INTRODUCTION. Our Life's Purpose
Our Desire for Happiness. Earthly Goods and Happiness. "God Alone Sufficeth." How We Can Possess God. Grace and Our Life's Purpose. The Study of Religion the Most Important Study. ........xv
SECTION I
FAITH AND THE SOURCES OF FAITH
CHAPTER I. Our Knowledge of God
How We Know God. What Our Reason Tells Us About God. God Reveals Himself. God's Revelations Known by Faith. God's Spokesmen and Their Credentials: Miracles and Prophecies. Who Were God's Spokesmen? Revealed Mysteries. .....1
CHAPTER II. The Church, the Guardian and Teacher of Divine Revelation
How God's Revelations Were Preserved and Handed Down. Faith, a Divine Gift to Help Us Believe God's Revelations........ 5
CHAPTER III. The Sources of Faith: Holy Scripture
A. HOLY SCRIPTURE IN GENERAL
1. Definition and Division...... 9
2. Divine Origin: Inspiration .... 10
3. Canon, or Official List, of the Sacred Books....11
4. The Languages of the Bible... 14
5. Translations of the Bible.... 15
6. Interpretation of the Scriptures....17
7. Reading of the Bible.... 17
CHAPTER IV. Sources of Faith: Holy Scripture (Continued)
B. THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. The Historical Books ......20
2. The Doctrinal or Poetical Books .....27
3. The Prophetical Books .....34
CHAPTER V. Sources of Faith: Holy Scripture (Continued)
C. THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
1. The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles...... 42
2. The Epistles .....45
3. The Apocalypse...... 48
x CHAPTER VI. The Sources of Faith: Tradition
1. MEANING AND NECESSITY OF TRADITION
What Tradition Means. Scripture and Tradition of Equal Value. Necessity of Tradition. The Catholic Rule of Faith.... 50
2. THE RECORDS OF TRADITION
Traditions Recorded. Decrees of General Councils and Popes. Acts of Martyrs. Liturgical Books. Works of the Fathers. Monuments. Creeds. ......51
CHAPTER VII. Necessity and Qualities of Faith
1. Faith Necessary to Salvation ......55
2. Qualities of Faith. Dangers to the Faith.....56
CHAPTER VIII. Profession of Faith. Sign of the Cross. ......60
SECTION II
CHIEF TRUTHS OF FAITH
INTRODUCTION. The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. ......63
CHAPTER I. Nature and Attributes of God
1. NATURE OF GOD
Who God Is. What Scripture Tells Us About God. God and Human Reason. ......66
2. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
A. Attributes of the Divine Nature
God is Eternal, Unchangeable, Immense......68
B. Attributes of the Divine Intelligence
God is All-Knowing, All-Wise......69
C. Attributes of the Divine Will
God is Almighty, Holy, Just, Good, Merciful, Patient, Truthful,
Faithful ......70
CHAPTER II. The Most Blessed Trinity
The Blessed Trinity in the Old Testament. Christ Reveals the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity. The Church Defends the Mystery against Heretics. The Athanasian Creed. The Trinity, the Greatest of Mysteries. The Trinity and Human Reason. Importance of the Doctrine of the Trinity ......73
CHAPTER III. The Creation of the World
God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The World Not Eternal. God Created the World of His Own Free Choice for His Own Glory. The Work of the Six Days. The Work of Creation and the Week of Seven Days. Science and the Biblical Account of Creation......79
xi CHAPTER IV. Divine Providence
God Preserves and Governs the World. Divine Providence and the Problem of Evil. Christian Optimism. ......82
CHAPTER V. The Spirit World
The Invisible Creation. Scripture and the Spirit World. The Spirit World and Human Reason. Number and Dignity of the Angels. Good and Bad Angels. Our Guardian Angels. The Evil Spirits. Possession and Exorcism. ......85
CHAPTER VI. Origin of the Human Race
Man the Crown and Lord of the Visible Creation. Origin of the Human Body. Origin of the Human Soul. The Soul of Man Spiritual and Immortal. All Men Are Descended from One Pair. The Age of the Human Race. ......91
CHAPTER VII. Elevation and Fall of Man
1. ELEVATION OF MAN
Man an Image of God. The Supernatural Image of God in Man. Special Privileges of Our First Parents. " A Little Less than the Angels."' The Golden Age. ......96
