Preface to the Bible by Rooney Written for Catholic GIs Returning from WWII

Preface to the Bible

Preface to the Bible
Rev. Gerard Rooney, C.P.
Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co., 1949
xv, 171 pages. 21 cm.

Blog post by Mary Katherine May of Quality Music and Books.

Preface to the Bible by Rev. Gerard Rooney was written for Catholic G.I.s returning from World War 2.

Selections from the Foreword by G. Rooney

     The present book was written to meet the immediate needs of certain G.I. college students. The had gone to war filled with high ideals about defending civilization and freedom and the rights of God and man. After it was over they returned home (many did not) to continue their studies. In the classroom they were introduced to this modernistic line of education. 

     The main purpose of this book is to reassure them that the faith they have cherished from childhood and which gives meaning to everything else in their lives still is intact, untouched by the sophisms or unscientific theories of sham learning. Truth always lives! 

     It is hoped that the present work will be of benefit to the general reader, to college students particularly, to Newman Clubs, and also to seminarians who desire a rapid review of essentials of General Introduction. 

On Biblical Inspiration

One paragraph shown as two for ease of reading.

Page 111: Then again, we must remember that biblical inspiration, while elevating the faculties of the sacred author, yet respects his liberty. He conceives infallibly the divine thoughts, but he conceives and expresses them, as we have pointed out previously, in his own personal manner. Now, from experience we ourselves know that when many spectators look at the same scene and subsequently describe it, they do not all describe it in the the same fashion.  A lawyer, a doctor, a policeman, and a priest, reporting the same accident which they all saw, will each vary the details, according as he was impressed by the things he saw. All agree in substance. All vary in detail. 

     Even two policemen will tend to note different details. What strikes one entirely escapes another, hence divergence, and at times even apparent contradiction. Divine inspiration does not nullify this psychological law of human evidence, although it does guarantee the truth of the details given by the sacred author, in so far as he intends to affirm or deny anything. This is the only satisfactory manner of explaining differences in certain parallel accounts; e.g., Peter's denials, the different wording written on our Lord's cross, and others.

Contents

Preface to the Bible by Rev. G. Rooney: Contents (1)

Preface to the Bible by Rev. G. Rooney: Contents (2)

Preface to the Bible by Rev. G. Rooney: Contents (3)