On Divine Tradition

by Johannes Baptist Franzelin, Ryan Grant, Chad A. Ripperger

"The fact that even after Vatican II authors repeatedly referred to Franzelin meant that the work of Franzelin himself must be studied in depth in order to make any claim that one has done the proper research to speak with any authority on the topic of Tradition." -Fr. Chad Ripperger, PhD Cardinal Franzelin was a peritus at the First Vatican Council, and was made a Cardinal by Bl. Pope Pius IX. He was also an expert in Hebrew and a lecturer in Chaldean and Syriac. His lectures and theological writings held first place in the Roman Theological scene of his day. In 26 Theses, Cardinal Franzelin challenges the Protestant notion that Tradition is opposed to Scripture, by a direct analysis of the establishment of a living magisterium in Scripture, and the witness to this magisterium given by the Fathers of the Church and all Christian ages.

Genres: Christianity, Theology, Catholic

470 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2016

About the author

Johannes Baptist Franzelin (b. at Aldein, in Tyrol, 15 April 1816; d. at Rome, 11 December 1886) was an Austrian Jesuit theologian and Cardinal.

Reviews

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

4/10 and 8/10.

On the nature of Tradition vs tradition, the authority of church, council, pope, and Scripture, and the epistemology of religious knowledge in the Catholic Church, this is the best and only game in town aside from Aquinas, who wrote prior to the Protestant revolution. Along those lines, this work is necessary reading.

Good content rated downwards on the basis of the very difficult, unidiomatic translation, which is in need of copyediting and a lot of work on English word order and idiom. I found myself referring to the actual original Latin in a pdf quite frequently to make better sense of especially obscure and ungrammatical English choices. (If you can use this as a crib for the Latin, just read the Latin. It's 'literal' enough that you could learn Latin grammar and vocab just by reading the translation and the Latin side by side.)

Further review of both the content (the half of Franzelin's book 'On Divine Tradition' of 'On Divine Tradition and Sacred Scripture' Englished by Grant) and the Englishing to come.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating read and a strong defense of Catholic Tradition—addressing both Protestant objections and what were, at the time, the early signs of modernism within the Church. It remains especially relevant today, even in the midst of the current crisis facing the Church. That said, the language can be a bit challenging at times. Some passages require slow, careful rereading due to their technical vocabulary and the older style of expression. Still, the depth and richness of the content make it well worth the effort.