The Catholic's Ready Answer: A Popular Vindication Of Christian Beliefs And Practices Against The Attacks Of Modern CriticismCONTENTS AGNOSTICISM An Agnostic Query - "Why trouble ourselves about matters such as God's existence, of which, however important they may be, we do know nothing?" (Huxley) 7 ANGLICANS See "Religion, A Change of," and "The Church of Christ - How to Find It." APES AND MEN The Ape Theory - Man bears so striking a resemblance to the ape that we are forced to conclude that he is descended from the ape 13 BIBLE HEROES Objection - The heroes of the Old Testament are represented as being special favorites of the Almighty. On the other hand, they seem to have had many vices. What, then, are we to think of the Bible as a teacher of morality or as a divinely inspired book? 16 BIBLE INTERPRETATIONS Protestant Position - The Bible teaches all necessary truth to all who approach the study of it in the right spirit. In the Scriptures God speaks to the human soul, and no interpreter of His word is needed but the soul itself, enlightened by the Holy Spirit 18 BIBLE, THE, AND MODERN THOUGHT Objection - The Bible is for many reasons deserving of veneration, but it is quite out of harmony with Modern thought. The science, the aspirations, and the general point of view of the Modern world are at tLe opposite pole from the contents of the Bible 22 BIBLE "MYTHS" Objection - The Bible contains many stories that remind us forcibly of the myths of early pagan history. How can we be expected to believe the story of the Serpent tempting Eve - that of the Flood, with its fabulous quantity of water - that of Noe collecting the countless species of animals? - And then, is not God frequently represented in a strangely human way - when, for instance, He is described as taking slime and forming it into a human body, or as shaping Adam's rib into a woman - or when He is said to be moved to wrath, or to repent of His creation of man? 29 BIBLE, THE, AND THE PEOPLE An Accusation - It is notoriously the settled policy of Rome to withhold the Bible from the people: witness the number of decrees on the subject in the history of the Papacy. Versions of the Bible in the language of the people have been on object of the Church's special aversion 37 BIBLE, THE, AND SCIENCE Objections - According to the Bible the world was made in six days, whereas geology proves that enormous periods of time were required to bring the earth to its present condition. The earth, which astronomy has shown to be only a satellite of the sun, is represented by the Bible as having been created before the sun ; and the heavenly bodies, generally, are described as though they were lamps hung in the heavens to light the earth 44 BIBLE, THE, AND TRADITION Protestant View - The Bible alone is the Christian's rule of faith 48BLESSED VIRGIN, THE Objections - To a non-Catholic, devotion to the Virgin Mary seems to be griven a very undue prominence in Catholic worship: witness the feasts of Mary and the frequent devotions to Mary. Besides, there is little or nothing to distinguish this homage from a real worship of one of God's creatures 54 BOYCOTTS See "Labor Unions" CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT COUNTRIES The Charge - The leading countries of the world to-day are Protestant. Great Britain, Germany, and the United States are the foremost nations in point of political power, commerce and industry, and general enlightenment; whilst Catholic countries, such as Spain, Italy, and Ireland are very unprogressive, and France is apparently on the decline 58 CELIBACY A Prejudice - "Take from the Catholic Church the compulsory celibacy of its priests, and the universal sway of the Church is at an end." Celibacy is unbiblical and its effect on morality is dubious. - Tschackert 68 CEREMONIES IN PUBLIC WORSHIP Erroneous View - The public worship of the Catholic Church captivates the senses, but it savors little of adoration in spirit and in truth. - Tschackert 65 CHANCE A Thoughtless Assertion - The world owes its existence to chance. 67 "CHRISTIAN SCIENCE" The New Religion - "Christian Science is based on teachings of Scripture which it interprets, giving the Christ principle in divine metaphysics which heals the sick and sinner. It explains the cause and effect as mental, and shows the scientific relation of man to God." - Mrs. Eddy's "Science and Health" 68 CHRIST'S DIVINITY A Modern Pronouncement - One of the results of Modern criticism is that Jesus of Nazareth no longer stands upon the lofty eminence on which His adorers had placed Him. He now takes rank only with those great men who approach nearest to the divine. In the light of Modern criticism His miracles are shorn of their supernatural character. Neither His words nor His works prove Him to have been more than man 74 CHURCH OF CHRIST, THE - HOW TO FIND IT Objection - If the true Church of Christ is still in existence the claimants to that title are so numerous that the problem of finding the Church is beyond the powers of any but extraordinary minds. The average man might be excused if he gave up the search 97 CHURCH, THE, AS MEDIATOR Objection - The Church thrusts herself between Christ and mankind; and yet Christ is our one Mediator with God. None the less the Church has lost the world-subduing power she once possessed 119 CHURCH, THE, AND SALVATION Objection - Catholics are taught that outside the Church of Rome there is no salvation. It is a poor recommendation of the Roman religion that it sends the majority of men to eternal perdition 122 COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND Objection - "The cuppe of the Lord is not to be denied to the laye people. For both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by Christe's ordinaunce and commaundement, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike." - Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, Art. 20. 125 CONFESSION DIVINELY INSTITUTED Objection - It is not in the power of the creature to forgive offenses committed against the Creator; hence confession, in which the priest presumes to pardon sins, can not be of divine institution 129 CONFESSION AND THE PEOPLE Some Common Accusations - Confession - at least private confession - is an invention of the priests. It is the secret force by which the Roman Church enslaves the consciences of the people. One of the worst features of auricular confession is the practice of questioning penitents about their sins 136 CREATION See "God's Existence" CREEDS AND DEEDS Erroneous View - Right conduct does not seem to depend much upon formulas of belief. There are good and bad men in all religions. The great thing, after all, is to do what is right 141 CREMATION Objection - What is to prevent a Christian - Catholic or non-Catholic - from directing that his body be burned after his death? There is nothing intrinsically wrong in cremation and it may be made an important factor in public sanitation 144 DARWIN A Misapprehension - Darwin was "the incorporated ideal of a man of science." - Huxley as quoted by President Schurman. Darwin was not a Christian, and the weight of his authority must help considerably to tip the balance in favor of unbelief 146 DEVELOPMENT OF DOCTRINE Objection - The Catholic Church is continually introducing new dogmas. Such innovations are not within the competence of the Church, which received the deposit of the Faith to be transmitted unchanged to the end of time. Papal infallibility became an article of faith only thirty or forty years ago. Did the Vatican Council receive a new revelation on the subject? 150 DIVORCE Objection - The Catholic Church forbids divorce in all cases. This law is more severe than that taught by Christ Himself ; for He tells the Pharisees (Matt. xix. 9) that at least on account of in£delity to the marriage bond a husband may leave his wife and marry another. 153 DOGMAS Objection - The binding force of dogmas is an unendurable slavery for the human mind and an obstacle to scientific research. "Let us not forget that the manufacture of dogmas at the Vatican has not yet come to an end." - Tschackert. 162 EDUCATION. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN IDEAL Objections - Let the priests attend to religion - the schoolmaster has nothing to do with it. The teaching of religion is the work of the church and the Sunday-school. The school hours are short enough for the acquiring of the secular knowledge needed to fit the pupils to fill their respective places in life 164 EQUALITY AMONGST MEN Objection - All men are the same at their birth. Why, then, are they divided later into classes? Before God Itoy are equal. God is no respecter of persons 173 EUCHARIST, THE. I. THE REAL PRESENCE Objection - The Roman Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist can not be deduced from the words of institution, "This is My body, etc.," for these words may be understood figuratively or spiritually 175 EUCHARIST, THE. II. THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE RATIONAL Objections - The Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist is repugnant to reason; for it is irrational to suppose that a body can be in two or more places at once, or that the body of the Lord can be contained within the compass of a host, or that the accidents of bread and wine, e.g., color, figure, taste, can remain without the substance of bread and wine 185 EUCHARIST, THE. III. TRANSUBSTANTIATION Anglican Position - "Transubstantiation can not be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions." - Thirty-nine Articles of the English Church, Art. 28. 