Living by the Sword
Knighthood for the Modern Man
Glory to GOD in the Highest
Peace to HIS people on Earth
Let us speak, clearly.
I searched the world to find a book that taught how to be a hero for GOD. When I couldn’t find it, I wrote it myself.
The quintessential image of the hero for GOD, the Knight, half warrior and half saint, stands for everything good, strong, and Christian in the human spirit. But why such a martial image for the followers of the GOD of Peace?
The ancient Christian, the Christian closer to the time of Christ and the apostles, understood the world as a battlefield between the forces of GOD and the temptations of the Devil. This battlefield was not a war of physical weapons, but a war of wills. This meant the triumphant Christian needed discipline and focused concentration matching that of the most ardent soldier, the most dedicated fighter. The Christian trained with the burning passion and self-brutalizing rigors matching that of the best gladiator, the most ferocious martial artist, the finest ascetic samurai.
This Christian knew that following the Truth of GOD required a direct assault on the defenses of Satan. Mentally, this meant arming oneself with philosophies, theologies, and arguments to convince every questioner and every doubt. Spiritually, this meant absorbing the Word and Grace of GOD until the soul became a very weapon against evil. Physically, it meant preparing the body for the terrors of torture and death, as well as the mission of carrying the Gospel across a treacherous world.
The Medieval Christian came to understand the battle against Evil as not only ideological and spiritual, but strategic and worldly. Invaders and barbarians threatened to snuff out the flame of the Church, and so men were chosen to take up the physical sword and defend the Truth that could not defend itself. In turn, the Church refused to allow the innocent and the weak to be trod upon, and called upon its defenders to defend these as well.
The true Knight, follower of Christ and slayer of evil, was born from these seemingly opposing concepts. On one hand, he strove to fulfill the mission and mercy of Christ, and on the other he brought justice to the marauders and oppressors of the world. The traditional sword of the knight was always two-sided, to reflect the duality of his role.
Both aspects of the Christian hero require the heart of a warrior. Whether the Knight uses a sword or not, as warrior or pacifist, his mission requires a decidedly masculine and martial-like mind-set and discipline. He needs tactics, strategies, and lifestyles that can help him grow stronger in the ways of the Truth, harness his energies, please the LORD, imitate Christ, and mold him into a fierce engine for the greater glory of GOD, while forging him into a spiritual weapon against the Devil. This book shows how to gain these strategies.
Many in the Christian Church have drifted from this disciplined, ascetic way, embracing softer, more tolerant and accommodating theories that smack more of sentiment than truth, tolerance than justice, and weak compassion than agape love. While GOD has always been seen as LOVE itself, the definition of this love has sometimes wavered away from the full yet disciplined love of a righteous Father, to the unconditional but totally undemanding and suffocating fawning of an indulgent mother. GOD has unconditional love for His creation, but also expects the best from each one of us. To commit oneself to anything less is to disappoint GOD. The knight steps up to the challenge.
To embrace the challenge of this modern age, the knight needs more than vague and useless platitudes, simple common sense, or tracks meant for devotion. These strategies are taken from the lives and advice of knights, saints, monks, priests, and pious men and women. Many books tell stories and biographies of famous holy people, as well as knights and warriors, but only my book takes the reader step-by-step through the strategies used by these saints and knights to bring glory to GOD, even explaining how to specifically reproduce these strategies and virtues in a modern setting. Some books follow a disturbing trend and arbitrarily create stories to fit their philosophies, or water down the messages of the saints into sentimental soliloquies which have little value, while my book uses medieval classics, ancient legends, writings of profound thinkers, and actual historical information to armor the knight, equip him against the temptation and deception, and lead him to victory.
My book tells specifically and very concretely how to be a Christian Hero. The book explains how Rodrigo De Bivar, the Cid, used humility, magnanimity, and mercy to save Spain from civil war and invasion from Islamic radicals. The book shows the method used by Sir and Blessed Ramon Lull to convert the world by reason instead of the sword. It explains how Sir Miguel Cervantes saved himself from his own lack of faith, how Saint Aquinas used focus to defeat the Manichaens and his own conniving brothers, and how Saint Ignatius used discernment to rid himself from demonic visions. The book shows how meekness and humility is the beginning of true strength, how great courage is directly derived from fear of GOD, how sacrifice and asceticism can be used to defeat demons, and how Faith can be developed and improved. The book explains how Saint Louis used fortitude to confound his enemies in the Seventh Crusade, how Charles Martel used discipline to save all of Europe, how George Washington used reliance on GOD to save the United States, and how Saint Francis walked among murderers and escaped unharmed. How does a knight use purity to make himself stronger in physical, as well as mental and spiritual combat? How does a knight find a state of Grace? How does a knight develop his moral courage and his ability to sacrifice? I have spent half a life-time codifying these tactics. Every question is answered.
Only one thing remains. May GOD grant us HIS Grace.
