The Hidden Stream

by Ronald Knox

Ronald Knox This book is a collection of stimulating, informal discussions in which Msgr. Knox re-examines some of the fundamental precepts of the Catholic faith as well as the formidable challenges facing Catholics today. Writing with his usual effortless grace and sparkling wit, Knox confronts such controversial topics as what is religion, man's doubts about God, the miracles of Christ, salvation outside the Church, sin and forgiveness, the Christian notion of marriage, and the resurrection of the body. The incisive religious insight and spiritual depth peppered with mischievous humor are the characteristic hallmarks of Knox's writing. He emphasizes that the Church in her teaching and sacramental life is a secret stream nourishing the world. The Hidden Stream is a lucid refresher course in the teachings of the Church for informed Catholics, a pleasant “must” for uninformed ones, and a bulwark for all concerned with explaining the faith to others. “I can think of no man of this century who enjoyed as did Ronald Knox such a mastery of the English language in all its varieties." —Evelyn Waugh “Few can match Msgr. Knox's pungent blend of humor and learning, his shrewd understanding of modern life and the vagaries of human nature.” —New York Times Book Review Table of Contents: Preface What Is Religion? Does Proof Matter? The Average Man's Doubts About God Our Knowledge of God by Analogy Survival After Death The Necessity of Revelation Preparatio Evangelica The Messianic Hope The New Testament The Christology of St. Paul Miracles The Claim of Christ The Four Marks of the Church The Development of Doctrine The Act of Faith The Nature of Mystery Sin and Forgiveness The Sacraments The Priesthood The Christian Notion of Marriage Our Lord's Teaching on Marriage and Divorce The Resurrection of the Body

Genres: Christianity, Catholic

220 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Monsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was a Roman Catholic priest, theologian, author of detective stories, as well as a writer and a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio.

Knox had attended Eton College and won several scholarships at Balliol College, Oxford. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912 and was appointed chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford, but he left in 1917 upon his conversion to Catholicism. In 1918 he was ordained a Catholic priest. Knox wrote many books of essays and novels. Directed by his religious superiors, he re-translated the Latin Vulgate Bible into English, using Hebrew and Greek sources, beginning in 1936.

He died on 24 August 1957 and his body was brought to Westminster Cathedral. Bishop Craven celebrated the requiem mass, at which Father Martin D'Arcy, a Jesuit, preached the panegyric. Knox was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew's Church, Mells.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of conferences given to university student is an excellent supplement to an apologist's arsenal. Knox's lectures cover all the usual topics in the usual order that one might expect to see in any sturdy standard apologetics text. That is, beginning with the existence of God, working through the probability of a revelation up to the claims of Christ and his miracles and then onto establishing the claim of the Catholic Church. What makes Knox different as he courses through this well trod path is that he does not make or present the arguments in the usual manner one might have come to expect if you've seen this kind of thing before. In Knox we have someone who clearly has experience in working with these arguments in real life with real people. He knows what the typical reactions and objections might be and he has his own masterful way of dealing with them and the topic as a whole. This is why I say it makes an excellent supplement. One needs to know the general course of the argument but you then need to read Knox to gain an extra degree of flexibility and versatility. Here you will find your apologetic skills deepened and honed as a result of reading Knox.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this series of lectures, Knox blends his very engaging humor and common sense with incisive Christian apologetics, continually making an effort to see matters from the point of view of his antagonists, whether atheist, agnostic or doubtful believer. One feels that, after the lecture, he would be amenable to discussing matters further over a beer at the local pub. He was a kindred spirit to G. K. Chesterton, and it's no coincidence they were friends and an inspiration to each other.

[Lector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book, with a clear explanation of the levels (or steps) in the faith.

[Rick Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the outset, I really enjoyed this book. Knox's style is conversational, engaging, and funny. He was good friends with one of my favorite authors of all time, G.K. Chesterton. I've experienced his writing in the context of mystery stories as well and found it fun.

So I feel like I need to justify giving the book such a low rating. First of all, I should point out that it's not as though the book has nothing good or worthwhile in it. The first three chapters are excellent, and there are little gems throughout the entire book that are highly quotable and useful. Hence, the two star rating rather than one.

Second, I'm not rating the book low because Knox is a Roman Catholic and I am a Protestant. No, I, staunch Calvinist Presbyterian that I am, absolutely love Peter Kreeft, I adore G.K. Chesterton, I revel in a host of Catholic fiction authors such as Flannery O'Connor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Evelyn Waugh, Sigrid Undset, etc. So I am quite happy to take Mr. Knox on his own terms even though I don't agree with him about everything.

The reason I was so dissatisfied with his book is simply this: it was sloppy and muddled, and became more so the longer the book went on. For context, this book is a series of lectures on apologetics given to undergrads at Oxford University, and in many places shows all the depth of a lesson cooked up by a lazy youth minister 30 minutes before bible study. Knox spends a large part of the book hand-waving theology and condescendingly talking down to his audience rather than equipping the students to engage in the defense of the faith. After a series of lectures on apologetics, one would expect the listeners to go forth in the spirit of crusaders with their shields of faith polished and shining in the sun, and when struck by unbelief one would expect to hear a ring like cold iron about them. After sitting through this series of lectures, I would expect that anyone who struck out at the worldview of the listeners would hear a squish like cold jello.

Knox lets his students know that the question of free will and grace is a poser, that lots of theologians have thought about it a lot, that St. Augustine probably thought about it too much, and that you students don't need to worry your pretty little heads about it really. *Squish* Knox admits that divine revelation is important to know certain things, like the Trinity for example, but after all the Trinity isn't really that important. Without it "we might have had rather half-baked ideas about the Incarnation, but we could have muddled through somehow." *Squish* Knox decides that talking about Original Sin or material sin would be too boring and unpractical for these modern college students, and anyway shouldn't we call those things something other than sin since it's formal sin that we are interested in anyway? *Squish* And the atonement? Well that was strictly unnecessary as God could have just forgiven everyone's sins outright without sending Jesus, but He didn't choose that and so we've just got to go with it. *Squish*

I'm sure that Ronald Knox was a very intelligent man, and I'm sure that I would love to sit down and enjoy a nice pint with him and talk theology. But if you're a Catholic and looking for an introduction to apologetics, why not check out Fundamentals of the Faith or Handbook of Christian Apologetics both by Peter Kreeft? Better yet, why not pick up De Doctrina Christiana by Augustine? Then follow it up with a regimen of Anselm. (To see Anselm's answer to the questions that Knox flubbed above, read De Concordia [for free will and grace], Monologion and Proslogion [for the Trinity], On Free Will and On the Virgin Conception and Original Sin [for sin], and Cur Deus Homo [for the atonement].) Then when you're done with that, grab some Aquinas and go to town.

So in summary, I had high hopes for this book at the outset and then felt let down by the end. Pass on this one, it's not really worth the time.