According to Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc, the Protestant Reformation's success hinged not on theological grounds, but on the English government in the reign of King Henry VIII. The great schism was not motivated by a conspiracy to bring down Christendom, but merely the lust of a man, the ambition of a woman, and the greed of a noble class that become wealthy overnight by the looting of Church property.
The results of the Reformation reached far from the theological, giving rise to the economic issues of large private landowners, employers, and the decline of the sustainable farm in western civilization.
This edition includes an introduction by Paul Nowak.