2. THE FALL OF MAN
The Trial. The Fall. The Consequences of the Fall. ......97
CHAPTER VIII. Original Sin, the World's Tragedy
Why Adam's Sin is Called Original Sin. Scripture and Original Sin. Tradition and Original Sin. Original Sin a State, not an Act. Original Sin and Baptism. Importance of the Doctrine of Original Sin. ......100
CHAPTER IX. The Immaculate Conception
What is meant by the Immaculate Conception. Definition of the Dogma. An Argument from Reason. ......103
CHAPTER X. Promise of a Redeemer and Preparation for His Coming
Need of a Redeemer. Promise of a Redeemer. His Coming Delayed. Preparation of the Jews for His Coming. Preparation of the Pagan World. The Great Advent. ......106
CHAPTER XI. Jesus Christ-the Promised Redeemer
The "Fullness of Time." The Names of the Redeemer. Jesus Christ the Promised Messias. Prophecies and Figures Fulfilled. ......109
CHAPTER XII. Jesus Christ-True God and True Man in One Person
1. JESUS CHRIST IS TRUE GOD
The Testimony of the Church. The Testimony of the Apostles. The Testimony of Christ Himself. Christ Confirms His Testimony
CONTENTS
xii by the Holiness of His Life, by Miracles and Prophecies. He Seals His Testimony by His Death. ......114
2. JESUS CHRIST IS TRUE MAN
The Incarnation. Jesus Christ a Perfect Human Being. The Ideal of Human Beauty? ......118
3. JESUS CHRIST GOD AND MAN IN ONE PERSON .......120
4. SUMMARY OF THE CHURCH'S TEACHING ON THE INCARNATION ......121
CHAPTER XIII. Prerogatives of the Human Nature of Christ
Vision of God Face to Face. Absolute Sinlessness. Christ's Human Nature Claims Our Adoration. The Sacred Heart of Jesus. Cardinal Newman on Devotion to the Sacred Heart. ......122
CHAPTER XIV. Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer
Mary, the Mother of God. Mary's Co-operation in the Redemption. Mary's Divine Motherhood the Source of all her Graces and privileges. An Objection Answered. The Assumption. St. Joseph, the Spouse of Mary and Foster-Father of Jesus. ......126
CHAPTER XV. The Work of Redemption Accomplished
The Redemption a Great Mystery. The Savior's Sacrifice Freely Offered. Why Christ Chose Suffering and Death. The Cross, the School of Love. The Savior's Sacrifice Offered for All Mankind. The Fruits of the Redemption. The Church's Thanks to God for the Redemption. ...131
CHAPTER XVI. The Functions of the Redeemer
Christ Our High Priest, Teacher, and King. Our Duties to Christ the King. ......137
CHAPTER XVII. The Redeemer Living and Working in His Church
Christ Invests His Apostles and Their Successors with His Threefold Office. How the Church Discharges Her Threefold Office. Christ and His Priests. The Holy Ghost and the Threefold Office of the Church. The Work of the Holy Ghost in the Church and in the Hearts of the Faithful. ...142
CHAPTER XVIII. The Work of Sanctification: Sanctifying Grace
Christ Restores the Supernatural Order. What is Sanctifying Grace ? How It Is Conferred upon Men. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Can We Be Certain of Being Justified ? Cardinal Newman on the Indwelling of the Holy Ghost. ......145
CHAPTER XIX. Actual Graces
Difference between Actual and Sanctifying Grace. Efficacy of Actual Grace. Necessity of Actual Grace. God Gives Sufficient Grace to All, but not an Equal Amount. Grace and the Freedom of the Human Will. Predestination. The Little Flower on the Unequal Distribution of Grace. ......151
CONTENTS
xiii CHAPTER XX. Fruits of Sanctifying Grace: Good Works
Every Christian Bound to Perform Good Works. Good Works Meritorious only through Sanctifying Grace. The Good Works of the Sinner. What We Merit by Good Works. Good Works and Good Intention. Some Objections Answered. ......156
CHAPTER XXI. Eternal Life
The First and Last Words of the Creed. The Beatific Vision. The Bliss of Heaven not Equal in Degree for All. St. Augustine, St. Columban and St. Thomas on the Joys of Heaven. ......159
CHAPTER XXII. Purgatory
There Is a Purgatory. The Doctrine of Purgatory Most Reasonable. The Lot of the Poor Souls. St. Augustine and His Mother St. Monica. Importance of the Doctrine of Purgatory. Bishop Vaughan on Prayers for the Dead. ......162
