Keep The Faith Publications
A Monumental Theological Treasure is Now Available in English
Controversies of the Christian Faith
by Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J.
NEWLY TRANSLATED FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH by Father Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Among the major works of Saint Robert Bellarmine are the Three Controversies which are contained in this volume. Basically, they are the Saint’s own private notes that he used for his lectures at the Roman College in Rome from about 1576 to 1592.
- Controversy I deals with the Bible;
- Controversy II contains Bellarmine’s defense of the Church’s teaching on the divinity and humanity of Christ;
- Controversy III is centered on the Sovereign Pontiff – the primacy of Peter and his successors and the infallibility of the Pope in defining matters of faith and morals.
This book offers a summary of the arguments of the Protestants during the sixteenth century against the Pope and the Catholic Church and their refutation by the prince of theologians who lived during those turbulent times.
Robert Cardinal Bellarmine was greatly admired by bishops and Catholic theologians during his lifetime
- He was famous for his scholarship and preaching.
- He was the theologian and counselor for several Popes.
- He was called another Augustine, another Athanasius, and “the hammer of heretics.
- He was greatly detested by Protestants because of the power of his arguments to prove that they were in error.
Sacrae Theologiae Summa
A Comprehensive Work of Sacred Theology
Originally written in Latin in the mid-1950s by Jesuit priests and published in Spain, these books were intended to be used as textbooks to teach the Catholic Faith to future priests when Latin was the traditional language used in seminaries. Now these textbooks have been translated into English by Father Kenneth Baker, S.J. for use in our English-speaking seminaries. This monumental 8-volume series on Dogmatic Theology has been called the “best summary of Scholastic Theology available” and is an invaluable aid for all Priests and Seminarians!
IA - Introduction to Theology • On Christian Revelation
IB - On the Church of Christ • On Holy Scripture
IIA - On The One and Triune God
IIB - On God the Creator and Sanctifier • On Sins
IIIA - On the Incarnate Word • On the Blessed Virgin Mary
IIIB - On Grace • On the Infused Virtues
IVA - On The Sacraments in General • On Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance and Anointing
IVB - On Holy Orders and Matrimony • On the Last Things
$35 per volume
Sermons of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, S.J.
Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J., preached this series of sermons to the students and faculty of the University of Louvain, Belgium, in the 1570s. They follow the liturgical year, beginning with Advent. There is not a sermon for every Sunday of the year, but there are also some for the major feasts, like Christmas, the Annunciation and Ascension, and others on special themes.
There are eighty-seven sermons in all, and they are being published in three parts. This first part contains sermons 1 to 29, covering the feasts from Advent to Passion Sunday. The second part contains sermons 30 to 55, Easter Sunday to the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, plus five sermons on the Last Things and five on the Blessed Virgin Mary. The third part will contain sermons 56 to 87 – twelve sermons on the Catholic faith, eight on tribulation, and twelve on Psalm 91.
When Bellarmine delivered these sermons he was still a young priest in his thirties, since he was born in 1542 and entered the Society of Jesus in 1560. The sermons are on a high intellectual level, since they were meant for university students and professors. They contain a great deal of Christian wisdom. The sermons contain a lot of Catholic doctrine, but since they are sermons and not lectures, the preacher’s purpose is to move the wills of his hearers to repentance for sin and the practice of virtue in order to attain eternal life.
The scholarship of Bellarmine is truly amazing, given his knowledge of theology, philosophy, the Fathers of the Church, Liturgy, Canon Law, history and languages, including Latin, Greek and Hebrew. The sermons were given in Latin, since at the time Latin was the language of the university and of all serious scholars.
Some of these sermons are very long, running to ten thousand words – lasting up to an hour and a half. Of course in those days there was not as many entertainment options and apparently long sermons, for many listeners, were a good substitute for entertainment, since there is some resemblance between a good preacher and an actor.
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Sacrae Theologiae Summa collection
Controversies of the Christian Faith
Bellarmine Sermons I • Bellarmine Sermons II
Father Kenneth Baker, S.J., is editor emeritus of the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, the first Catholic Clergy magazine to appear in the United States, having served as editor from 1971 to 2010.
Father Baker has written many books, including Preach the Word, Doctrinal Sermons on the Catechism of the Catholic Church; Jesus Christ – True God and True Man: A Handbook on Christology for Non-Theologians; and Inside the Bible: A Guide to Understanding Each Book of the Bible.
Father has spent the past 8 years translating Sacrae Theologiae Summa, the classic 8-Volume series of Theology Textbooks, as well as Controversies of the Christian Faith by Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine; and more recently, three Volumes of Sermons for the Liturgical year by Saint Robert Bellarmine.