188 EUCHARIST, THE. IV. ITS CONGRUITIES Objection - The Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist is repugnant to all sense of fitness. We instinctively reject the notion that Christ's real body is given to us as food. 195 EUGENICS An Accusation - Every human being should love his kind, and a love of his kind should awaken in his breast an interest in the future of his race. The improvement of the race is the object of eugenics, and a want of sympathy with the present eugenic movement betrays either selfishness or an unenlightened conservatism. 199 EVOLUTION An Evolutionary Boast - "In the theory of natural selection we have the key to 'the question of all questions,' to the great enigma of the place of man in nature and of his natural development." "The possibility of giving a mechanical explanation of organic nature was not seen until Darwin provided a solid foundation for the theory of a descent." - Haeckel. 207 FAITH A Misconception - Faith is a groping in the dark. It is unreasonable to admit anything without evidence. "To make an act of faith in the experiences of another is a thoughtless act, which afterward comes home to one in the shape of pestering doubts." - Harnack, "Dogmengeachichte," I, p. 74 f 216 FREE LOVE A Socialist's Plea - The only true marriage is marriage founded in love. When love ceases it is immoral for the partly to remain united. Marriage is a private compact, in which no one but the married couple should have any say 218 FREEMASONRY Objection - Why is the Church opposed to freemasonry without any distinction? Whatever may be the aims of masonry on the continent of Europe there is nothing hostile to the Catholic Church or to religion generally in Anglo-American masonry, whose object is mutual aid among the members of the fraternity and the promotion of the spirit of brotherhood throughout the world 221 FREE THOUGHT A Freethinking Reverie - A freethinker is the only one who knows what freedom means. He has burst the fetters of religious servitude, the most galling of all fetters, esp ally such as the Roman Church binds upon her subjects. 228 GALILEO See "Scientific Freedom" GOD'S EXISTENCE An Atheistic Gibe - Theism (a belief in a personal God) would have us divide the world into earth and sky. Men run about the earth and God is seated in the skies, whence He rules the earth. But astronomy steps in and removes the sky, and with it the God who dwells in it. Astronomy has pushed the limits of the universe so far as to leave no room for a God. - Schopenhauer. 230 GOOD WORKS Objection - Good works are not necessary for salvation, for St. Paul says: "We account a man to be justified by faith alone, without the works of the Law." (Rom. iii. 28) 240 GRACE Objection - Catholics are forever speaking of the necessity of grace. "Without grace I can do nothing," is the common formula; and yet I can do many a good deed without feeling the need of God's help. 240 HAECKEL On the Tripod - The development of the individual life from the embryo form is but a representation in little of the development of the entire species from a primitive form. This is that "irrefragable law which is the heaviest piece of artillery made to do battle for the truth. Under its repeated assaults the magnificent fabric of the Roman hierarchy will tumble like a house of cards." - Haeckel 242 HELL Objection - God is good and merciful; but a good and merciful God would not condemn a soul to eternal torments; therefore the eternity of hell is a contradiction of our belief in His goodness and mercy 246 HUMAN RACE, THE. HOW OLD IS IT! A Modern Objection - In the mud of the Mississippi skeletons have been found that must have been there at least 60,000 years. Hence the Bible's reckoning of four thousand years from Adam to Christ is discredited by physical science. 249 INDIFFERENTISM The Plea of the Indifferentist - Religious creeds are a matter of personal preference, and a search for the right creed, if there is any such thing, can not be expected of the average man. On the other hand, we all have a grasp of certain principles of morality which are the mainstay of society. With these society may well rest content 262 INDULGENCES Erroneous Views - 1. Indulgences are an easy means of obtaining pardon for sin - even future sin - without repentance. They have been applied to the releasing of souls from purgatory, and for that purpose they might be bought for money. - 2. "In theory [indulgences] always presupposed repentance ; but as the business was managed in Germany [before the Reformation] it amounted in the popular apprehension to a sale of absolution from guilt, or to the ransom of deceased friends from purgatory for money." - Fisher, "Outlines of Universal History," p. 397. 