by Ronald Knox
During World War II, Ronald Knox was a chaplain for a girls' school. He developed a series of conferences (lectures) on the Creed for their benefit. After the war, he revised them and published them in this book.
Knox simply explains the meaning of the Creed, revealing to young people a depth to their faith but in a conversational manner.
This book appears on the Mater Amabilis™ high school plans as Spiritual Reading for Religious Education in Level 5 Year 1 (ninth grade). My son read it last year as a ninth grader, but one of the other mothers said she had used it for confirmation preparation. So this year, I've assigned it to my seventh grade daughter as she prepares for Confirmation. One week in, she said she already likes it because "it's like he's talking to me."
To believe a thing, in any sense worth the name, means something much more than merely not denying it. It means focusing your mind on it, letting it haunt your imagination, caring, and caring desperately, whether it is true or not.In the course of his lectures, Knox addresses many of the familiar questions raised by middle school and high school students.
When we say that God is Almighty, we mean that he can do anything which is not against reason. God couldn't create two equal-sized things one of which was larger than the other. But that isn't to say that he is being hampered by something outside himself. The laws of reason are part of the truth, and the truth is part of himself, or rather is himself; God is truth.At the same time, he speaks eloquently of the profound truths of our faith.
No, there is no really satisfactory account of why Creation ever happened. We know that it did, because here we are. But the most the theologians can tell us is that it is the nature of goodness to diffuse itself, so that God uses Creation as a kind of reservoir for the overflow of his inexhaustible love.He writes on the working of the Holy Spirit in the writing of Scripture.
The Psalms weren't written to teach us lessons in geography; they were poetry, and the person who wrote that verse was just talking in the ordinary language of his time. So you can't be certain that every word of the Old Testament is literally true. But you can be certain that the theology of the Old Testament, once you have understood it properly and made allowances for the Hebrew way of saying things, must be true; because when it was written the Holy Spirit was at work to see that the thing got done right.He also provides commonsense advice for young people. When talking about the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he explains that although the Holy Spirit sometimes intervenes miraculously, providing a clear message of a vocation or speaking directly, those experiences are rare. Most of the time, we pray for guidance and then talk with parents, counselors, and teachers, all of whom give us advice. Then we consider the arguments for or against a decision. The Holy Spirit is acting within us the entire time, helping us use wisdom and discretion to make the choice.
Often, he exhorts the young women to strive for holiness in their own lives and their own relationships.
I mean that we should be really generous in our love of God, really honest in our ambition to follow Jesus Christ. What holds up the conversion of England, I always think, is not so much the wickedness of a few Catholics, as the dreadful ordinariness of most Catholics.There are Editor's Notes referenced by endnotes in the text that provide definitions for English or out-dated terms as well as historical notes (on "The Crusade of Rescue," for example) and a note on the 2007 Vatican advisory document on unbaptized infants.
Below are the exam questions I used with my ninth grader last year. Right now I anticipate using the same ones with my seventh grader. If she struggles too much, I'll adjust them for my younger children (both of whom will also be confirmed in seventh grade). These would all be answered with a paragraph or a short essay...or, in the case of my oldest, a sentence or two.
Quiz #1 (chapters I – IV)
1. What does Ronald Knox say about the words “I believe” (credo) in the Creed?
2. What does it mean to call God the “First Cause?”
3. Ronald Knox says, “The laws of reason are part of the truth, and the truth is part of himself, or rather is himself; God is truth.” What do you think about that?
4. According to Ronald Knox, why does God, our “Father Almighty,” allow suffering?
5. In the Creed, we say God is the “Maker of Heaven and Earth.” Why do you think he created the universe?
6. Share something you particularly remember from the first four chapters of The Creed in Slow Motion.
Quiz #2 (chapters V-VII)
1. What does Ronald Knox say about the words “Jesus Christ” in the Creed?
2. Ronald Knox writes that “theologians will tell you that the greatness of an offence is measured by the dignity of the person against whom the offence is committed; whereas when it comes to making reparation for an offence the greatness of the reparation is measured by the dignity of the person who is making it.” What does that mean for the atonement of mankind’s sin against God?
3. We say “Our Lord” in the Creed because He is our master and we belong to Him. What do you think that means?
Quiz #3 (chapters VIII-XVI)
1. According to Ronald Knox, what can the Virgin birth tell us about marriage?
2. What does Christ’s sufferings (hunger, exhaustion, pain) tell us about suffering today? What about our own suffering?
3. Why is Pontius Pilate named in the Creed?
4. Why did our Lord want to be buried in the earth?
5. How does the sacrament of baptism remind us of the Resurrection?
6. Ronald Knox tells of a priest whose favorite mystery is that of the Ascension “because it was the only one which made you think how nice it was for our Lord, instead of thinking how nice it was for us.” How are other mysteries nice for us? Why is this one so joyful for our Lord?
7. What happens at the Last Judgment?
Quiz #4 (chapters XVII-XVIII)
1. What do we mean when we say the Bible is “inspired?”
2. What are some of the ways the Holy Spirit was at work before Jesus came?
3. What happened at Pentecost?
4. What is the difference between the extraordinary and the ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit?
5. How can the Holy Spirit guide us when we have a decision to make?
Quiz #5 (chapters XIX-XXII)
1. What does it mean to say the Catholic Church is “holy?”
2. What is the “Church?”
3. How is the Catholic Church “Catholic” (meaning universal)?
4. What does it mean to say that the Catholic Church is “apostolic?”
Quiz #6 (chapters XXIII-XXVII)
1. What is the communion of saints?
2. How is the sacrament of communion a sacrament of union within the Church?
3. How is the forgiveness of sins one of the great mysteries of our faith?
4. What is the resurrection of the body?
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