Catholic Apologetics , livre ebook

TAN Books - M.A. Rev. Fr. John Laux

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134 pages

English

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No Catholic should pass beyond the age of 16 without being able to answer clearly, both to himself and to others, the challenges of those who do not believe in the existence of God, of Christ or the teachings of the Catholic Church. In this compact book, Fr John Laux gives both the student and the adult reader dozens of excellent, well reasoned answers to the classic objections against the Catholic Faith. He covers all the fundamental truths of the Faith. Providing both facts and sound logical reasoning for every question he considers. Every Catholic should have a firm grounding regarding the reasonableness of his beliefs, lest he fall victim to the superficial objections of of the world which have been refuted over and over again for years, even for centuries. From this book, the reader will derive the confidence that there are not only answers, but excellent, thought provoking, logical answers to any and all difficulties abut the Faith which may arise. Fr Laux's presentation is thus a powerful tool to help souls hold fast with firm confidence to their Faith which time and again has proved to be the bulwark of sanity in this world, as well as the inestimable Pearl of Great Price for which true believers will sacrifice anything to possess.

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Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

Christianity

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Publié par	TAN Books
Date de parution	01 août 2003
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781618902757
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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“I am the way and the truth and the life.” ( John 14:6).
Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D. Censor Librorum Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes Archbishop of New York August 27, 1928
Copyright © 1934 by Benziger Brothers.
Originally published in 1928 by Benziger Brothers, New York, in an unillustrated edition. Republished in 1934 by Benziger Brothers in an illustrated edition from which the 1990 edition was photographically reproduced by TAN Books, an Imprint of Saint Benedict Press, LLC, complete and unabridged with the addition of a few footnotes. Retypeset in 2008 byTAN Books.
Copyright © 1990 by TAN Books, an Imprint of Saint BenedictPress, LLC.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 90-70439
ISBN: 978-0-89555-394-2
Cover illustration: A symbolic picture of Our Lord handing over the “keys” of His kingdom to St. Peter, thus establishing him as first Pope.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
TAN Books Charlotte, North Carolina

