In a hunt to find books about my Catholic faith before my upcoming Confirmation, I stumbled upon Fr. Ronald Knox’s The Belief of Catholics. The easiest way to describe his book is as the Mere Christianity about Catholicism specifically. It elucidates the central tenets of the Catholic faith, beginning with logical proofs for the existence of a Higher Being and concluding with the doctrines that all Catholics share. What I found was an intriguing book, not only from the quality and the erudition of the ideas presented, but also from the beautiful language used to describe it.
Fr. Ronald Knox was himself a convert to Catholicism in early 20th century England, was the Catholic chaplain at Oxford, and the author of many other works of literature, such as Let Dons Delight. As a writer, his books are worth reading solely for its beautiful cadence. The lexicon is full of variety (both in English as well as its occasional Latin phraseology) and its structuring. Theology aside, the language alone makes it worth a read.
The Belief of Catholics begins with clarifying what he saw as the most basic reservations and premonitions about Catholicism from his time — it was written in 1927 England — and the qualities most commonly found attractive. From there, Knox introduces the central Catholic teachings. Most of these topics I have encountered before: what made them enjoyable here was the fresh lens through which they were cast. No section deviates from what Christians believe, and in spite of it being nearly a century old. The Belief of Catholics never reads as a stale, overused work.
The metaphor Knox uses to describe coming into the faith takes a spin on the ubiquitous ‘leap of faith’ cliche. Instead, he compares it to wading out into the ocean: with each step (or newly accepted belief) you go deeper and deeper on your own accord, until you can no longer stand on your own two feet. You have to swim. But the decision to go forward is not unfounded, since everything prior to this has held water. This is not to discount the faith it requires to start swimming out into the deep of the faith, it only emphasizes that the choice to believe, even if one cannot prove every detail, is not irrational.
By the close of each chapter, I had learned something new about my Catholic faith, or had been probed to view it in a new light. With this characteristic feature of Ronald Knox’s writing, he comments on the future of Catholicism, giving the inspiration, or warning, that Heaven is our decision. It is not ignorance of Christ’s love and salvation which precludes us from the beatific vision, it is not trying anew when we fall. Even if we fail. Christ came for each and every individual soul, and perseverance in spite of setbacks is what makes all of the difference in God’s eyes.