260 INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE, THE See "Pope, The - His Prerogative of Infallibility" JESUS OF NAZARETH. HIS EXISTENCE A Bold Assertion - It is not historically certain that Christ ever existed ; and yet the whole of Christianity is based on the life of Christ 266 JUSTIFICATION Lutheran View - "The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the new experience of salvation [Heilserfahrung] first enjoyed by Luther and then transmitted to the Church." - Leimbach's "Hilfbuch" 268 LABOR UNIONS A False Principle - Strikes, boycotts, and other such expedients employed by labor unions, are the only weapons they can widd in their defense. Why may they not be used in the most effective way possible? In time of war one can not be overnice in his choice of means to attain his end 271 LATIN IN THE LITURGY Objection - Why use Latin in the liturgy? Why may not English-speaking nations use their own language, as the Greeks and Syrians use theirs? Latin is a strange tongue to the vast majority of worshipers 278 LOURDES See "Miracles" MARRIAGE A SACRAMENT Ultra-Protestant View - "Marriage is an outward, material thing, like any other secular business. Marriage, with all at appertains to it, is a temporal thing and does not concern the Church at all, except in so far as it affects the conscience." - Luther 280 MARRIAGE INDISSOLUBLE See "Divorce," "Free Love," and "Marriage a Sacrament" MASS, THE Protestant View - "The popish sacrifice of the Mass as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect." - Westminster Confession of Faith (Calvinistic) 284 MATERIALISM A Comfortable Error - The only practical philosophy of life is materialism. Teaching as it does that all things are matter - that there is no soul, no immortality, no virtue, no vice, no heaven, no hell - it gives a man his first feeling of being released from bondage. Materialism is, then, the real redemption of man 294 MESSIAS, THE A New Error - The Messias can not be a definite person, or a real person of any description. The promised Messias is nothing else than the blessing that rests upon the Jewish race. Hence the Messias has already come 296 MIND AND MATTER Erroneous View - Mind is only a phosphorescence of the brain. Hence mind - to call it by that name - is but a state or condition of matter. Spiritual mind or soul vanishes under the light of analysis and experiment 299 MIRACLES Objections - 1. The universal experiment of mankind, as Hume reminds us, is a proof of the impossibility of miracles. 2. Reported miracles can not be proved to be real ones. 3. If miracles are possible, science has no meaning, as science has established the constancy and uniformity of natural laws, and miracles are violations of natural laws 304 MISSIONS See "Church of Christ, The, How to Find It," and "Church, The, as Mediator" MIXED MARRIAGES Objection - The evils of mixed marriage are exaggerated, especially in a country like ours, in which there is a growing liberality of sentiment in matters religious. In a country in which "live and let live" is the prevailing principle. Catholic husbands and wives have little to fear from the religious hostility of their partners in wedlock 322 MONKS Objection - Monks and monasteries may have had a reason for existing in the Middle Ages, but in our day they have outlived their usefulness. The present age wants labor - social labor - and no praying or idleness. (Socialistic) 327 MORALITY AND ADENOIDS A Modern Error - Moral habit and action are traceable to the pathological condition of the body and the emotional state of the mind. Free will and divine grace have nothing to do with morality. Here is a schoolboy who but yesterday was dull and peevish and showed vicious propensities. He is sent to a physician, who discovers it is all a matter of adenoids! These once removed, he is a model of all that a schoolboy ought to be. Evidently, he has needed the divine less thfm the physician. 328 MORALITY WITHOUT RELIGION An Illusion - As men will never agree on the subject of religion the one remaining bond of society is morality without religion. Most men are agreed as to the essentials of morality. In this common sentiment, therefore, must we se the basis of the social life of the future. 330 MYSTERIES Objection - A mystery is either in accordance with or against reason. If the first is true there is no mystery at all. If the second is true mysteries must be rejected. 332ORIGINAL SIN Protestant View - "Human nature in consequence of Adam's sin, is utterly depraved." "As the Roman Church does not consider concupiscence sin, that is only another proof that she has an erroneous conception of sin" 333 PANTHEISM A Pantheistic Plea - Pantheism, which teaches that God and the universe are one, has been held by so many eminent thinkers that it can not be so utterly foolish as it is sometimes considered ; and the tendency toward pantheism is rapidly increasing. 