CHAPTER XXIII. Eternal Death
Who Will Be Cast. into Hell ? The Punishment of the Damned Eternal. The Sufferings of the Damned. The Doctrine of Hell and Human Reason. ......166
CHAPTER XXIV. The Resurrection of the Dead and the General Judgment
The Particular Judgment. The End of the World. Resurrection of the Body. The Risen Body. The Last Judgment. The Purpose of the General Judgment. The Circumstances of the General Judgment: The Time, the Place, the Judge, the Judged, the Account, the Sentence. A New Heaven and a New Earth. ......170
INDEX ......177
SECTION I
FAITH AND THE SOURCES OF FAITH
CHAPTER I
Our Knowledge of God
'The fool said in his heart: There is no God."-Ps. 52,1.
1. How We Know God.-Our first duty is to know God. In Heaven we shall know Him face to face, but in this life He is hidden from our direct knowledge. We can, however, know something about Him by carefully noticing the things He has made, and still more by firmly believing what He has told us about Himself. In other words, we know God both by the natural light of reason and by the supernatural light of faith.
2. What Our Reason Tells Us About God.-Our reason tells us that there is one true God, the beginning and end of all things, our Creator and Lord; and that we must worship Him and do His will as it is written by Him in our hearts.
That there is an almighty God must be clear to every thinking person, for the fact is clearly proved by the whole visible world with its wise arrangement as well as by the voice of conscience.
a) No one can reasonably think that the world made itself; nor that the heavenly bodies could begin to move through space by their own power .
b) The wonderful arrangement and perfect order of the world lead us to infer that it was planned and carried out by a Being of supreme intelligence and skill.
c) All men who are in a normal state of mind know that they are bound in conscience to do certain acts and to avoid other acts, and feel that they are responsible for their conduct to a Supreme Judge who is the avenger of evil and the rewarder of good.
d) All the nations and races of men have always had an inner conviction of the existence of a Supreme Being. If there are any barbarous tribes that practice no religion, they can be such only as are degraded by vice below the normal condition of human beings. The Scripture says: ..The fool said in his heart: There is no God" ( Ps. 52,1). Those who deny the existence of God are called Atheists (Greek a-,
2 FAITH AND ITS SOURCES
not, and theos, God) .Such people usually have reasoned themselves, or have been led by others, into a state of doubt in regard to the existence of God. Their state of mind arises either from pride, or from corruption of heart, or from a misguided education, or from all three. "He Who denies the existence of God," says St. Augustine, "has some reason for wishing that God did not exist."
3. God Reveals Himself.-But God wished us to know much more about Himself-and about ourselves too-than our reason alone can tell us. From time to time, in His wisdom and goodness, He drew aside the veil that hides Him from us. He revealed Himself and His eternal decrees to us. He told us things about Himself which we could not otherwise know at all or not with certainty.
Revelation (Latin re-, back, and velum, a veil) means both the manifestation by God of His will and truths to man, and the body of truths thus manifested. It is called supernatural or divine revelation, as opposed to the natural revelation of Himself that God makes through the visible world.
4. We Know God's Revelations by Faith.-God did not reveal Himself directly to all men, or even to very many, but only to a few. These men were told by Him to make His revelations known to their fellow-men. Since God does not speak directly to each one of us, we have to take the word of those to whom He did speak for what He told them. In other words, we take God's revelations on faith. To take something on faith means to believe or hold as true what another tells us.
