{"title":"St. Thomas More","description":"\u003cspan\u003eSaint Thomas More is known for his 1516 book Utopia and for his death in 1535, after refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. He was canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint in 1935.\u003c\/span\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-life-of-pico","title":"The Life of Pico","description":"\u003cp\u003ePresented to modern readers in English for the first time in 500 years, The Life of Pico by St. Thomas More is a biography of one of the Renaissance’s most famous figures: Giovanni Pico de la Mirandola (1463-94). Given More’s demanding personal spiritual life, one would assume that More wishes to praise a famous and virtuous man. But what emerges from this book is quite different. Pico turns out to be an extraordinarily virtuous, talented, and wealthy man, but a man nonetheless, who is missing something essential. And so More calls Pico “a very spectacle” of virtue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore sees Pico as very much like himself, as the two turn out to have very similar life experiences. Both carry some scars from difficult or missing relationships with their fathers, both are extremely talented and powerful in their time, and both had been steered toward a religious vocation which they did not embrace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book, The Life of Pico, is as much a riddle about More as it is an explanation of Pico. More’s great-grandson and biographer, Cresacre More, claims that Thomas More as a young man, sought to emulate Pico once he decided that his path in life was marriage and not the cloth. The book’s first half contains the abridged account of Pico’s life. The second half is More’s rhymed verse on the 12 rules of spiritual battle, the 12 weapons of spiritual battle, and the 12 properties of a lover, followed by Pico’s prayer to God. In the last analysis, this biography of Pico becomes an exercise in the discernment of true virtue, in the contradictions and difficulties one encounters in the immersion into the world, and at the same time, in the life of God.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16976521985,"sku":"9781594171093","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1025.jpg?v=1594193399"},{"product_id":"supremacy-and-survival","title":"Supremacy and Survival","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe persecution of Catholics began in 16th century England and tested the Church for over 250 years. Penal laws labeled Catholic believers as traitors and brought fines, imprisonment, and even execution. Prominent persons such as Thomas More, Edmund Campion, and Margaret Clitherow were martyred, while others quietly endured suspicion or harassment to teach and pass on their faith to others, but died peacefully in their beds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe official persecution slowly subsided as threats to England's external power waned in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, intellectual converts such as John Henry Newman and Henry Manning brought the merits of Catholicism a new respect in the eyes of Protestant public opinion. This enabled the unfolding of a wide-ranging apologetic that would fall to 20th century figures such as G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, and Ronald Knox.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis book tells the story of the Catholic Church's survival and restoration in one land. It serves both as a lesson and a warning of the risks to faith and freedom when absolute power is given free reign.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":16978888321,"sku":"9781594170799","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":29989760077,"sku":"9781594171185","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1122.jpg?v=1594193412"},{"product_id":"thomas-more-a-lonely-voice-against-the-power-of-the-state","title":"Thomas More: A Lonely Voice Against the Power of the State","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book explores the conscience and motivation of one of the most admired persons in history: St. Thomas More. Most people know that Thomas More wrote a book called Utopia about a perfect society and got his head chopped off by King Henry VIII. But there was much more to the man. More not only occupied England’s most powerful position under the king as Lord Chancellor, but was also a devoted family man, a Renaissance figure of renown throughout Europe, and the author of works of apologetics as well as poetry, fiction and plays. Even while awaiting execution in the Tower of London, his multi-volume \"Tower writings\" poured out, evidence of his deep faith and life of prayer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Gulliver’s Travels, Protestant author Jonathan Swift named More among the six greatest defenders of liberty of all time, “to which all the ages of the world cannot add a seventh.” Erasmus praised him as one “born, created for friendship.” After his death, a popular tune sang the praises of his “gentle heart”:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen More some time had Chancellor been,\u003cbr\u003eNo more suits did remain;\u003cbr\u003eThe like will never more be seen Till More be there again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeter Berglar, who has written ten biographies including one of St. Peter, and one of the earliest studies of Opus Dei and its founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá, deals in this new translation of the original German with the ultimate question: for what is life not worth living? When must it be purchased at a price that could devalue and perhaps destroy it? “\u003cem\u003eIt has been repeated in every generation. There will never be a lack of idols and dictators who demand this sacrifice.