The Faith of Our Fathers – Perhaps this is the first time in your life that you have handled a book in which the doctrines of the Catholic Church are expounded by one of her own sons. You have, no doubt, heard and read many things regarding our Church; but has not your information come from teachers justly liable to suspicion? You asked for bread, and they gave you a stone. You asked for fish, and they reached you a serpent.
Instead of the bread of truth, they extended to you the serpent of falsehood. Hence, without intending to be unjust, is not your mind biased against us because you listened to false witnesses? This, at least, is the case with thousands of my countrymen whom I have met in the brief course of my missionary career. The Catholic Church is persistently misrepresented by the most powerful vehicles of information.
Table of Contents
The Faith of Our Fathers – Review
I’ve read many books on Catholic apologetics from today’s authors (i.e. Keating, Hahn, Madrid, Johnson, etc.), and though those authors are excellent in their own regard, I think that this 130 year old classic is the finest for anyone just starting out in Catholic apologetics or just wanting to know what Catholics really believe. It’s straight-forward, easy to read, uninsulting, and accurate. And after 130 years, the truths it teaches about Catholicism have not changed. Sure, there are a few brief mentions of historial issues (European governments) and the Mass in Latin which are dated, but the core Catholic beliefs he describes have not changed–not just from 1876 but from the time of the Apostles.
Cardinal Gibbons honestly and frankly describes what the Church believes and teaches. His language is very thoughtful, heartfelt, logical, and inclusive of scripture and references. Plus, since Cardinal Gibbons based the content on lectures and discourses with mixed Catholic/Protestant congregations in rural, protestant North Carolina and Virginia, his approach is very accommodating and non-offensive.
If you want to know what the Catholic Church REALLY teaches…AND what Catholics REALLY believe, this is the first book you should pick up. I would feel comfortable lending this book to ANYONE who wants to know more about Catholicism or wants to strengthen or defend their Catholic faith.
The Faith of Our Fathers – Contents
Preface To The Eleventh Edition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preface To The Forty-Seventh Edition. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Preface To Eighty-Third Revised Edition. . . . . . . . . . 6
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter I. The Blessed Trinity, The Incarnation, Etc. . . . 14
Chapter II. The Unity Of The Church. . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter III. The Holiness Of The Church. . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter IV. Catholicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter V. Apostolicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter VI. Perpetuity Of The Church. . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter VII. Infallible Authority Of The Church. . . . . . 77
Chapter VIII. The Church And The Bible. . . . . . . . . . 87
Chapter IX. The Primacy Of Peter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Chapter X. The Supremacy Of The Popes. . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter XI. Infallibility Of The Popes. . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Chapter XII. Temporal Power Of The Popes. . . . . . . . . 139
I. How The Popes Acquired Temporal Power. . . . . . 139
II. The Validity And Justice Of Their Title. . . . . . . 143
III. What The Popes Have Done For Rome. . . . . . . 148
Chapter XIII. The Invocation Of Saints. . . . . . . . . . . 153
Chapter XIV. The Blessed Virgin Mary. . . . . . . . . . . 163
I. Is It Lawful To Honor Her? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
II. Is It Lawful To Invoke Her? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
III. Is It Lawful To Imitate Her As A Model? . . . . . 190
Chapter XV. Sacred Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Chapter XVI. Purgatory And Prayers For The Dead. . . . . 206
Chapter XVII. Civil And Religious Liberty. . . . . . . . . 221
Chapter XVIII. Charges of Religious Persecution. . . . . . 240
I. The Spanish Inquisition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
II. What About The Massacre Of St. Bartholomew? . . 249
III. Mary, Queen of England. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Chapter XIX. Grace—The Sacraments—Original
Sin—Baptism—Its Necessity—Its Effects—Manner
Of Baptizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Chapter XX. The Sacrament Of Confirmation. . . . . . . . 268
Chapter XXI. The Holy Eucharist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Chapter XXII. Communion Under One Kind. . . . . . . . 285
Chapter XXIII. The Sacrifice Of The Mass. . . . . . . . . 292
Chapter XXIV. The Use Of Religious Ceremonies Dictated
By Right Reason. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Chapter XXV. Ceremonials Of The Mass. . . . . . . . . . 311
Chapter XXVI. The Sacrament Of Penance. . . . . . . . . 321
I. The Divine Institution Of The Sacrament Of Penance. 321
II. On The Relative Morality Of Catholic And Protestant Countries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Chapter XXVII. Indulgences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Chapter XXVIII. Extreme Unction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Chapter XXIX. The Priesthood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Chapter XXX. Celibacy Of The Clergy. . . . . . . . . . . 377
Chapter XXXI. Matrimony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
The Faith of Our Fathers – Preface
The first edition of “The Faith of Our Fathers” was issued in December, 1876. From that time to the present fifty thousand copies of the work have been disposed of in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Ireland, and in the British Colonies of Oceanica. This gratifying result has surpassed the author’s most sanguine expectations, and is a consoling evidence that the investigation of religious truths is not wholly neglected even in this iron age, so engrossed by material considerations. Besides carefully revising the book, the author has profited by the kind suggestion of some friends, and inserted a chapter on the prerogatives and sanctity of the Blessed Virgin, which, it is hoped, will be not less acceptable to his readers than the other portions of the work. He is also happy to announce that German editions have been published both in this country and in Germany. He takes this occasion to return his hearty thanks to the editors of the Catholic periodicals, as well as of the secular press, for their favorable notices, which have no doubt contributed much to the large circulation of the book. BALTIMORE, Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, 1879.
