page_title: Lord of the World
section_title: Book I: The Advent
hierarchical_section_title: Lord of the World / Synopsis / Book I: The Advent
caption_attribution_description: English: London Victoria Station - The main station building for this terminus, with trains servicing the south and south-eastern destinations, as well as Gatwick. In front is the bus station. Français&#160;: La gare Victoria, l'une des principales gares de terminus à Londres. Cette gare dessert des lignes au sud et au de-ouest de la ville. Devant la gare, on aperçoit l’arrêt de bus. Station Code: VIC. Line(s) and Previous/Next Stations: Sloane Square &lt; CIRCLE LINE &gt; St James's Park Sloane Square &lt; DISTRICT LINE &gt; St James's Park [Terminus] &lt; SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAY &gt; Brixton [Terminus] &lt; SOUTHEASTERN RAILWAY &gt; Denmark Hill [Terminus] &lt; SOUTHERN RAILWAY &gt; Battersea Park [Terminus] &lt; SOUTHERN RAILWAY [Gatwick Express] &gt; Gatwick Airport [Terminus] &lt; VENICE SIMPLON ORIENT EXPRESS &gt; Folkestone West Pimlico &lt; VICTORIA LINE &gt; Green Park Links: Randomness Guide to London Wikipedia
context_page_description: Lord of the World is a 1907 dystopian science fiction novel by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson that centres upon the reign of the Antichrist and the end of the world. It has been called prophetic by Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
context_section_description: Oliver Brand, an influential Labour MP from Croydon, listens as his secretary, Mr. Phillips, describes the seemingly inevitable rush toward war between Europe and the Eastern Empire. He mentions that a mysterious Senator Felsenburgh has unexpectedly taken charge of the American Republic's peace delegation. Felsenburgh is tirelessly crisscrossing the Empire, delivering speeches to rapt audiences. The Senator shows a remarkable fluency in the languages of his listeners.
  In conversation with his wife, Mabel, Oliver comments that war between Europe and the Empire will be "Armageddon with a vengeance", and expresses hope that Senator Felsenburgh will save the day. Although Mabel Brand appears concerned, her husband responds, "My dear, you must not be downhearted. It may pass as it all passed before. It is a great thing that we are listening to America at all. And this Mr. Felsenburgh seems to be on the right side."
  Over breakfast, Oliver frets about his upcoming trip to Birmingham, where the outraged population is again demanding the right to trade freely with the American Republic. As his mind returns to the possible war against the Empire, Brand ponders that the real problem is the survival of religious belief in the Eastern Empire—Buddhism, Islam, Sufism, Confucianism, and Pantheism. In Great Britain, only Catholicism remains in "a few darkened churches" and "with hysterical sentimentality" in Westminster Cathedral. He ponders with disgust how, against his opposition, Ireland was granted Home Rule and "opted for Catholicism." Furthermore, the city of Rome was "given up wholly" in exchange for all church property in Italy to Pope John XXIV, who has transformed it into a Hong Kong-style enclave where "mediaeval darkness" reigns supreme. He recalls with outrage how the Italian Republic moved its capital to Turin. As he departs to catch a volor to Birmingham, Oliver looks out at "the grey haze of London, really beautiful, this vast hive of men and women who had learned at least the primary lesson of the gospel that there was no God but man, no priest but the politician, and no prophet but the schoolmaster."
  As she prepares to board a train to Brighton, Mabel Brand witnesses a Government volor crash into the station. As the Government's Ministers of Euthanasia arrive and begin to finish off the wounded, maimed and dying, Mrs. Brand witnesses Father Percy Franklin arrive. She is stunned to see the priest open his coat, pull out his crucifix and give the Last Rites to the dying Catholic lying next to her. After she returns home, deeply moved and traumatized by what she has witnessed, Mabel tells Oliver that both Father Franklin and the dying man seemed to believe in what they were doing.
  While deeply grieved that his wife has witnessed the horrors of the accident, Oliver explains Catholic doctrine about the Afterlife, which he mocks as a ridiculous belief that a person's mind can survive despite their brain being dead. According to Brand, for Father Franklin, the soul of the man is either "in a sort of smelting works being burned", or if "that piece of wood took effect" he is "somewhere beyond the clouds" with the Holy Trinity, the Mother of God, and the Communion of Saints. He explains that "that kind of thing may be nice, but it isn't true." Impressed by her husband's explanation of the fallacy of religion, Mabel relaxes.
  At the residence of the Cardinal-Protector near Westminster Cathedral, Father Percy Franklin finishes writing his Latin language report to Rome about the mass defections taking place among English Catholics and the recent conversions from the crumbling Anglican Communion. As he walks toward the elevator, Father Franklin finds that Father John Francis, whom he has been attempting to nurse through his mounting doubts, has lost his faith and decided to leave the priesthood. In a last-ditch effort to prevent this, Father Franklin explains that Christianity "may be untrue", but it cannot be absurd and false as long as educated and intelligent people continue to believe in its teachings. Unmoved, Father Francis rebu
caption: London Victoria Station.
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