Catholic dogmatic theology pdf

If self-existence is the fundamental attribute of God , both the attributes of being and of operation must proceed from it as from their root. The first class includes infinity , simplicity, substantiality, omnipotence , immutability, eternity , and immensity; to the second category belong omniscience and the Divine will.

Besides, many theologians distinguish from both these categories the so-called moral attributes: veracity , fidelity, wisdom, sanctity , bounty, beauty, mercy, and justice. Monotheism is best treated in connection with God's simplicity and unity. The most difficult problems are those which concern God's knowledge , especially His foreknowledge of free future actions.

For it is here that both Thomists and Molinists throw out their anchors to gain a secure hold for their respective systems of grace, the former for their proemotio physica , the latter for their scientia media. In treating of the Divine will, theologians insist on God's freedom in His external activity, and when discussing the problem of evil , they prove that God can intend sin neither as an end nor as a means to an end, but merely permits it for reasons both holy and wise.

Being the cornerstone of the Christian religion , the doctrine of the Trinity is thoroughly and extensively discussed, all the more because the Liberal theology of the Protestants has relapsed into the ancient error of the Antitrinitarians.

The dogma of God's threefold personality , traces of which may be found in the Old Testament , can be conclusively proved from the New Testament and Tradition. The combat which the Fathers waged against Monarchianism , Sabellianism , and Subordinationism Arius, Macedonius aids considerably in shedding light on the mystery.

Great importance attaches to the logos-doctrine of St. John; but as to its relation to the logos of the Stoic Neoplatonists, the Jewish Philonians, and the early Fathers, many points are still in an unsettled condition. The reason why there are three Persons is the twofold procession immanent in the Godhead : the procession of the Son from the Father by generation, and the procession of the Holy Ghost from both the Father and the Son by spiration. In view of the Greek schism , the dogmatic justification of the addition of the Filioque in the Creed must be scientifically established.

A philosophical understanding of the dogma of the Trinity was attempted by the Fathers, especially by St. The most important result was the cognition that the Divine generation must be conceived as a spiritual procession from the intellect , and the Divine spiration as a procession from the will or from love. Active and passive generation, together with active and passive spiration, lead to the doctrine of the four relations, of which, however, only three constitute persons , to wit, active and passive generation Father, Son , and passive spiration Holy Ghost.

The reason why active spiration does not result in a distinct fourth person , is because it is one and the same common function of the Father and the Son. The philosophy of this mystery includes also the doctrine of the Divine properties, notions, appropriations, and missions. Finally, with the doctrine of circuminsession which summarizes the whole theology of the Trinity, the treatment of this dogma is brought to a fitting conclusion.

The first act of God's external activity is creation. The theologian investigates both the activity itself and the work produced. With regard to the former, the interest centres in creation out of nothing, around which, as along the circumference of a circle, are grouped a number of secondary truths : God's plan of the universe , the relation between the Trinity and creation, the freedom of the Creator, the creation in time, the impossibility of communicating the creative power to any creature.

These momentous truths not only perfect and purify the theistic idea of God , they also give the death-blow to heretical Dualism God , matter and to the Protean variations of Pantheism. As the beginning of the world supposes creation out of nothing, so its continuation supposes Divine conservation, which is nothing less than a continued creation. However, God's creative activity is not thereby exhausted. It enters into every action of the creature, whether necessary or free.

What is the nature of God's universal co-operation with free rational beings? On this question Thomists and Molinists differ widely. The former regard the Divine activity as a previous, the latter as a simultaneous, concursus. According to Molinism , it is only by conceiving the concursus as simultaneous that true freedom in the creature can be secured, and that the essential holiness of the Creator can be maintained, the fact of sin notwithstanding.

The crowning achievement of God's creative activity is His providence and universal government which aims at the realization of the ultimate end of the universe , God's glory through His creatures. The work produced by creation is divided into three kingdoms, rising in tiers one above another: world; man; angel.

To this triad correspond dogmatic cosmology , anthropology, angelology. In discussing the first of these, the theologian must be satisfied with general outlines, e. Anthropology is more thoroughly treated, because man, the microcosm, is the centre of creation. Revelation tells us many things about man's nature, his origin and the unity of the human race , the spirituality and immortality of the soul , the relation of soul and body, the origin of individual souls.

Above all, it tells us of supernatural grace with which man was adorned and which was intended to be a permanent possession of the human race. The discussion of man's original state must be preceded by a theory of the supernatural order without which the nature of original sin could not be understood. But original sin , the willful repudiation of the supernatural state, is one of the most important chapters. Its existence must be carefully proved from the sources of faith ; its nature, the mode of its transmission, its effects, must be subjected to a thorough discussion.

