on, he is a riveting speaker who deeply affects his audience. By the end of the novel, he barely speaks, relying on an assistant to speak for him in meetings. He gradually is consumed by the power that he is exercising over the world, to the point that it is difficult to consider him human.

Conversely, Fr. Percy matures into a man fully prepared to deal with the lethal threat Felsenburgh poses to the Catholic Church. There are times when Fr. Percy's faith is severely tested, but he always emerges from these bouts stronger and more aware of who he is and how he should relate to God.

As Felsenburgh's power and authority wax, Earth itself undergoes changes. An unexpected and unexplained heat wave engulfs the globe. The sky is no longer blue, but copper-gray. The moon is barely visible at night.

The touch of the powdery soil and the warm pebbles beneath the priest’s bare feet seemed something apart from the consciousness that usually regards the things of sense as more real and more intimate than the things of spirit. Matter still had a reality, still occupied space, but it was of a subjective nature, the result of internal rather than external powers. He appeared to himself already to be scarcely more than a soul, intent and steady, united by a thread only to the body and the world with which he was yet in relations. He knew that the appalling heat was there; once even, before his eyes a patch of beaten ground cracked and lisped as water that touches hot iron, as he trod upon it.

ROBERT HUGH BENSON. Lord of the World (Kindle Locations 4436-4441). Kindle Edition.

Lord of the World was written before WWI and the Russian Revolution, and its prescience is striking. Benson wisely doesn't spend much time describing hypothetical technological advances, instead focusing on the profound philosophical and theological clash he saw coming in the early twentieth century. Benson predicted the main conflict in the future would be on spiritual grounds, not materialistic ones.

As a Christian, Benson had faith in the ultimate triumph of the Church, but the ending of Lord of the World comes across as very ambiguous in that regard. It is an abrupt conclusion that startled me, but after much thought I believe it is a hopeful one. Benson uses a lot of Latin quotes in the final chapters that I'm sure his contemporaries, the well-educated readers of the early twentieth century, could understand easily - I had to use an online translator.

Lord of the World is a sobering read, one that has remained in my thoughts since I finished it a few days ago. Benson, like G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and other Christian contemplatives, was able to see the direction Western civilization was going and draw likely outcomes of that progress. Even though it is more than 100 years old, it remains unsettlingly applicable to us in the 21st century.