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Laying the Foundation: A Handbook of Catholic Apologetics and Fundamental Theology is a classic text by the late Fr. Joseph Clifford Fenton, a highly respected author, professor, and theologian of the twentieth century.
“This book appeared in 1942 under the rather unimposing title We Stand with Christ: an Essay in Catholic Apologetics. It should have become a classic,” writes Scott Hahn in the foreword. “It is, I believe, the greatest work of apologetics produced in a time of superstar apologists such as F. J. Sheed, Ronald Knox, and Fulton Sheen. It represents the high point of apologetics as well as a gold standard for subsequent works of fundamental theology.”
About the Author
Fr. Joseph Clifford Fenton (1906–1969) was professor of fundamental dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of America for twenty-five years and for two decades edited the American Ecclesiastical Review. He was a member of the Pontifical Roman Theological Academy, served as counselor to the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities, and participated in the Second Vatican Council as a member of the preparatory Theological Commission, the Doctrinal Commission, and the Commission on Faith and Morals.
Charles Schmidt –
The most important knowledge of all is knowledge about God
Laying the Foundation is a reprint of a 1952 American Catholic apologetics book aimed at university students. Father Joseph Clifford Fenton has written a classic work of apologetics aimed at university theology students and Catholic seminarians. Ordinary readers will also profit immensely.
This book covers the proofs of God’s existence and nature, and then offers cogent arguments that the New Testament is a reliable historical document revealing Divine Revelation. The miracles listed in the New Testament are evaluated and found to be strongly supported by the fact that the Catholic Church was able to convert multitudes of people to a faith that made great demands on people, while offering mainly spiritual rewards.
This is a wonderful book, and here are some of the insights you will learn from it:
Man’s ultimate end is either God or nothing, Heaven or Hell.
Modern science, because it recognizes neither God nor purpose in the universe, is blind.
A man is good when his acts are directed toward God, or when he does good things for the sake of God.
What is the basic motive for being good? The reason to be good is because of a love of God, who is Goodness Itself. Another reason to be good is because we were created to be good, and that is the purpose of life.
Happiness is the firm possession of an ultimate good, which is God.
Apologetics is a realistic discipline. Apologetics is not wishful thinking, nor is it mere opinion. God does exist, and a realist must recognize this fact.
The most important knowledge of all is knowledge about God. Without the knowledge of God, there is only darkness. The knowledge of God enlightens and ennobles a man, and it is a knowledge of true happiness and the way to eternal life.
It is true that the most important knowledge of all is the knowledge of God, and this book provides that knowledge, and gives strong arguments to prove that Catholic dogma is truly knowledge, and truly Divine Revelation.