The fate of the angels runs in many respects parallel to that of mankind : the angels also were endowed with both sanctifying grace and high natural excellences; some of them rose in rebellion against God , and were thrust into hell as demons. While the devil and his angels are inimical to the human race , the faithful angels have been appointed to exercise the office of guardians over mankind.

As the fall of man was followed by redemption , so the chapter on creation is immediately followed by that on redemption. Its three main divisions: Christology , Soteriology, Mariology, must ever remain in the closest connection.

Soteriology is the doctrine of the work of the Redeemer. As in Christology the leading idea is the Hypostatic Union , so here the main idea is the natural mediatorship of Christ. After having disposed of the preliminary questions concerning the possibility, opportuneness, and necessity of redemption , as well as of those regarding the predestination of Christ , the next subject to occupy our attention is the work of redemption itself.

This work reaches its climax in the vicarious satisfaction of Christ on the cross, and is crowned by His descent into limbo and His ascension into heaven. From a speculative standpoint, a thorough and comprehensive theory of satisfaction remains still a pious desideratum, though promising attempts have often been made from the days of Anselm down to the present time.

It will be necessary to blend into one noble whole the hidden elements of truth contained in the old patristic theory of ransom, the juridical conception of St. Anselm , and the ethical theory of atonement. The Redeemer's activity as Mediator stands out most prominently in His triple office of high priest , prophet , and king, which is continued, after the ascension of Christ , in the priesthood and the teaching and pastoral office of the Church.

The central position is occupied by the high-priesthood of Christ , which manifests the death on the cross as the true sacrifice of propitiation, and proves the Redeemer to be a true priest. Mariology, the doctrine of the Mother of God , cannot be separated either from the person or from the work of the Redeemer and therefore has the deepest connection with both Christology and Soteriology.

Here the central idea is the Divine Maternity, since this is at once the source of Mary's unspeakable dignity and of her surpassing fullness of grace.

Just as the Hypostatic Union of the Divinity and humanity of Christ stands or falls with the truth of the Divine Maternity, so too is this same maternity the foundation of all special privileges which were accorded to Mary on account of Christ's dignity.

These singular privileges are four: her Immaculate Conception, personal freedom from sin , perpetual virginity, and her bodily Assumption into heaven. For the three former we have doctrinal decisions of the Church , which are final. However, though Mary's bodily Assumption has not yet been solemnly declared an article of faith , nevertheless the Church has practically demonstrated such to be her belief by celebrating from the earliest times the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God.

Two more privileges are connected with Mary's dignity: her special mediatorship between the Redeemer and the redeemed and her exclusive right to hyperdulia.

Of course, it is clear that the mediatorship of Mary is entirely subordinate to that of Her Divine Son and derives its whole efficacy and power therefrom. In order the better to understand the value and importance of Mary's peculiar right to such veneration, it will be well to consider, by way of contrast, the dulia paid to the saints and, again, the doctrine concerning the veneration paid to relics and images.

For the most part, dogmatic theologians prefer to treat these latter subjects under eschatology , together with the Communion of Saints. The Christian idea of grace is based entirely upon the supernatural order. A distinction is made between actual and sanctifying grace , according as there is question of a supernatural activity or merely the state of sanctification. But the crucial point in the whole doctrine of grace lies in the justification of the sinner, because, after all, the aim and object of actual grace is either to lay the foundation for the grace of justification when the latter is absent, or to preserve the grace of justification in the soul that already possesses it.

The three qualities of actual grace are of the utmost importance: its necessity, its gratuitousness, and its universality. Although on the one hand we must avoid the exaggeration of the Reformers , and of the followers of Baius and Jansenius , who denied the capability of unaided nature altogether in moral action, yet, on the other hand, theologians agree that fallen man is quite incapable, without the help of God's grace , of either fulfilling the whole natural law or of resisting all strong temptations.

But actual grace is absolutely necessary for each and every salutary act, since all such acts bear a causal relation towards the supernatural end of man. The heretical doctrines of Pelagianism and Semipelagianism are refuted by the Church's doctrinal decisions based upon Holy Scripture and Tradition. From the supernatural character of grace flows its second quality: gratuitousness. So entirely gratuitous is grace that no natural merit, no positive capability or preparation for it on the part of nature, nor even any purely natural petition, is able to move God to give us actual grace.

