Abridged course of religious instruction, Apologetic, Dogmatic, and Moral: for the use of catholic colleges and schools

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ABRIDGED COURSE

Preface

It cannot be too often repeated that religious instruction is the vital part of education. However noble and precious human science may be, it can only succeed in forming, as it were, a body without life. The knowledge of religion is the vivifying soul. All the profane sciences combined could not prevent youth from straying in this world: the science of faith, which is the true light of human life, can alone guide their steps in the ways of honour and happiness.

This religious science must be solid ; it must strike its roots deeply in young hearts, so that it may be able to grow and strengthen as life advances, and resist all the storms that may assail it.

In religious instruction there are two periods or degrees, which may be designated the period of memory and the period of intelligence. The first corresponds to primary teaching, the second to more advanced and higher teaching.

In the primary schools* the text of the diocesan

* Under this denomination must be understood, in a wide sense, all those classes composed of children not yet capable of understanding a develoned course of religious instruction.

PREFACE. v co catechism, which contains elements as precious as they are necessary, should be adhered to. These elements must be impressed on the memory of the children, and the meaning of them made clear by such explanations as they can readily understand. If, after having received this primary education, the children finally leave the schools, they will still take with them the elementary knowledge of Christian doctrine which may afterwards become sufficiently developed in them by hearing the Word of God and reading good books. If, on the other hand, they continue the course of their studies, they will possess the fundamental principles which will serve as a foundation for more complete knowledge. For those more favoured amongst the young who are brought up in the schools of more advanced and higher instruction, the text of the catechism does not suffice: to it must be added the demonstration of faith and a fuller explanation of its dogmas.

The demonstration of faith will acquaint the young with the philosophical and historical foundations of our belief, which will put them in possession of solid principles, against which all attacks and sophisms will be vain.

The full explanation of the dogmas of faith will give to the young a better knowledge of their true meaning, and will enable them to view them in their admirable harmony. A multitude of objections and prejudices, arising from ignorance of our mysteries, or a false idea of our dogmas, will thus be removed. This erlightened knowledge will, moreover, cause the Christian religion to be beloved and Jesus Christ and His Church to be cherished. The truths of faith are so beautiful vi - PREFACE, in their nature that they cannot fail to delight the mind _ when they are seen in their true significance.

To put both this demonstration of faith and a full explanation of its dogmas within the reach of the young is what we have endeavoured to realise in this Course of Religion.

The work is composed of three parts, entitled ‘Apologetic,’ ‘ Dogmatic,’ and ‘ Moral.’

The first comprises the rational principles of religion, the demonstration of the Christian faith and the true Church of Jesus Christ, as well as the refutation of the principal modern errors.

The second part unfolds the whole series of the dogmas of faith, from the mysteries of God and the ereation to the universal judgment, the final term of God’s work in this world.

The third part presents an exposition of the Chris: tian virtues and obligations. It treats of laws in general, of the Decalogue and the commandments of the Church, of sins and good works, of the Sacraments and of prayer, of the feasts and of religious ceremonies.

In order to combine clearness and solidity, we adopt a regular and simple method, which appears to us calculated, especially if aided by short explanation viva voce, to render the logic of the proofs, the true sense of the dogmas, as well as the harmony and the charming beauty of all the virtues of faith, easy to grasp, learn, and comprehend.

Contents

Part Sirst.

APOL OGETIC,

PRELIMINARY ARTICLES:

Part Third

MORAL, J, Laws : e r) e e e 273 Art. I. Nature of Laws ; ‘ ‘ . . 278 II, Distinction of Laws ‘ ‘ . 275 Appendix : Conscience ‘ . » 279

CONTENTS, xi

PAGE it The Decalogue . ‘ ‘ . 280 General Meaning of the Decalogue ‘ . 280 First Commandment : ‘I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me’ , ‘ : 3 , ; . 283 I. Obligation ° ° . 283 1. Qualities of Worship . . 286 2. Actsof Worship. ‘ . . 286

