A Library of Catholic Formation | The Young Man’s Guide (1910) | Part First: The Panoply of War | The Shield of Faith | Chapter I, pp. 3–6.
EDITORIAL NOTE. The original guide was adapted by Fr F. X. Lasance from the German work of Fr Coelestin Muff, O.S.B. The following chapter preserves the language and argument of the 1910 edition. Its examples of scientific controversy are those of its period and are reproduced as part of the historical text.
I. Is There a God?
1. The young man’s lot is to go out into a hostile life. What is necessary for him? Behold the warrior, as he goes forth to the field of battle. Is he not amply provided with all needful weapons? When you, my dear young friend, go forth into the world, you are going to encounter mighty enemies, the enemies of your soul. You must, therefore, put on a strong suit of armor, one which is capable of protecting you. And what is this suit of armor? The apostle St. Paul describes it in the following words: “Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil” (Eph. vi. 11).
The first and most powerful weapon in this suit of armor is the shield of faith, as the same apostle says: “In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one” (Eph. vi. 16). And, indeed, faith is an impenetrable shield against the fiery darts of the devil.
When the latter strives to lead us astray, by inciting us to voluptuousness, faith lays bare to our view the abyss of hell, in order that we may behold the torments which will be the punishment of the unchaste. When he desires to dazzle us with the glitter of the riches, honors, and glories which the world has to offer us, faith throws open the portals of heaven, where the highest rewards are prepared for those who persevere in the love of God and the pursuit of virtue.
Wherefore contemplate this shield of faith on every side, in order that you may be convinced of its indispensable necessity, may gladly take it into your hand, and grasp it firmly. Let us turn our attention first to the foundation of all faith, of all religion; namely, to the existence of God. Is there a God? That is the first question.
2. “Is there a God?” What an unnecessary question, you are saying to yourself. And you are quite right. In regard to this point David says in one of the Psalms: “The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God.” And truly; only a man destitute of reason, a man who is mad, could make such an assertion, could question the existence of God.
Let us suppose that you show your watch to a friend, and say to him: “Must not the individual who made this watch, and arranged the works, have understood his business very well? Must he not be a very clever fellow, and possess a first-rate head-piece?” Now, suppose he were to reply: “Oh, nonsense! The watch made itself!” Should you not gaze fixedly at him, and make some such remark as the following: “My good friend, if you are in earnest, and really mean what you say, there must be a screw loose in your upper story.” And you would be quite justified in thus addressing him.
Yet wait awhile, and pay attention to the practical application of all this.
3. Fix your gaze upon the splendors of the universe. Behold the countless multitude of the heavenly bodies, as they revolve in their orbits; behold the wondrous creations which are upon this earth, as comprised in the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. Does not the most marvelous beauty and order, the most consummate imaginable skill, everywhere meet the eye?
But now listen to what certain unbelieving scientists, naturalists, and astronomers say to all this. The friend to whom reference was made above asserted that the watch had made itself. Our scientists go still farther and obstinately assert that the infinitely more wonderful machine of the entire universe, earth, sun, moon, and stars, likewise came into being of itself, having gradually developed out of a mass of primeval matter, which had always been in existence.
4. How ridiculous and absurd! But let us for a moment assent to the theory of these overwise gentlemen, let us submit our understanding to them; they owe us, however, a clear and ample explanation of the most important point of all, and are bound to tell us whence came this primeval matter, and the forces at work within it, by means of which the entire universe came into being.
The good gentlemen will thus find themselves driven into a very tight corner, and in order to get out of the dilemma they will be compelled to retreat to a certain extent from the position in which they have entrenched themselves, and say: “If you persist in having a God, you may give the name of God to this primary matter. But this will not help to settle the question, for to have such a God as this is tantamount to having no God at all.”
5. Look forth on some clear and beautiful night in autumn, and contemplate the star-bespangled sky; see how the innumerable heavenly bodies have all their appointed orbits, so that none of them interfere with the others. Examine, moreover, the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and see how everything suits its purpose! Even the smallest plant is formed in its every detail with the most perfect exactitude.
And every little creature, down to the insect which crawls in the dust at our feet, is so made as best to fulfil the object for which it was created. “What a piece of work is a man!” exclaims Hamlet; “how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!” Thus, wherever we look around us in the immense, the boundless universe, we everywhere perceive object, design, and order.
Can not we then comprehend, by means of our common-sense, that all this is not the work of chance, and was not brought into being by unintelligent, unreasoning forces and laws? Must we not rather exclaim in the inspired language of David: “The heavens show forth the glory of God”? Yes, let us say with grateful joyous hearts: There is a God; an omnipotent, an all-wise, an infinitely good and bountiful God!
Thank God, dear reader, for the most precious of all gifts, for the grace which enables you to say from the bottom of your heart, and with the most intense conviction: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Pray that you may always persevere in this faith.
The fool alone can not descry
God’s work in earth and sea and sky:
The more enlightened eye can trace
His all-wise hand in Nature’s face;
And where sight fails, there faith alone
The great Creator’s skill will own.
1. F. X. Lasance (ed.), The Young Man’s Guide (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1910), Part First, Chapter I, pp. 3–6.
Next: Chapter II, “The Creator and the Creature.”
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