Introduction
MY DEAR READER:—Perhaps this is the first time in your life that you have handled a book in which the doctrines of the Catholic Church are expounded by one of her own sons. You have, no doubt, heard and read many things regarding our Church; but has not your information come from teachers justly liable to suspicion? You asked for bread, and they gave you a stone. You asked for fish, and they reached you a serpent. Instead of the bread of truth, they extended to you the serpent of falsehood. Hence, without intending to be unjust, is not your mind biased against us because you listened to false witnesses? This, at least, is the case with thousands of my countrymen whom I have met in the brief course of my missionary career. The Catholic Church is persistently misrepresented by the most powerful vehicles of information. She is assailed in romances of the stamp of Maria Monk, and in pictorial papers. It is true that the falsehood of those illustrated periodicals has been fully exposed. The Faith of Our Fathers
But the antidote often comes too late to counteract the poison. I have seen a picture representing Columbus trying to demonstrate the practicability of his design to discover a new Continent before certain monks who are shaking their fists and gnashing their teeth at him. It matters not to the artist that Columbus could probably never have undertaken his voyage and discovery, as the explorer himself avows, were it not for the benevolent zeal of the monks, Antonio de Marchena and Juan Perez, and other ecclesiastics, as well as for the munificence of Queen Isabella and the Spanish Court. The Church is misrepresented in so-called Histories like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It is true that he has been successfully refuted by Lingard and Gairdner. But, how many have read the fictitious
narratives of Foxe, who have never perused a page of Lingard or Gairdner? In a large portion of the press, and in pamphlets, and especially in the pulpit, which should be consecrated to truth and charity, she is the victim of the foulest slanders. Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies put a hideous mask, and in that guise they exhibit her to the insults and mockery of the public; just as Jesus, her Spouse, was treated when, clothed with a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, He was mocked by a thoughtless rabble. The Faith of Our Fathers
They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for “Truth has such a face and such a mien, As to be loved needs only to be seen.” 1 It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the following to take place between a Protestant Minister and a convert to the Catholic Church: MINISTER.—You cannot deny that the Roman Catholic Church teaches gross errors—the worship of images, for instance. CONVERT.—I admit no such charge, for I have been taught no such doctrines. MINISTER.—But the Priest who instructed you did not teach you all. He held back some points which he knew would be objectionable to you. CONVERT.—He withheld nothing; for I am in possession of books treating fully of all Catholic doctrines. MINISTER.—Deluded soul! Don’t you know that in Europe they are taught differently? CONVERT.—That cannot be, for the Church teaches the same
creed all over the world, and most of the doctrinal books which I read, were originally published in Europe Yet ministers who make these slanderous statements are surprised if we feel indignant, and accuse us of being too sensitive. We have been vilified so long, that they think we have no right to complain. We cannot exaggerate the offense of those who thus wilfully malign the Church. There is a commandment which says: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” If it is a sin to bear false testimony against one individual, how can we characterize the crime of those who calumniate three hundred millions of human beings, by attributing to them doctrines and practices which they repudiate and abhor. The Faith of Our Fathers
I do not wonder that the Church is hated by those who learn what she is from her enemies. It is natural for an honest man to loathe an institution whose history he believes to be marked by bloodshed, crime and fraud. Had I been educated as they were, and surrounded by an atmosphere hostile to the Church, perhaps I should be unfortunate enough to be breathing vengeance against her today, instead of consecrating my life to her defence. It is not of their hostility that I complain, but because the judgment they have formed of her is based upon the reckless assertions of her enemies, and not upon those of impartial witnesses. Suppose that I wanted to obtain a correct estimate of the Southern people, would it be fair in me to select, as my only sources of information, certain Northern and Eastern periodicals which, during our Civil War, were bitterly opposed to the race and institutions of the South? Those papers have represented you as men who always appeal to the sword and pistol, instead of the law, to vindicate your private grievances. They heaped accusations against you which I will not here repeat. Instead of taking these publications as the basis of my information, it was my duty to come among you; to live with you; to read your life by studying your public and private character. This I have done, and I here cheerfully bear witness to your many excellent traits of mind and heart.
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