The universality of grace rests fundamentally upon the absolute universality of God's salvific will, which, in regard to adults, simply means His antecedent will to distribute sufficient grace to each and every person , whether he be already justified or in the state of sin , whether he be Christian or heathen , believer or infidel. But the salvific will, in as far as it is consequent and deals out just retribution, is no longer universal, but particular, for the reason that only those who persevere in justice , enter heaven , whereas the wicked are condemned to hell.

The question of the predestination of the blessed and the reprobation of the damned is admittedly one of the most difficult problems with which theology has to deal, and its solution is wrapped in impenetrable mystery. The same may be said of the relation existing between grace and the liberty of the human will. It would be cutting the Gordian knot rather than loosing it, were one to deny the efficacy of grace, as did Pelagianism , or again, following the error of Jansenism , deny the liberty of the will.

The difficulty is rather in determining just how the acknowledged efficacy of grace is to be reconciled with human freedom. For centuries Thomists and Molinists , Augustinians and Congruists have been toiling to clear up the matter. And while the system of grace known as syncretic has endeavoured to harmonize the principles of Thomism and Molinism , it has served but to double the difficulties instead of eliminating them.

The second part of the doctrine on grace has to do with sanctifying grace , which produces the state of habitual holiness and justice.

Preparatory to receiving this grace, the soul undergoes a certain preliminary process, which is begun by theological faith , the "beginning, root and foundation of all justification", and is completed and perfected by other supernatural dispositions, such as contrition, hope, love.

The Protestant conception of justifying faith as a mere fiducial faith is quite as much at variance with revelation as is the sola fides doctrine. Catholics also differ from Protestants in explaining the essence of justification itself. According to Catholic teaching , the forgiveness of sin and the sanctification of the soul are but two moments of one and the same act of justification, since the blotting-out of original and mortal sin is accomplished by the very fact of the infusion of sanctifying grace.

Although we may, to a certain extent, understand the nature of grace in itself, and may define it philosophically as a permanent quality of the soul , an infused habit, an accidental and analogous participation of the Divine nature, yet its true nature may be more easily understood from a consideration of its so-called formal effects produced in the soul. These are: sanctity , purity, beauty, friendship with God , adopted sonship. Sanctifying grace is accompanied by additional gifts, viz.

Jean rated it really liked it May 09, Chapter 1 of Section 2 outlines the speculative explanation of the internal-divine processions. The original English translation of Ott by Dr Patrick Lynch, while it helped countless readers, was afflicted with numerous errors of translation.

Ott transitions to focusing on the work of Jesus, first examining His redemption. An examination of the various offices prophet, king, and priest is covered. If you already have an old Ott, replace it fundametnals the new Ott, which is handsomer and better translated. I go to this rather than the catholic doctrine and apologetics by Archbishop Sheehan. His studies in the field of dogmatics and the history of scholasticism made him eminently qualified to write the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma.

Preface to this Edition Fr. Evelyn Castro rated it it was amazing Aug 29, Tells exactly what the Church teaches on any particular topic.

Section 1 emphasizes the divine act of creation, examining both the beginning of the world, as well as the preservation and governing of the world. Numerous translation errors unfortunately found in the Lynch-Bastible translation have now been corrected. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.

Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Gregorian chant — Cistercian Abbey of Flaran. Gregorian chant — Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz.

Medieval Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant: From Antiquity to the Renaissance. Gregorian chant — Benedictine monks of St. Gregorian chant — Benedictines of Clervaux.

Campus Stellae: Sacred chant of the 12th century. Gregorian chant Franciscan manuscripts of the th cent. Gregorian chant — Benedictine nuns of San Pelayo, Oviedo. Plainchant and Polyphony of the 13th and 14th century. Gregorian chant — Psallentes.

Gregorian chant various. Abbey of Solesmes X Christ the King. Requiem — Solesmes. The site unfortunately carries many Protestant books as well, so do your research to make sure any book you intend to read is Catholic and doctrinally sound. Other websites I recommend for free Catholic books: freecatholicebooks. For a vast quantity of texts, mostly in Latin, see DocumentaCatholicaOmnia.

If you know the name of the book, author or topic, archive. Thank you so much for this website and the compilation. I shall pray for you for the good you do with this work, and for your faith to remain strong. May God sustain his faithful, all of us as we persevere aided by grace. God bless you. Pingback: Resolutions PassioXP. Simply click on the link and save the pdf or other format where available to your computer. These books can be read on a computer, tablet or on any electronic reader such as the Kindle, etc.