336 PAUPERISM(Anti-Socialistic) See "Socialism II - Its Philosophy of History" POPE, THE. I. SUCCESSOR OF ST. PETER IN THE ROMAN SEE Erroneous View - "On the subject of St. Peter's residence in Rome we possess no trustworthy information." - Schaefer's "Manual of Instruction," etc. - "It is only a guess . . . that St. Peter was ever at Rome at all; it is only a guess that he was ever Bishop of Rome." - Dr. Littledale 340 POPE, THE. II. CHRIST'S VICAR Erroneous View - The Primacy of the Bishop of Rome is not founded on Scripture and is simply the result of a struggle for supremacy in which the Roman pontiff won 343 POPE, THE. III. HIS PREROGATIVE OF INFALLIBILITY (To be read after the preceding article on the Pope as Vicar of Christ) Objection - To err is human. All men are subject to error, and the Pope is no exception. Is not the dogma of Papal infallibility a deification of the Pope? 359 PRAGMATISM An Old System Revamped - Truth is neither absolute nor eternal. The truth of a proposition is to be tested by the effects it produces on the mind that considers or accepts it - and, in general, by its influence on life. If it brings about a readjustment of one's ideas, or changes a mental attitude, or awakens a new motive of conduct, it has just that amount of truth. The truth of an idea is to be tested by how it works 370 PRAYER AND NATURE'S LAWS Objections - 1. "The hearing of prayers for temporal blessings would be an interference with natural laws, which science demonstrates is impossible. 2. The hearing of such prayers would involve a miracle; but it is preposterous to suppose that God works a miracle every time He grants a temporal favor." - Professor Tyndall. 374 PRIMACY OF THE POPE See "Pope, The. II. Christ's Vicar" PROPERTY Erroneous View - "Private ownership is robbery." - Proudhon 377 PROTESTANTISM See "Reformation, The" PURGATORY Protestant View - The doctrine of purgatory is not Scriptural, nor does reason find sufficient ground for accepting it 380 RATIONALISM Objection - I follow the light of my reason. I can not be forced to admit what I can not understand. Why was my reason given me? 387 REFORMATION, THE Protestant Position - The Reformation was "the restoration of the Church to the primitive truth and power of the Gospel of the Redemption." It has been a source of manifold blessings. To call it a revolution or rebellion is to slander it 388 RELICS See "Saints" and "Superstition" RELIGION, A CHANGE OF Objections - "To change one's religion, or even one's communion, is a very serious and solemn, nay a very awful, step to take, whatever that religion may be." - R. F. Littledale. And why should I become a Roman Catholic? Is it possible that all these hard things I have heard said against the Roman Catholics have no foundation? And why should I leave a religion that has afforded me so much help and consolation? And then, too. Providence has placed me under the guidance of spiritual directors who bid me quiet my fears and remain where I am; what warrant should I have for rejecting their counsel? 393 RELIGION. IS IT A PRIVATE AFFAIR? See "Socialism IV - Its Bearings on Religion" RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, THE Objections - 1. The disciples of Christ, in thinking He had risen from the dead, were laboring under an hallucination. Their minds were so filled with the thought of the Master that faith and imagination combined to create an image of His living humanity, which they took for the reality, - Pffeiderer, Strauss, et al. 2. The story of the Resurrection can not be accepted as authentic because the number and order of succession of the Lord's apparitions to His disciples can not be ascertained with certainty, - Harnack 398 RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, THE Objection - It is chemically impossible that men's bodies should rise from their graves; for the same chemical elements have passed in succession into different human bodies. How can they be assigned to individual bodies at the Resurrection? A human corpse decays; in the course of time it becomes a fertilizer for grass; the grass is eaten by a cow; the cow finally becomes food for men 403 REVELATION Objections - How can God, who is a Spirit and infinite, speak to men or make any revelation to them? Even if He could make a revelation, it would be unnecessary; men by the aid of their understandings can arrive at a knowledge of God and of natural religion and by the exercise of their wills lead a religious life 405 ROMAN SEE, THE See "Pope, The," I, II, III SAINTS Objections - The Catholic veneration of saints detracts much from the purity of divine worship, which should be concerned with God alone. The intercession of saints is a doctrine opposed to Scripture, for Christ alone is our advocate and mediator; and Scripture nowhere tells us that the dead can hear our prayers 406 SCIENCE AND FAITH