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Reviewed by Carl
E. Olson
Editor, IgnatiusInsight.com
Several years ago, as an Evangelical Protestant investigating the claims
of the Catholic Church, I had the good fortune of coming across a tattered
copy of The Belief of Catholics in a used book store. It didnt
take long, once I began reading, to recognize that the author of this
classic work had much in common with another Catholic apologist, G.K.
Chesterton. Both were former Anglicans who had crossed the Tiber in rather
dramatic fashion, and both were writers of immense talent. In fact, Knox,
who was fourteen years Chestertons junior, was an admirer of the
famed journalist, calling him "my earliest master and model."
Knox was a priest and a superb spiritual director who wrote several books
about the spiritual life for both religious and laity. As I recently reread
The Belief of Catholics, I was even more deeply impressed by Knoxs
insight into human nature and the various blindnesses that afflict mankind.
It is this penetration into the human soul, combined with a dry (and occasionally
cutting) wit and a vibrant style that makes Knox such a compelling read.
These qualities are in abundance within this book, his best-known work
of apologetics, first published in 1927 and now attractively republished
by Ignatius Press.
Recognizing that the Catholic apologist can easily fall into the trap
of being a defensive reactionary, Knox states that his book "is an
attempt to write constructive apologetic, to assert a claim . . ."
One way Knox accomplishes this is by starting with what the observant
Catholic notices about modern man and society, not with what people say
about the Catholic faith. In the opening chapter, "The Modern Distaste
for Religion," a number of problems unique to modernity are observed,
including the influence of modern media, the dumbing down of education,
the mindless use of cliches, and the rise of materialism. "A rush
age," Knox observes, "cannot be a reflective age."
In many ways this book, nearly eighty years old and written in England,
could just as easily have been written about modern-day America and the
problems faced by Catholics in our country: apathy, relativism, feel-goodism,
the shunning of dogma, and sexual amorality. For example, writing about
the latter, Knox observes that "A steady, ceaseless flow of literary
propaganda has shaken the faith of our generation in the indissolubility
of marriage, hitherto conceived as a principle of natural morality."
Having started with a critique of the modern situation, Knox notes the
intriguing fact that many people are both repulsed by what they falsely
believe Catholicism teaches, while being attracted to many elements of
the Catholic faith. Many intelligent people admire (often secretly) something
about Catholicism, but find issues sufficient to keep them outside the
doors. Whether they know it or not, people, "especially the young
people of our time, want authority." And so one of the tasks of the
apologist is to demonstrate that the authority of the Catholic Church
in faith and morals is not arbitrary or dictatorial, but based in truth
and love, established by God for the good of man.
The book logically progresses to belief in God, rooted first in natural
observation and philosophical consideration, and then fully realized in
Catholic teaching, based on divine revelation. Two chapters are then devoted
to the person of Jesus Christ ("Our Lords Claim Stated"
and "Our Lords Claim Justified"), before moving on to
the question of "Where Protestantism Goes Wrong." Here Knox
demonstrates that how one views the Church will either make or break the
basis of their view of Christ, the Bible, and authority since "it
is from that living Church that we take our guidance. Protestantism claims
to take its guidance immediately from the living Christ. But what is the
guidance he gives us, and where are we to find it?" Later he points
out the faulty logic by which Protestants discarded the belief in transubstantiation
but maintained the inspiration of the Bible, even though both are squarely
based on the authority of the Church. "Did they," he wryly inquires,
"suppose that Biblical inspiration was a self-evident fact, like
the axioms of Euclid?"
The final chapters are devoted to the positive vision of the Catholic
faith, showing how Catholic doctrine meets reality and addresses every
aspect of human existence. Man is made for God, and the place to meet
God and have communion with him is within the divine institution founded
by Jesus Christ. "In a word," Knox writes, "we do not think
of our Church as the best religious body to belong to; we believe that
those who do not belong to it, provided that they believe in our Lord
and desire to do his will, may just as well belong to no religious body
at all." Imagine my good fortune in reading this classic work of
apologetics once again.
(This review originally appeared in This Rock magazine, published
by Catholic Answers.)
Other books by Ronald Knox published by Ignatius
Press:
- Captive
Flames: In his vivid style, Ronald Knox tells the stories
of a variety of these Christian stalwarts including St. Cecilia, St. George,
St. Dominic, St. Albert the Great, St. Thomas More, St. Ignatius of Loyola,
St. Philip Neri, St. Anselm, St. Joan of Arc, and many more.
- The
Hidden Stream: The Mysteries of the Christian Faith: This
book is a collection of stimulating, informal discussions in which Msgr.
Knox re-examines some of the fundamental precepts of the Catholic faith
as well as the formidable challenges facing Catholics today.
- Pastoral
and Occasional Sermons: This volume is a collection of Knox's
homilies on all the important themes of the spiritual and moral life,
and on his favorite saints, men and women of history who were "inflamed
with the love of Christ".
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