If we believe what a fellow-man tells us on his own authority I or on the authority of another fellow-man, we have human faith.. If we hold firmly and without doubting what someone tells us on God's authority, we have divine faith, for in that case we really believe God Himself.
5. God's Spokesmen and Their Credentials.-But how do we know when a human being tells us something on God's authority ? We ask him to present his credentials, that is, we ask him to prove to us that he is really a messenger of God, and speaks in God's name; just as we ask anyone who claims to be the ambassador or representative of an earthly potentate to show us his credentials before we believe him.
Miracles and Prophecies are the only infallible credentials which God gives His spokesmen. If God puts His miraculous power at the disposal of a human being or permits him to look into the
secrets of the future, we can say without hesitation or fear of error that such a person has been sent by God.
Miracles are extraordinary works which cannot be done by the powers of nature, but only through the omnipotence of God; for example, to raise a person from the dead.
Prophecy is a clear and definite foretelling of an event that can be known to God alone, because it depends either on the free will of God or on the free will of man. To foretell an eclipse of the sun or of the moon, is not a prophecy; but it is a prophecy to foretell the exact manner of one's own death at the hands of others.
6. Who Were God's Spokesmen?-The things which God wished us to know for our salvation He made known to us by the Patriarchs and Prophets, and above all by His Son Jesus Christ and the Apostles.
Jesus Christ claimed to be not only a messenger of God, but the true Son of God Himself. He proved His claim by the supreme holiness of His life, by numerous miracles and prophecies during His life on earth, and by the crowning miracle of His Resurrection. He guarantees for us the revelations made to the Patriarchs and Prophets, as well as those made by His own Apostles.
7. Revealed Mysteries.-Since, then, God Himself has spoken to us, all that He has told us about Himself and about our own origin and destiny must be absolutely true, for God can neither deceive nor be deceived; if He could, He would not be God. Hence, even when He tells us things which we cannot understand -mysteries-we none the less firmly believe them, because He has revealed them.
Mysteries are revealed truths that are above and beyond our reason though not contrary to it. There are many natural mysteries, such as the growth of trees and plants and the marvelous instinct of birds and animals, which we do not understand; is there any wonder that mysteries should be found among the revealed truths? The Trinity is a mystery, because we cannot understand how one God can subsist in three Persons; but it is in no way contrary to our reason: we do not believe that three gods are one God, nor that three persons are one person, which would be a contradiction.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY AND REVIEW
- What do we know about God by the light of reason ?
- What is the difference between human and divine faith ?
- What does the word "reveal" mean ? Explain its origin.
- Give five examples from the Old Testament illustrating the manner in which God revealed things to men.
- How did Moses prove to the Pharao that he was sent by God ?
- How did Our Lord prove that He is the Son of God ?
- Is the following statement true or false: "A mystery is a revealed truth [that is contrary to our reason" ?
- Copy the following texts: Heb. 1,1-2; Rom. 1,20; Acts 14,16; John 1,18. Use these texts to illustrate various points touched upon in this chapter : for example, Rom. 1,20 shows that we can know God by the light of reason.
- Reading: Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, The Question Box, pp. 41-45, on Miracles.
THE ARAB'S PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
An Arab in the desert was once asked how he knew there is a God. "In the same way," he said, ''as I know by the footprints on the sand that a man or an animal has passed this way."
ST. ANTONY'S BOOK
The thousands of men who visited St. Antony in the desert were astonished at his wisdom and good sense. Asked where he had acquired such solid wisdom, he replied, pointing with one hand to the heavens and with the other to the earth: "There is my book; I have no other: all should study it : in considering the works of God, they will be filled with admiration and love of Him who created all things."
LORD BYRON ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
"How, raising our eyes to heaven, or directing them to the earth, can we doubt of the existence of God? - or how, turning them to what is within us, can we doubt that there is something more noble and durable than the clay of which we are formed?"