Thank you for a wonderful compilation. Unfortunately the link for Catholics and Freemasons Fr. Rumble does not work. Unfortunately the website that had published the text seems to have ceased to exist. Should anyone have the text or a new link , please let me know. I add my thanks for your tremendous work at a time when the Old Religion seems to be slipping away.

May God bless you always! I cannot appreciate this website enough. I authoritatively proclaim it the best website in the world and this is why we have Internet. May God through Our Lady bless who owns this website abundantly. Jude, AC, Charles, and everyone else — your comments and prayers are very much appreciated! Thank you and God bless. It is currently not working. Many thanks for making it available.

The links are fixed now. I thank you so much for this magnificent list of spiritual books! I am now able to download the audio files for my dad to listen to. I am praying desperately for his baptism and acceptance of the one true Faith-Catholicism. I already said a prayer for you as you requested. May God bless you abundantly! Can i copy prayers and other info out of these books for my own prayer book i am compiling?

I want to print the book, -0 prophet. Lawrence J Bender, If you are going to give your book for free then why not? But if you have a price for your prayer book, then I dont know.. Also accessible here from the St.

Greetings from Nigeria. Here is Fr. As for Fr. God bless. Thank you for such a good site. I wonder if you have any information on traditional Maronite Rite? Your work and the books contained are treasures that will strengthen the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Praying that the Lord bless and protect you all! Father in the Name of Jesus, our brother and Lord, together with the Holy Spirit our helper, we ask that through the ministry of the Angels that you protection and grace be upon these laborers in this site and that it be extended to all their families and love ones.

Joseph, the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, the Seraphic Doctor St. Bonaventure and the Doctor of Grace St. Bobby, Arnold, kokanjo and everyone else: many thanks for all your prayers and comments. I am from india and Thanks to you, for your great work! Can i get the writings of Maria Voltorta …? Thank you for your comment. And here are all her works together in one volume incl. Please keep in mind that her writings were at one time placed on the Index of forbidden books although there have also been Church authorities in favor of her writings, incl.

Pope Pius XII. So some prudence and caution may be well advised when reading. I am from Goa ,God bless you for the inspiring religious works. He wrote several books…not sure which one you meant. Also, here is another book on mental prayer by Fr. You may want to be careful with his writings as they appear to contain explicitly heretical statements.

History of Rosary is Not readable. Would you please fix it? Thank you very much. God Bless for the wonderful work. The link seems to be working fine. You can simply rotate the pdf. Thank you, and Happy Easter! Happy Easter! The physical book can be purchased on Amazon or abebooks. Can you include the book life and revelations of anne catherine emmerich volume II?

What is currently available is vol. Thank you for your comment and prayers. Hello sir. We have talked on here briefly in the past, and I mentioned offering any assistance you may have need for in any way. I wanted to renew that offer as well as touch on the suggestion you mentioned of reading audio books. Perhaps I can offer one and if my work is passable we may continue.

Or, if it needs to be done in any particular way, you can direct my initial path. Thank you, again,, for your work. I have hundreds of books in the palm of my hand at all times thanks to your work. Dominus tecum. Pax Domini Nostri Jesu Christi tecum. Please feel free to email me any time. I will happily provide cell number for texting, valise discussion as well. I would be very grateful if you could add St.

Thank you for your kind comment and prayers. If so, please drop me a line. If not, no concern. When you do get a chance, I look forward to talking. I tend to get a bunch of emails I blow right past, hence the question. I look forward to it. My dear brothers and sisters here,i am from vietnam,i am looking for some PDF links about the right bible from catholic church and collection of all prayers from church,i mean the full collections including many short prayers or novenas or litanies by english and holy rosary ,divine of mercy chaplet but all of them are news and using now in our church,with my regards and god bless you all.

Thank you. Hi phoenix. I found it! Thank you so much for providing such a great resource for all but especially for this lukewarm Catholic. Thanks be to God for this great side — May He be your reward for this great Apostolate!

Would the commentary of St Augustin on the Psalms be among the listed writings? God bless you! Here are St. God bless you for this fabulous enterprise! Everything on the site may be copied freely. What an awesome collection of spiritual treasures! May Jesus and Mary bless you abundantly! This is an invaluable task. What a goldmine! Many thanks to the organizers of this site! Just an appeal please. In my opinion, its a book an unbiased individual cannot but desire becoming Catholic after reading it.

Dear Admin, I am from Srilanka. I am blessed to find this website. I really love this collection. I just wanted to know whether you can share the books of Fr. John Laux MA, Fr. Many of their books are already listed. You can do a search to find a specific book or search by the name of the author. I own Fr. However, there are some books written by Fr.