3. Worship of the Saints. , . 288

11. Sins against the First Commandment . 289 Second Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain’ ‘ , . ° ; . 291 Third Commandment : ‘ Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath-day’ . . 293 Fourth Commandment: ‘ Hunour thy father and thy mother’. ‘ ’ . . 298 1, The Duties of Children . oe » 299 11. The Duties of Parents, . 302 111. The reciprocal Obligations of other Superiors and Inferiors . . 306

Fifth Commandment: ‘ Thou shalt not kill’ . 311 I, Homicide, or Murder ‘ ; . .. Bil ur. Scandal . ; ° . 813

Sixth and Ninth Commandments : ‘Thou shalt

not commit adultery. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife’ . ‘ . 81d

Seventh and Tenth Commandments: ‘Thou

shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet

thy neighbour’s goods’ . . 817 Eighth Commandment : ‘ Thou shalt not bear

false witness against thy neighbour’ . 319

III. Commandments of the Church ; ‘ . 323 First Commandment of the Church : To keep certain appointed days holy, with the obligation of resting from servile

1. Meaning of Holidays or Feast- days. . 324

11, General View of the Liturgical Year - 826 Second Commandment of the Church : To hear Mass on all Sundays and holidays of ob-

- ligation . . 830

Third Commandment of the Church : To keep

the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the chore » ele 88 xil CONTENTS.

PAG) Fourth Commandment of the Church: Tocon-

fess our sins to our pastors at least once

ayear . . 335 Fifth Commandment of the Church : “To receive

the Blessed Sacrament at least once a

UHAP. year, and that at Easter or thereabouts . 337 IV. Sin . ; é ; F ; ‘ ; ; . 339 Art. I. The Nature of Sin . ‘ , ‘ . 339

II. Distinction of Sins , . ; . 341

V. Virtues and Good Works . ‘ ; ‘ ‘ . 350 Art. I, The Theological Virtues : ° . 350

3. Charity . . 353 II. Moral Virtues, 3if ta, and Fruits of the Holy Ghost é ‘ . 359 III. Good Works . i 363 VI. Christian Perfection: Evangelical Counsels, States of Life, Vocation ‘ ; ‘ ° . 365 VII. The Sacraments : ; ‘ 366

Art. I. Confession . : ° ‘ .

II, Holy Communion . ‘ . ° . 373 IIT. Holy Orders . . o* . e IV. Matrimony . ; ‘ ; ‘ ‘ VIII. Prayer. . 381 IX. Feasts, Ceremonies, and Religious Practices of the Church , 7 ° ‘ e : ° . 889

ABRIDGED COURSE oF

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

ce ead

Introduction

\ 1. Tax course of religious instruction is that part of teaching which has for its object religious science. It is of greater importance than any other study, because religion extends its influence not only over the present, but also over the future, life of man. It is the only science which contains a pledge of happiness in this world and in the world to come.

When religious teaching is confined to the first elements of Christian doctrine, and only goes so far as to impress an exact knowledge of them on the memory of children, it is called Catechism, the primary or first course of religious instruction. When it rises to the science, properly so called, or the expounded knowledge of religious truths, it is styled higher course of religious instruction. |

2. This course, in its full extent, comprises three parts: the apologetic, the dogmatic, and the moral. The apologetic shows which is the true religion ; the dogmatic teaches what the true religion proposes to our belief; the moral, what the true religion commands us to practise, |

B

Bart first.

8. Tux apologetic part defends the true religion against all adversaries, be they unbelievers or heretics.

4, It comprises two distinct arguments : namely, the truth of the Christian religion as opposed to unbelief, and the truth of the Catholic religion as opposed to the heresies of the various sects. Two preliminary articles will lead to these arguments,

I. Preliminary articles.

II. Chapter i. Truth of the Christian religzon.

IIL. Chapter ii. Truth of the Catholic religion.

PRELIMINARY ARTICLES, First Article: On the End of a Religious Argument.

5, The argument touching the true religion has for its end, (1) to confirm in the truth those who already possess it, and to arm them against error; (2) to confound the ungodly, and to defend the faith against their attacks; (3) to lead to the truth those who are ignorant of it, but seek it in good faith.