A Grievous Error - In a truly scientific mind science and faith can not exist without coming into collision, for no one who knows and realizes the results of scientific research can remain a believer 413 SCIENTIFIC FREEDOM A Mistaken View - The authority claimed by the Catholic Church is an obstacle to Modern scientific progress, its attitude toward physical science operating as a clog upon individual research 420 SECRET SOCIETIES Objection - Why is the Church opposed to secret societies? If individuals may lawfully have secrets, why may societies not have them? 426 SELF-DENIAL Objection - Self-denial can not be a virtue. It is a repressing of the sensuous inclinations ; and yet these inclinations have been implanted in our souls by God Himself. 428 SOCIALISM. I. ITS ECONOMIC FALLACIES A Socialistic Argument - The workingman is the sole producer of wealth; therefore he should be the sole owner of it. And yet the capitalist appropriates nearly the whole product of the workingman's labor. The only remedy for this abuse is the socialistic commonwealth each member of which will be insured the possession of what he produces 430 SOCIALISM. II. ITS PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY Socialistic Delusions - "Two great discoveries, the materialistic conception of history and the revealing of the secret of capitalistic production by means of surplus value, we owe to Marx. Through them socialism has become a science." - Frederick Engels 439 SOCIALISM, III. ITS IMPRACTICABILITY A Dream - Socialism will turn a complex problem into a very simple one. Instead of attempting to secure justice for all classes it will abolish all distinction of classes. All must be workers. The one class, the people, will own its own industries, work for itself, and pay itself according to the work done SOCIALISM. IV. ITS BEARINGS ON RELIGION A Snare - Religion is a private affair. The social democracy is concerned "solely with the purely secular questions connected with the struggle for economic, social, and political emancipation. Social democracy never asks its followers what religious opinions they hold; and in general its position toward religion is that of a neutral" (Von Vollmar, in the Reichstag, Dec. 5, 1900.) 447 SOUL Objection - Observation and experiment have failed to discover the existence of a soul in man. The so-called spiritual acts that are supposed to prove the existence of a spiritual soul have b n discovered to be modifications of the cell-tissue of the brain 452 SPIRITISM It is contended in favor of spiritism that the phenomena which it presents are a plain matter of observation and evidence and are attested by numerous and trustworthy witnesses. They are to be accepted as any other facts are accepted for which we have the evidence of our senses; but if they are accepted they will revolutionize religious thought 456 SPONTANEOUS GENERATION An Argument - There was a time when no living thing, phmt or animal, existed on the earth. Therefore, when living things appeared they must have been evolved out of non-living matter ; the organic must have grown out of the inorganic 462 STRIKES See "Labor Unions" SUPERSTITION A Groundless Accusation - The Catholic Church permits, and even fosters, every manner of superstition. The Mass, the worship of images and relics, the use of scapulars, beads, Agnus Deis - to all of which a special supernatural virtue is attributed - furnish abundant proof of the accusation 466 THEOSOPHY Its Pretensions - Theosophy is the only system of thought that furnishes a key to the mysteries of human life and explains the presence of evil in the world. The number and the respectability of its adherents and the wondrous power displayed by some of them are no small argument in favor of the intrinsic value of the system. 469 TOLERANCE An Accusation - Tolerance is the first duty of the citizen as regards religious matters; but "The Roman Catholic Church, if it would be consistent, must be intolerant" - Tschackert 475 TRADITION AS A RULE OF FAITH Objection - Tradition can not be a source of true knowledge. There is nothing as unreliable as an old story that has passed from mouth to mouth and is subject to change at every telling. Even written documents are not safe from alteration. Every new copy made is likely to contain fresh errors 476 TRANSUBSTANTIATION See "Eucharist, The. III. Transubstantiation" TRINITY, THE Objection - The mystery of the Trinity is at odds with the multiplication table: one, surely, can not be three 478 VALUE, SOCIALIST THEORY OF See "Socialism I. Its Economic Fallacies" VIRGINITY The Plea of the Flesh - The leading of a pure life in a state of virginity is impossible for natures like ours 480 VIRGIN MARY, THE See "Blessed Virgin, The" and "Saints"  An adaptation of Modernes A B C, by F. X. Brors xxiii, 7-490 p. 21 cm