Choose a topic from Vol 2:

God

Proof of God's existence
God's nature
Supreme control over all things and the problem of suffering and evil

Man

Destiny of man
Death
Immortality of man's soul
Pre-existence denied
The human free will
Determinism absurd

Religion

Necessity of religion
Salvation of the soul
Voice of science
Religious racketeers
Divine revelation
Revealed mysteries
Existence of miracles

The Religion of the Bible

Gospels historical
Missing Books of the Bible
The Bible inspired
Biblical account of creation
New Testament problems
Supposed contradictions in Sacred Scripture

The Christian Faith

Source of Christian teaching
Jewish rejection of Christ
Christianity a new religion
Rational foundation for belief
Causes of unbelief

A Definite Christian Faith

Divisions amongst Christians
Schisms unjustified
Facing the problem
The wrong approach
Is one religion as good as another?
Obligation of inquiry
Charity and tolerance

The Protestant Reformation

Meaning of "Protestant"
Causes of the Reformation
Catholic reaction
Reformers mistaken
The idealization of Protestantism
The Catholic estimate

The Truth of Catholicism

Meaning of the word "Church"
Origin of the Church
The Catholic claim
The Roman hierarchy
The Pope
The Petrine text
St. Peter's supremacy
St. Peter in Rome
Temporal power
Infallibility
Unity of the Church
Holiness of the Church
Catholicity of the Church
Apostolicity of the Church
Indefectibility of the Church
Obligation to be a Catholic

The Church and the Bible

Catholic attitude towards the Bible
Is Bible reading forbidden to Catholics?
Protestant Bibles
The Catholic Douay Version
Principle of private interpretation
Need of Tradition
The teaching authority of the Catholic Church

The Dogmas of the Church

Revolt against dogma
Value of a Creed
The divine gift of Faith
Faith and reason
The "Dark Ages"
The claims of science
The Holy Trinity
Creation and evolution
Angels
Devils
Man
Reincarnation
Sin
Christ
Mary
Grace and salvation
The Sacraments
Baptism
Confession
Holy Eucharist
The Sacrifice of the Mass
Holy Communion
The Catholic Priesthood
Marriage and divorce
Extreme Unction
Judgment
Hell
Purgatory
Indulgences
Heaven
The resurrection of the body
The end of the world

The Church and Her Moral Teachings

Conscience
Truth
Charity
Scandal
Tolerance
Censorship
The Inquisition
Astrology
Other superstitions
Attendance at Mass
Sex education
Attitude to "Free Love"
Abortion
Suicide

The Church in Her Worship

Magnificent edifices
Lavish ritual
Women in Church
Catholics and "Mother's Day"
Liturgical Days
Burial rites
Candles and votive lamps
The rosary
Lourdes water
The Scapular

The Church and Social Welfare

Social influence of the Church
The education question
The Church and world distress
Catholic attitude towards Capitalism
The remedy for social ills
Communism condemned
The Fascist State
Morality of war
May individuals become soldiers?
The Church and peace
Capital punishment
Catholic Action

Comparative Study of Non-Catholic Denominations

Defections from the Catholic Church
Gnosticism
Manichaeism
Arianism
Nestorianism
Eutychianism
Coptic Church
Greek Orthodox Church
Anglican Episcopal Church
The "Free" or "Nonconformist" Churches
Presbyterianism
Methodism
Church of Christ
Baptists
Seventh Day Adventists
Plymouth Brethren
Catholic Apostolic Church or Irvingites
Salvation Army
Spiritualism
Christian Science
Christadelphians
British Israelism
Liberal Catholics
Witnesses of Jehovah
Buchmanism or the "Oxford Group Movement"
From Protestantism to Catholicism

To and From Rome

Conversion of Cardinal Newman
Why Gladstone refrained
The peculiar case of Lord Halifax
Gibbon the historian
Secession of Father Chiniquy
Father Tyrrell, the modernist
Bishop Garrett's departure
Judgment on lapsed Catholics
Protestant apathy towards conversion of Catholics
Principles for converts to Catholicism
God's will that all should become Catholics

Coptic Church

1251. I have read recently that the Abyssiniansbelonged to the Coptic faith, the earliest sect of the Christiandenominations, to which all the Christian world adhered until therise of the Church of Rome.

It is true that the Abyssinians belonged to the Coptic Church.But the rest of the statement is erroneous. Firstly, a sect is agroup of dissentient people who abandon a previous position inorder to set up a new form of Church. If the Coptic Church were theoriginal Church to which the whole Christian world adhered, then itis not a sect. All the newer and independent Churches which brokeaway from the original Church would constitute the sects. Secondly,we come to a question of fact. Was the Coptic faith the originalfaith to which all Christians adhered from the beginning? In otherwords, did St. Peter and the other Apostles belong to the CopticChurch? That is impossible, for the Coptic sect did not come intoexistence until the fifth century.

1252. It is said that the Abyssinians were convertedto the Christian faith by St. Frumentius, who was consecratedBishop of Abyssinia by the Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria.

That is quite correct, but it spells death to the idea that theAbyssinian Coptic Church is the oldest form of Christianity, and tothe notion that the Church of Rome was subsequent in origin. ForSt. Athanasius, who consecrated St. Frumentius, was in completeunion with the Pope of Rome! In certain difficulties with his ownsubjects St. Athanasius appealed to the Pope, and Pope Julius I.wrote back to the rebels, "Do you not know that the ordinarypractice is first to write to us, and from Rome to receive thedecision as to what is right? Should any reproach fall upon theBishop of your city, you must undoubtedly refer the case to thisChurch of Rome." How could St. Athanasius be subject to theChurch of Rome if the Church of Rome had not yet arisen? And whatreligion would St. Frumentius preach save that professed by theBishop who consecrated him? St. Frumentius preached the Romanfaith, and lived and died without ever hearing of the CopticChurch.

1253. How did the Coptic Church come intoexistence?

Christianity was first preached in Abyssinia by St. Frumentiuswho had been consecrated Bishop by St. Athanasius in 341 A.D. Hepreached the faith of the Roman Church to which all the Christianworld adhered insofar as it was the faith St. Peter himself hadpreached at Rome. Over 100 years after the consecration of St.Frumentius, Eutyches, an Archimandrite of Constantinople, wascondemned as a heretic at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Refusingto submit, Eutyches commenced the Monophysite heresy. Now someBishops from the Abyssinian Church founded by St. Frumentius 110years earlier were present at the Council of Chalcedon. They thenacknowledged the jurisdiction of Pope Leo I. But they becameinfected by the Monophysite heresy, went back to their own country,broke away from the authority of Rome, and commenced that sect whichtoday is called the Coptic Church of Abyssinia. The word"Coptic" means "Egyptian," and the"Copts" are simply the descendants of the Monophysiteheretics in Egypt. As you will notice, the Coptic sect is very old.It is over a thousand years older than any Protestant sect. Butstill it did not begin until over 400 years after the foundation ofthe Catholic Church. And when you realize that it is now just about400 years since Protestantism began, you will understand that theCatholic Church is a good deal older than the Coptic Church.

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