6. In order to understand how useful and necessary it is that the true religion should be shown forth, it will suffice to consider, in a general way, the state of the world as regards religious truth. There is in the world a fact which is apparent to all. It is the existence of the Catholic Church, proclaiming herself to be the pillar of truth, the organ of God, the ark of salvation, the portal which opens to eternal life. For more than eighteen centuries, speaking in the name of God, the Creator of heaven and earth, she says: I alone possess the only true religion. Whoever believes and professes my doctrine shall enter into eternal life; whoever rejects it shall bo rejected of God, and hurled into everlasting damnation.

If this solemn affirmation be true, there can be no choice. The teaching of the Church must be received with docility, so as to escape hell and to inherit eternal beatitude. This question, therefore, is plainly of supreme importance. It is not only useful, but it is necessary, to know whether the word of the Church be the expression of the truth. Some persons know it, some are ignorant of it. We, who have received the faith and have been baptised, have the happiness to know it and to believe in it; we are in possession of the truth.

7. But there are some who have not been equally enlightened, and who are not convinced of the truth of Catholicity; they are ignorant of the holy proclamation of the Church, or else they doubt it or deny it, saying, ‘ The doctrine of the Church is not true.’ To all such it is necessary to present the demonstration of the truth.

8. Let us remark, first of all, that the denial of the Catholic faith by unbelievers is not the expression of a certainty, but of a simple doubt, or of a blind persuasion founded on prejudice and corrupt desires.

They deny the doctrine of the Church because it is distasteful to them, or because, in order to indulge their passions, they wish it to be false. They moreover seek by vain reasoning to persuade themselves that it zs false ; and by the influence that the will can exert over the intelligence, they arrive at a state of doubt, or rather at a sort of persuasion by which they succeed in deceiving themselves. They can go no further with regard to that which is so certain as the Catholic revelation; the mind of the man who rejects it may arrive at doubt, but not at any evidence and certainty of the opposite. He, for example, who would deny the reign and conquests of Alexander might adduce endless reasonings and sophisms, but could never affirm with certainty that Alexander and his conquests are a myth.

9. Instead, therefore, of denying the great affirmation of the Church, unbelievers should be content with demanding proofs, and should apply themselves to a serious examination of this question, Js the doctrine of the Catholic Church the truth ?

This is in fact the great question, which contains in itself all the strife between Catholicism and its adversaries, the unbelievers of every age and of every variety, Is the doctrine of the Catholic Church the truth ?

Enlightened by faith, we reply with promptitude, ‘ Yes, it is the truth ; the pure unchangeable truth.’

This answer gives our adversaries a right to demand our proofs. We must therefore show forth the truth of the doctrine which the Church proposes as the way of salvation.

Second Article: Three Kinds of Demonstration,

10. There are three kinds of demonstration, or three ways of proving the truth of the Christian faith, which _ are suited to different degrees of intelligence. The first is an indirect demonstration; the second a direct, but summary, demonstration ; the third a direct and complete demonstration, which establishes the whole edifice ‘ of truth on the ruins of error,

I. Indirect Demonstration.

11. We understand by this indirect demonstration of the true religion a simple reference to the doctors of theology and their writings. In order to appreciate the force and usefulness of these, it is to be remarked that scientific demonstrations are not the work of every person, but of special men. He who knows a thing to be a fact is not therefore necessarily capable of explaining it. Thus any one may know that an edifice is solidly built, but only the architect may be in a position to explain the causes of its solidity. One may know of the victories of Cyrus, but not be able to prove them, or to remove all the historical difficulties regarding them; such an explanation belongs only to the historical student. One may be perfectly sure of certain truths relating to rights, but at the same time be unable to prove them, not being learned in this particular subject ; and if we have opponents who contest these different points, we refer them to particular persons specially qualified to furnish the required proofs and explanations.