About This Series
Fr. John Laux, M.A., was a high school religion teacher who distilled the fruit of his many years of research and teaching into these fine high school religion books. At first glance, it might appear foolish to reprint books that were first published in 1928. But a reading of Fr. Laux’s books will lay that thought to rest. For he had a rare talent of capsulizing the intricacies of our Catholic Faith and its theology into succinct, precise, learned and yet lively prose that is at once truly interesting and that all can easily understand. He is profoundly intellectual, yet always clear and easy. His writing, while aimed at the high school student, remains challenging and informative to the college student and the adult Catholic as well. But further, Fr. Laux writes in a virtually undated and almost undateable style, a style that is, one might say, classic and timeless, a style that truly befits his subject matter—the timeless teachings of our Ancient Church. For these reasons, the four books in the high school series are all works of rare genius, as also are his Introduction to the Bible and Church History , for they all possess these same qualities that make Fr. Laux such a pleasure to read and such a joy to study from.
A Word to the Teacher
The need of some systematic presentation of the truths of our Holy Religion to boys and girls of our American Catholic High Schools has been felt by Catholic educators for a long time. The manuals now in use have been found to be either too technical or too simple, and the problem has been to prepare a text that would suit the needs of the growing mind, and, while enlisting the interest of the pupils in acquiring a knowledge of religious truths, would at the same time encourage the practice of virtue and cultivate a love for the Church.
The present Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies is an attempt to solve this problem. The general arrangement of the course is based, as far as possible, on the division and order of the larger Baltimore Catechism. The catechetical form of presentation has been abandoned, because, in the opinion of prominent educators, “it is conducive to memory work rather than to reasoning, encourages inefficient teaching, and makes almost no appeal to the interest of the pupil.”
For practical purposes the work has been divided into Four Parts, each of which is bound and paged separately and provided with copious helps for study and review, a table of contents and an index.
The First Part embraces the mystery of the Trinity, the work of Creation, Redemption, Sanctification, and Consummation. It is introduced by a brief treatment of the nature, necessity, sources, and qualities of the Faith. The Second Part treats of the Means of Grace: the Sacraments, the Sacrifice of the Mass, Indulgences and Sacramentals. Part Three is devoted to General and Special Christian Moral; Part Four to Apologetics.
The writer suggests that every pupil be provided with a copy of the New Testament, to be used throughout the course; a Student’s edition of the Missal, to be used in connection with Part Two; and the Imitation of Christ a supplementary material for Part Three. It is presupposed that there is a well-stocked Religious Book Shelf in every High School library.
The concluding words of Father Drinkwater’s preface to his excellent little book of religious instruction Twelve and After are applicable to every textbook in Religion: “Let us remind ourselves that religion is not a book-and-writing matter. Such instruction as this book contains is very useful and in some ways necessary; but there are things even more necessary, such as plenty of singing, corporate prayer, both liturgical and unliturgical and opportunity for personal service, not to speak of the more individual and interior practice of religion. If these more essential things are well managed, then the intellectual instruction will have all the more meaning and fruit. It should become the raw material of Catholic ideals. We can but build up carefully as may be, and then pray for the fire of the Lord to fall in acceptance of the offering.”
A word to the teacher of religion. The purpose of the teaching of religion must be the same in all our schools from the grades to the university—to form religious characters , to train men and women who will be ready to profess their Faith with firm conviction and to practice it in their daily lives in union with the Church.
This obvious purpose of all religious teaching imposes a twofold duty on the teacher of religion in the High School: to give his pupils a fuller and more profound grasp of Christian Doctrine , and to lead them on the intelligent use of the helps that have been given us to lead Christian lives.
It is idle to dispute, as is sometimes done, whether the training of the intellect is more important than the training of the heart and the will; the imparting of religious knowledge, than the formation of religious habits. Both are of supreme importance. The will follows the intellect; but the intellect is also powerfully influenced by the will. Ignorance may sometimes be bliss, but never in religious matters. Well-instructed Catholics may become backsliders, but their number is small in comparison with those who are lost to the Church because their ignorance of Catholic teaching made them easy victims of the purveyors of false science, shallow philosophy and neo-pagan morality. Religion requires that the whole man worship God with all his faculties and acts. The intellect must believe that which is true concerning God— Faith ; and the will must be directed to do those actions which are right and to avoid those which are wrong— Morals .
Catholic Action is today becoming a vital force throughout the world. The layman cannot effectively engage in Catholic Action unless he is well-versed in the teachings of his faith and able at all times to explain and defend it. The type of layman, therefore, that is needed today is the type which Cardinal Newman asked for years ago when he said: “I want laymen, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not dispositions, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not; who know their Creed so well that they can give an account of it; who know so much of history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent, well instructed laity. I wish you to enlarge your knowledge, to cultivate your reason, to get an insight into the relation of truth to truth; to learn to view things as they are; to understand how faith and reason stand to each other; what are the bases and principles of Catholicism. Ignorance is the root of bitterness.”
The great Cardinal’s ideal of the Catholic layman may never be fully attained, but it is certainly worth striving after. It is only through such pious and enlightened laymen and laywomen, working with their bishops and pastors, that Catholic Action can be truly successful. It is the chief duty of our Catholic Educational system to place on the battlefield an army of laymen, equipped to “fight the battles of the Lord.”
T HE A UTHOR
Acknowledgments
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following authors and publishers for permission to include copyrighted material from their publications: America Press, for an article in “Thought” by Joseph Rickaby, S.J.; Dolphin Press, “Ketteler and the Christian Reform Movement” by G. Metlake; “Fortnightly Review”; Harcourt, Brace and Company, “Life of Christ” by Giovanni Papini; Longmans, Green and Co., “The Key to the World’s Progress” by C. S. Devas, “Three Essays on Religion” by John Stuart Mill; The Macmillan Company, “The Catholic Church and the Appeal to Reason” by Leo Word; John Murphy Company, “Faith of Our Fathers” by Cardinal Gibbons; Charles Scribner’s Sons, article in “Scribner’s Magazine” by Edwin Grant Conkin; “The Incarnation of the Son of God” by C. Gore; and Joseph F. Wagner, Inc. “The Freedom of Science” by J. Donat, S.J.
Contents
INTRODUCTION: The Nature and Value of Apologetics
A. Knowledge and the Sources of Knowledge
B. Faith and Its Justification
C. Nature and Division of Apologetics
D. The Value of Apologetics
Section I Reasonableness of Our Belief in God
CHAPTER I. The Existence of God
A. The Arguments for the Existence of God in General
B. The Teleological Argument, or the Reign of Law in the Universe
C. The Cosmological Argument, or God and the Origin of the Universe
D. The Moral Argument, or God in Conscience
E. The Historical Argument, or Man’s Need of God
F. The Nature and Attributes of God
CHAPTER II. Man and His Place in the Universe
A. The Immortality of the Soul
1. The Possibility of Immortality
2. The Fact of Immortality
3. Objections to the Belief in Immortality
B. Man and the Lower Animals
C. Prehistoric Man
D. The Age of Man
Section II Reasonableness of Our Belief in Christ
CHAPTER I. Revelation and the Signs of Revelat