Also several biographies of Fr. It is simply fantastic. Thank you very much for the work you have done and continue doing. I have benefited immensely and believe other people of good will will also benefit. May God bless you abundantly. Hello greetings from Nigeria. There are many other books on exorcism freely available though you can do a search on the book page. Thanks so much for this wonderful opportunity. Please I am looking for Catholicism by Richard Mcbrian. It can be purchased very cheaply at Amazon.

Thanks for this wonderful list of incalculable teachings to keep all confused knowing the Truths of our Catholic Faith. It is the safety net for these times. Thank you for your kind comment. However, many of the writings of Luisa Piccarreta were put on the Index in under Pius XI , so at the very least one needs to be careful when reading them.

God Bless you. Regarding Luisa Piccarreta, there is a website luisapiccarreta. St Francis Di Hannibal had it printed. The 36 Volumes were never put on the index. Hope this helps.

In the Divine Will. Thank you so much for putting all this together!! I tried to look at the children books by Lovasik and the books wont download or allow me to read them. Where can I find them? I just tried to download them and it worked fine. Perhaps it was some temporary issue. Or try another browser. If you still have issues, I can email them to you. Thank you very much for this books of saints and in our catholic faith, about Mother Mary and moral theology of our Church.

It helps me a lot in my daily spiritual struggle towards God. I have tried to download so many Catholic books but found it difficult to download some. I thank God for whoever did this good work of bringing out so many Catholic books for our spiritual nourishment and growth. I pray for your sanctification and that you may achieve an infinite love for Jesus Christ our God and his Holy Mother, the blessed Mary ever Virgin. Thank you so much and I pray that you may live a saintly life and become a saint after your death.

Many thanks for your prayers and comment. We thank your for making it possible for us to get good old catholic books available for us. You are quite right. It has now been removed from the list. Should you be aware of any other such books on the list, let me know. Can you help me out? A very useful collection of books which can be easily downloaded for ready reference.

Thank you so much for the great work. May God Bless you. Thank you so much for this beautiful list. I hardly find any of this books in my country and buying these online will cost me too much on the shipping fee.

May God bless you. Thank you may the Good lord continue to increase your love for him and for souls, my friend only in eternity will you know the good you have done. I pray that you may always remain in humble self knowledge and knowledge of God, my friend enter this house of who are you oh lord and who am I. My friend I beg for the sake of God and all the Good work you have been doing to know that God is all and we miserable sinners are nothing but in existence.

Be always little. Like who are you??? How did you put all these books and things on here. Like please have mercy and give at least a little information on such a great human being or group of humans.

Please can I get, Difficulties in mental prayers by Fr. Eugene Boylan and Conversation with Christ. The teaching of St Teresa of Avila. Thank you and God bless you. Michael Fahy God bless you for the wonderful works.

May the good Lord bless you and grant you more wisdom. Keep up the evangelism. Excellent website! I am looking for a book by Joseph Franzle on Catholic tradition my spelling could be off a bit. Thank you for the help. Specifically, his Tractatus de divina traditione et scriptura. Thanks, Geremia. Btw, do you have any book on the history of the Eastern Catholic rites? I think you mean John Baptist Franzelin, S. Thank you so much for this website. Do you know where we can find the book Merry in God by Fr.

Doyle, SJ? There are too many good books that are now out of print. And here a website with more resources about Fr. Your email address will not be published. December 28, at pm. WaywardPilgrim says:. June 19, at pm. Alex says:. Absolutely wonderful list! Thank you for your diligent work!

Nancy Reyes says:. December 29, at am. Some of these books can be found at internet archives www. And some of the classics can be found at Librivox or project Gutenburg. December 30, at pm. T C says:. December 31, at pm. Geoff says:. January 10, at pm. Pal says:. February 11, at pm.

February 13, at pm. Charles Adulugba says:. April 8, at pm. May God bless the work of your hands. Only God can fully repay you all for this priceless work. AC says:. April 16, at pm. Jude says:. May 2, at pm. It looks like a dream but it a reality. May 8, at am. May 30, at am. June 2, at pm.

Elise says:. June 5, at am. July 5, at am. Lawrence J Bender says:. June 12, at pm. Lionel says:. June 22, at pm. Michael J. Sharkey says:. August 13, at pm. Sharkey , OFS says:. Geremia says:. August 22, at pm. August 27, at am. Nnaoma says:. September 22, at am. January 15, at pm. Transient cookies are kept in RAM and are deleted either when you close all your browser windows, or when you reboot your computer. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.

Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies.

But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.

Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website.