It is the same in matters of religion. All the faithful are perfectly aware of the truth of their faith; but only those well versed in religious science, such as priests and theologians, can expound it and answer all objections. It is to such that the mass of the faithful can always refer their opponents. This reference renders all men indirectly capable of demonstrating the truth. Thus every individual among the faithful can answer his opponents in such words as these: ‘The truth of the faith which the Church teaches is beyond doubt. I have the happiness of knowing this truth; but if Iam not sufficiently learned to furnish all the proofs and explanations that you demand, I know that complete and rigorous demonstrations have been given by the most learned doctors, from the time of the Apostles to our own days. These demonstrations exist, in substance, in all books of theology. Study these books, or apply to the priests and doctors versed in these matters.’

II, Summary Demonstration.

12. This demonstration, which may also be called popular, because it is within reach of every one, is based upon the great fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostles themselves gave but little proof of their mission other than this supreme and convincing sign of His divine authority given by Jesus Christ Himself. He said to the stubborn Jews, ‘ An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign; and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights’ (Matt. xii. 39).

The proof* drawn from the Resurrection is at once simple and convincing. It only requires, in order to understand it, an upright heart which seeks the truth in good faith, and a reasonable mind which recognises, in miracles and in prophecy, the stamp of divine authority. |

It may be argued thus: If Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, His doctrine is divine;+ and Jesus Christ 1s truly risen; therefore His doctrine is divine.

13. In the major ot this syllogism we say: If Christ is risen, His doctrine is divine—that is, if He is risen, His doctrine is approved, authorised, and declared to be true by God Himself in working such a wonder in its favour. The justness of this conclusion is the more evident because Christ had predicted that He would rise again on the third day in proof of His divine mission.

If His doctrines were false, God must have worked the most astounding prodigy in favour of an impostor. He must have sanctioned falsehood and led mankind into error. This is an impossibility to Him who is the essence of goodness and truth.

* This demonstration may be scen more amply drawn out in Frayssinous, Conférences, tom. ii. confér. 6. Also in Feller, Catéchisme Philosophique, tom. ii, n. 323. Above all, in the Sermon sur la Lésurrection, by Card. Giraud, Archbishop of Cambrai.

f The divinity of the mission of Jesus Christ must not be confounded with the divinity of His Person, which will be considered elsewhere,

TRUTH OF THE OHRISTIAN RELIGION, ‘ 7

The minor of the syllogism adds: Now Jesus Christ ts truly risen. This proposition affirms an historical fact that is proved in a most undeniable manner. The fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ must indeed be admitted as beyond a doubt if it be attested by numerous obviously truthful witnesses—that is to say, by witnesses who could not have been deceived themselves, who could not have wished to deceive others, who could not have deceived even if they had wished to do so. Now the resura of Jesus Christ is attested by such witnesses as

ese.

(1) These witnesses are, first, the Apostles, who saw their risen Master during forty days, contemplating Him with their eyes, hearing Him with their éars, touching Him with their hands ; who, though at first unbelieving, yet afterwards, converted by evidence, devoted their existence to publishing this great event, and, in fact, announced it to the whole world, sanctioning their testimony by miracles, and sealing it with their blood.

(2) Women and disciples of every kind, numbering in all more than 500 ocular witnesses (1 Cor. xv. 6).

(3) Auricular witnesses not less trustworthy, such as __ innumerable Jews and pagans who, vanquished by the evidence of things, became converted, admitted the Resurrection, and believed in it with the deepest and firmest faith. |

(4) The very enemies of Jesus Christ, the chiefs of the Jewish nation, hearing the Apostles declare the Resurrection, did not attempt to arraign them as impostors, and by this conduct themselves gave testimony to the truth. For if there had been imposture, these hostile men would not have failed to confound the impostors, On the one hand, it was their interest and their duty to do so; on the other, they had every means at command for doing so; for, having placed guards at the entrance to the sepulchre, they were likely to know what had become of the body of Christ, and had but to produce it. If, then, they did not unveil, or seek to unveil, the imposture, it was because there was no imposture. Enemies so powerful and so vigilant, whose interests lay in not being taken unawares, were not likely to be imposed on.