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":16979534849,"sku":"9781594170737","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":29989716301,"sku":"9781594171383","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1117.jpg?v=1594193414"},{"product_id":"dialogue-concerning-heresies","title":"Dialogue Concerning Heresies","description":"\u003cp\u003eConsidered by C.S. Lewis as perhaps the best dialogue written in English, this friendly, spirited, and often merry exchange takes place at St. Thomas More’s peaceful and cultured home in Chelsea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSt. Thomas More's Dialogue Concerning Heresies is a conversation between the experienced humanist and statesman More and an intelligent college student who has been influenced by the spirit and ideas of the new men and reformers, especially Martin Luther and William Tyndale. It addresses questions that continue to be discussed today:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.4;\"\u003eIsn’t it idolatry to pray to saints, venerate images, and go on pilgrimages?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.4;\"\u003eWhy listen to what the Church teaches? Shouldn’t we go only by Scripture, since it is the word of God?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.4;\"\u003eWhy didn’t the Church want laypeople to have their own Bible, and in English?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.4;\"\u003eHow do we know which church is the true one?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan style=\"line-height: 1.4;\"\u003eWhy waste time on philosophy and other secular studies if the Bible is God’s revealed word?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis modernized edition of More’s Dialogue brings this masterful work into wide circulation for the first time since its publication in 1529.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":37276623503537,"sku":"9781594172571","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1124.jpg?v=1594193420"},{"product_id":"the-sadness-of-christ","title":"The Sadness of Christ","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sadness of Christ\u003c\/em\u003e was the last book that St. Thomas More wrote in the Tower of London before he was executed for standing firm in his Catholic faith. In it, he explores the Gospel passages that depict the agony of Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. He depicts Christ as a model of virtue in the face of suffering and persecution. And along the way, he includes valuable and eternally relevant reflections on prayer, courage, friendship, statesmanship, and more. Here is an excellent resource for Lent or anytime!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47301855674545,"sku":"9780933932661","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"eBook","offer_id":47301855707313,"sku":"9780933932913","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":47365994610865,"sku":"9780466058760","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1107.jpg?v=1594193421"},{"product_id":"for-all-seasons-selected-letters-of-thomas-more","title":"For All Seasons - Selected Letters of Thomas More","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEdited by Stephen Smith \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eForeword by Gerard Wegemer \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor the first time in forty years, the selected letters of St. Thomas More—son, husband, father, friend, statesman and martyr—are now available in this newly edited volume for the contemporary reader. Moving from the days of his youth to the startling drama of his final years, this collection serves as a “life in letters” and offers the reader fresh insight into More’s education, formation, and character, visible both in season and out of season, in little matters as well as great controversies.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first English writer to use the word “integrity,” More struggled to live as well as he wrote, with personal virtue, solid piety, and a well-formed conscience. These letters reflect all the facets of his humanity and personality, and through them, one may begin to glimpse the living face of this famous “man for all seasons,” as he was known even in his own time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to the letters from Thomas More, the book offers introductory notes on the family members, friends, and other historical figures relevant to his life’s history.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":16981625089,"sku":"9781594171635","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":32082526605,"sku":"9781594172946","price":20.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1010.jpg?v=1594193422"},{"product_id":"a-dialogue-of-comfort-against-tribulation","title":"A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is Thomas More’s \u003cem\u003eA Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation\u003c\/em\u003e in modern English. It is his examination of the comfort of God in times of difficulty. Written in the Tower of London while More was awaiting execution for refusing to betray his faith, this book is a fictional dialogue between a young man, Vincent, and his mortally ill uncle. Vincent is afraid that an impending Muslim invasion will force him to betray his faith or die a martyr. More shows how all suffering can be beneficial if you respond to it properly.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16981705217,"sku":"9781594171727","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1121.jpg?v=1594193423"},{"product_id":"the-four-last-things","title":"The Four Last Things","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Four Last Things\u003c\/i\u003e, St. Thomas More prescribes frequent meditation on Death, Judgment, Pain and Joy in order to combat the spiritual diseases of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Supplication of Souls\u003c\/i\u003e is More's vigorous, humorous, and artful defense of one of the flashpoints of the Reformation: the Catholic dogma of Purgatory. It is his devastating response to a defamatory political tract that claimed that the greed and corruption of English clergymen stemmed from their insistence on being paid to pray for the dead. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Dialogue on Conscience \u003c\/i\u003esets forth More's reasons for refusing to abjure his Catholic faith by taking the oath of allegiance to King Henry VIII as the head of the Church in England. It illustrates why More has a deserved place among the Church's greatest saints and martyrs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16981759105,"sku":"9781889334653","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/scepter-1186.jpg?v=1594193423"},{"product_id":"inside-the-mind-of-thomas-more","title":"Inside the Mind of Thomas More: The Witness of His Writings","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the 482 years since his death, Thomas More continues to attract worldwide admiration.  