In Soft Garments

by Ronald Knox

— A Classic — Includes Active Table of Contents — Includes Religious Illustrations

When the Holy See gave a general permission for Catholics to matriculate at Oxford and Cambridge, the stipulation was made that lectures should be provided for them, to safeguard their faith against the influence of an uncongenial atmosphere. During the years between 1926 and 1938, when I was chaplain at Oxford, I delivered a good many of these myself; and I have collected some of them in this book, in the hope that they may suggest useful lines of thought to a wider (though I hope not much more learned) audience. In particular, I suppose that the subjects here discussed are such as figure, not infrequently, in the programme of the Catholic Evidence Guild. It will be seen, from a glance at the title-page, that this book does not represent a complete course in any branch of apologetics.

Aeterna Press

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Christianity, Spirituality

161 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1942

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

[Samantha B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book! It's a collection of straight-forward and common-sense homilies about the Catholic faith, given by Ronald Knox, who in addition to being smart and funny has the extra distinction of being of the same time period as Lewis & Tolkien, thus putting him in my *favorite* literary period. And it shows! He definitely has the same down-to-earth easy-to-understand-but-very-smart approach as Lewis does in his apologetics.

The essays cover a variety of topics from the existence of God to marriage and beyond...it's a good overview of the Catholic faith, and a good refresher course, if that should be the sort of thing you need.

Four stars!

[V Forr · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could rate "In Soft Garments" with six stars, I would. Absolutely superb. Excellence in thought, speech, and writing from the departed Monsignor Ronald A. Knox. My favorites are: "The Cross-word of Creation"; "'Mind' and 'Matter'"; "If God Exists-"; "The Unholiness of the Church"; "Faith Lost and Found"; "The Unconscious Catholic"; "Verbum Caro Factum Est"; "Et Habitavit In Nobis"; "Morality and Convention"; "Unselfishness in Marriage"; and "The Torch Handed On." Happy reading!

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great apologetic, the "conferences" are simple, but edifying essays on being Catholic.

[Stephen Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Soft Garments is the written record of a series of lectures preached at Oxford by Father Knox. Before you stop reading there, do not fear, these are not boring. There is exciting material throughout the sermons given by Father Knox. Because these sermons were given to students in college, (as a monk I would know would say, "when college students were college students") they are on a level that most adults in our country should comprehend, even though the English from across the pond and 75 years ago is a little more stylistic than our current palate, it's a very easy read.

Fr. Knox handles his subjects with a clarity and depth that are not often seen in these days. The brevity in which he handles even the most complex subjects helps the reader to move through the lectures. He also provided me with a lot of facts that made me want to do more research. The most fascinating idea that he brought up was the Bishop of Little Rock's role in the First Vatican Council; I was stunned that a bishop so close to home was so controversial!

Not every lecture is simple, but I have confidence that most men and women could read, understand, and grow from this book. If you've never read anything deeply theological, this is a good starting point because it is the spoken word on paper, which means the number of hard words is fewer!

Taken from OurLadyandSheen.wordpress.com

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Soft Garments is a series of lectures given Fr. Knox at Oxford. I would say the subtitle (Classic Catholic Apologetics) might be slightly misleading to someone thinking they are picking up an explicitly Catholic treatise; very few of the lectures deal with uniquely Catholic ideas, such as a defense of God as prime mover, source of morality, truth, etc. Don't get me wrong, all of these ideas are very important for Catholics; however, the framework for these arguments could be shared by all theists, which, perhaps, gives an added strength to the book. Another strength is that the arguments are very well made and easy to follow, even for a reader not familiar with this kind of literature.

Knox was clearly a very witty man and there are some wonderful quotes and arguments that would be delightful to share with friends. I don't think it's quite the high caliber book that I would agree with Evelyn Waugh's remark "It should be at every bedside", but it's strong enough that I should be happy to hear of anyone who allowed it to reside there.

[Jacob Cloete]

A great read that I recommend to all Catholic undergraduates (original target in 1920s and 30s),, all other undergraduates, graduates and anyone else who wants to/ought to concern themselves with the matters that really matter.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any one who is a fan of CS Lewis and Chesterton.