(5) The most avowed enemies of the Christian name, such as Celsus, Porphyry, Hierocles, Julian the Apostate, and others; who, in speaking of the resurrection of Christ have sought to explain it, as well as His other miracles, by the artifice of magic, have never denied the fact itself.

(6) All these testimonies are confirmed by the living monument built upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ, namely, the Church and the feast of Easter, the centre of her solemnities. To-day, asin her earliest days, the Church proclaims the resurrection of her Author, saying to all generations: ‘I am founded, with my worship and my faith, on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He had not risen, I should not exist, the world would not have believed, and would still have been lost in idolatry.’

The witnesses we have enumerated above are of obvious veracity. Taking, for example, merely the Apostles, every unprejudiced mind will allow (1) that they could not have been deceived—their number, their incredulity, the nature of the fact, its continuance during forty days, the multiplicity and variety of the apparitions that attested it, rendered error and hallucination impossible. (2) That they did not wish to deceive; their conscientiousness and their piety, their interest and the prospect of the most terrible consequences of deceit, must have excluded from their minds the very thought of such a crime and of such folly. (3) That they could not have deceived, even if they had wished to do so. In order to succeed in deceiving, they would have had to do two things: (a) to take away the body of their Master, who had deceived them ; and (b) to persuade men that He had come to life again. Both were equally impracticable, on account of the satellites who guarded the tomb, of the impossibility of maintaining secrecy, and of the disinclination of the Jews, and of the world at large, to believe such intelligence, unless imposed upon them by the force of evidence.

We may add, that if we compare this event with every other fact recorded in history, we shall not find another that is established on proofs so numerous and so certain ; therefore, if the resurrection of Jesus Christ could be called in question, nothing could be certain in history, and the best authenticated facts would be doubtful, such as the assassination of Cesar and the conquests of Alexander. The resurrection, then, of Christ is an absolutely incontestable truth. This resurrection is the seal imprinted by God on His religion; this religion is, then, true, and every man must accept it under pain of eternal damnation, acccording to those words of His, ‘Qui non crediderit condemnabitur,— Whosoever believes not, shall be condemned’ (Mark xvi. 16). |

III. Complete Demonstration.

14, Complete demonstration is that which proves the true religion in a rigorous manner, and in all its parts. It is capable of developments more or less extensive. To keep within the limits of our plan, we shall confine ourselves to presenting the principal proofs, and to the solution of the most frequent objections.*

Complete demonstration embraces a twofold subject,

* The plan of this Abridged Course confines us to very narrow limits for the objections. But more lengthened refutations may be found in well-known works, such as Gousset’s . Théologie Dogmatique; Boone's Manuel del Apologiste and Motifs de mon Attachement a’ Eglise Catholique ; M. de Ségur’s Réponses aux Objections les plus répandues contre la Religion ; Abbé Berseaux, La Foi et U Incrédulité, L'Eglise et le Monde, La Mort et U Immortalité; Franco's Réponses Populaires aux Objections ; Feller’s Catéchisme Philosophique ; Bergier’s De la wraie Religion; Schouppe's Elementa Theologie Dogm, et Oursus Scripture Sacre, the Christian religion and the Catholic religion. Thesc are, in reality, one and the same religion ; but in order to arrive at the truth in an explicit and practical manner, we must make a distinction between them, and explain them separately. By the Christian religion in general we understand the doctrine that Jesus Christ preached eighteen centuries ago; and by the Catholic religion this same doctrine as it is preserved by the Catholic Church, and distinct from the Christianity of dissenting sects.

CHAPTER L

TRUTH OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION DEMONSTRATED AS OPPOSED TO UNBELIEF,

15. We take the word unbelievers in a broad sense, to designate generally all those who are not acquainted with Christian revelation, or who positively refuse to believe in it; such as pagans, Mahometans, Jews, apostate Christians, rationalists, free-thinkers, &c.

16. The demonstration of Christian truth to unbelievers, in order to be complete, must comprise three ° parts: the grounds of the demonstration, the means of demonstration, and the facts and proofs of which the demonstration consists.