One of his earliest admirers, 18\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e century writer Jonathan Swift of Gulliver’s Travels fame, named More among the six greatest defenders of liberty of all time, “to which all the ages of the world cannot add a seventh.” St. John Paul II in 2000 named him patron of statesman.   G.K. Chesterton in 1929, called Thomas More “more important at this moment than at any moment since his dying; but he is not quite so important as he will be in about a hundred years’ time.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e In a time when the rights of conscience against state compulsion are tested in many areas of life, from forcible involvement in abortion to non-Christian forms of marriage, More matters to the world even sooner than Chesterton expected. He is a figure that is hard to find fault with.  Without compromising himself to advance, More stood at the summit of his country, second only to the king. The greatest lawyer in the land was without show a devout practicing Catholic who spent one day a week in prayer and penance since his youth. He accepted an ignominious death rather than to cave in to his monarch’s marriage caprices which destroyed the Catholic Church in England.  Why did he persist in an action that he knew could destroy him, his family,  and his accomplishments?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003eInside the Mind of Thomas More\u003c\/strong\u003e, by Louis Karlin and David Oakley, in only 129 pages, tells why. The authors sift through the issues brought up in his trial, and explain how More justified himself by analyzing his spiritual writings which poured out during his imprisonment for months before his execution. He led an extraordinary life, an exemplary Catholic deeply immersed in various circles as an intellectual, lawyer, husband, family man and shrewd politician and statesman. Canonization came 400 years after his death.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis new book explains how More fought to save both himself and the Catholic Church and did not regret the risk he took in gambling with his own life. He courageously resisted what he saw as morally wrong. He foresaw how King Henry’s action to dissolve the Catholic Church would unleash a century of religious warfare which spread throughout Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLouis W. Karlin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is an appellate attorney with the State of California, who lives in Los Angeles, CA. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDavid R. Oakley\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a criminal trial attorney, who lives in Princeton, NJ. The authors are both Fellows of the Center for \u003cem\u003eThomas More Studies, University of Dallas\u003c\/em\u003e. They became friends as freshmen at Columbia University (class of 1985) while arguing the meaning and merits of Utopia. Over the past fifteen years, they have collaborated on numerous legal education seminars and articles about St. Thomas More. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":3973925961751,"sku":"9781594173134","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"eBook","offer_id":12318311383063,"sku":"9781594170324","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/products\/Inside_the_Mind_of_Thomas_More-page-001.jpg?v=1594195165"},{"product_id":"thomas-more-a-portrait-of-courage-thirtieth-anniversary-edition","title":"Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage, Thirtieth Anniversary Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Thomas More is more important at this moment than at an\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003ey moment since his death, even perhaps the great moment of his dying; but he is not quite so important as he will be in about a hundred years’ time.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1929, G. K. Chesterton made this claim with acute perception. One of history’s greatest lawyers and statesmen and most admired figures of all time, Thomas More was voted “Lawyer of the Millennium” by the Law Society of Great Britain and named “Patron of Statesmen” by John Paul II.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe combined immense humanistic learning with an unequaled command of the legal and political traditions of Christendom, forging a profound philosophy of statesmanship and freedom. He possessed the virtues of an exemplary husband, father, and friend and the detachment and interior peace of a saint. He thus emerged from the first great crisis of modern tyranny—a crisis that would claim his life—as the model of a truly free man, whose conscience and character no despot could subvert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThomas More was canonized in 1935 as Hitler was rising to power and the world needed an example of courage and skill in the face of the greatest of dangers. This book reveals how More prepared himself for the challenges of his life, and how he rose to the demands placed upon him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis 30th anniversary edition includes citations to Scepter’s collection of Thomas More writings while incorporating updated sources and information about More’s life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scepter Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46074959462577,"sku":"9781594175589","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"eBook","offer_id":46074959495345,"sku":"9781594175596","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audiobook (first edition)","offer_id":46751016878257,"sku":"9781594174568","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/files\/Screenshot2025-05-16at10.39.17AM.png?v=1747406417"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1193\/5190\/collections\/56ebba3b98aea.jpg?v=1475170535","url":"https:\/\/scepterpublishers.org\/collections\/st-thomas-more\/writings.oembed","provider":"Scepter Publishers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}