First Article: Grounds of Demonstration.

17. The grounds or bases of Christian demonstration are certain fundamental truths, which are evident to reason, and which it is impossible to deny without shutting one’s eyes to its light. They may be reduced to the seven following :.

(1) Certainty, denied by sceptics.

(2) The objective existence of bodies, denied b idealists.

(3) The personal existence of God, denied by atheists and pantheists.

(4) The infinite perfection of God, His providence, and the free-will of man, denied by fatalists.

(5) The spirituality of the soul and its immortality, denied by materialists.

(6) The natural law and the force of its obligations, denied by autonomists.

(7) Religion and the obligations imposed by it, denied by the impious. |

These preliminary truths, obvious to reason, are called grounds of Christian demonstration, because it supposes them to exist, and there can be no solid demonstration if they are denied or called in question. They may also be termed common-sense truths, because they are taught by the natural sense common to all reasonable men, and the denial of them would be contrary to this common sense. These data of reason are, moreover, amply proved in every couree of sound philosophy.* We will confine ourselves to a brief exposition of them.

18. (1) Certainty.— Man possesses in his reasonable nature the faculty of recognising truth with a perfect certainty. Those who deny this proposition are called sceptics, unreasonable men who reject the light of reason itself, and affirm certainty at the same time that they deny it, for their denial amounts to this, ‘Zé 7s certain that nothing 1s certain.’

The Author of our reasoning nature has given us several means.of arriving at true and certain knowledge, Philosophers call them criteria, and commonly admit six, namely, evidence, consciousness, exterior sense, authority, analogy, and common sense.

Evidence is the clear perception of the necessity of a judgment, or the affinity of two ideas. Immediate evidence, or the evidence of intuition, is distinguished from mediate evidence, or the evidence of deduction. Immediate evidence makes known to us truths which are shown by their own light—those primary truths which do not admit

* Such as those of Decker, Liberatore, Tongiorgi, &c.

of demonstration, but on which all other truths are based. Such are analytical judgments, in which the attribute is so inherent to the subject that it is an essential part of it, and only offers the same idea under another form. For example, two and two make four, the whole is equal to all the parts put together ; the whole is greater than tts separate parts. There is no effect without a cause.

Mediate evidence makes known truths which are not apparent of themselves, but which are deduced from the primary truths by means of reasoning or demonstration.

Consciousness gives us the certainty of our existence, and of other facts that take place within us, such as thought, desire, doubt.

Our extertor senses make known to us with certainty the exterior and immediate objects which act upon our various sensations ; that is, the existence of the bodies that constitute the visible world.

Authority, or testimony, under the requisite conditions, gives us a certain knowledge of historical exterior and sensible facts. Of this class are events purely natural, as the death of a man; such also are those facts which are called miraculous, that is, facts which are due toa supernatural cause, but which equally affect the senses, such as the resurrection of a dead person.

Authority is the easy and clear means by which we come to the certain knowledge of the true religion.

Analogy is a criterion which allows a conclusion to be drawn respecting things not known from their similarity to things known, Thus, from the sight of a man and his actions I judge with certainty that he, like myself, is a being gifted with liberty and intelligence. So also, from observing the constant motion of the heavens, 1 know that the sun which sets to-day will reappear on the horizon to-morrow. Analogy is the basis of foresight and of what is called human experience, and physical Bcience rests on it.

Common sense, which we take here as a criterion, is

@ manner of seeing; it is 8 uniform judgment common to all mankind; in other words it is that general and invincible sentiment of all mankind which is simply the expression of his reasonable nature. It helps us to know universally admitted truths, such as the individual existence of each one of us, that of the objects that surround us, that of the Divinity; also, the difference between good and evil, and the principal points of the natural law. |

These several means of knowing the truth suppose an ultimate motive or reason which produces that certainty in the mind which rests in the possession of truth. It is called the foundation of certainty. It consists in objective evidence, that is to say, in the evidence of the object itself rendered manifest by the means of some criterion. —