BOOK REVIEW: Radio Replies, Vols I, II and III

For something different, I'd like to highlight what have to be three of the best books I've ever read--at least in regards to providing answers about the Catholic Faith.  The 3 Volume Set titled simpy Radio Replies by Father's Leslie Rumble and Charles Carty (Copyright 1942) tackle hard-hitting questions about the Catholic Faith.

The books are well-indexed and can be read cover to cover, browsed, or used as research tools to discover quick insights into Catholic thought on anything--and I mean ANYTHING.  The index in Volume 3 includes, for example, The Perpetual Virginity of Mary, Protestant Bibles, Marriage and Divorce, The Existence of God, Hell, Egyptian Mythology, The Problem of Evil, The Fall of the Angels and hundreds of other topics.

The questions were gathered by Fathers Rumble and Carty for use on their radio show and were submitted by Catholics, Protestants, Athiests and everybody in between.  There are very few softball questions and no cheap answers.  Logic, reasoning, faith and tradition are woven seamlessly into every answer.  It's not always easy to accept the good Fathers' answers without getting a little frustrated, a little angry (especially if you're on the non-Catholic side of the fence), but while the answers are clear-cut and offer no apologies, neither are they condescending, cutting or cruel.  They're grown-up answers for grown-up seekers who are able to absorb a few theological blows without breaking into tears and running for cover.

Excerpt from Radio Replies, Volume 3:

511:   We Protestants believe that each man should read the Bible for himself and accept the truth he discovers in its pages.

That is an unsound principle.  Many men fail to understand the true meaning of the Bible, and still more read wrong meanings into it.  Thus St. Peter says that there are many things in Scripture hard to be understood which the unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction.  The very fruits of such private interpretation should be sufficient proof that God could never have intended such a method.  For men have made the Bible support the most opposite doctrines and have established hundreds of distinct and irreconcilable sects, each claiming to represent the true religion of Christ.  God could never have intended a principle which would lead to such chaos.

927:  Surely the doctrine of hell is hard to believe even by Catholics.

It is no more difficult than any other revealed mystery of the Christian religion.  If a man can believe in the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, or the Blessed Sacrament, he can just as easily believe in hell.  He has exactly the same motive for doing so, the authority of God for its existence.  Hell is as much a mystery of faith as any other revealed mystery.  We have to believe in it as God knows it to be, not as we imagine it to be.  As we can state simply that there are three Persons in one God without fully comprehending the complete significance of the doctrine, so we know that there is a possible final and eternal wreckage called hell.  But the nature of hell, and its reconciliation with all the attributes of God, are beyond our comprehension.  That however, does not justify us in denying the knowledge and veracity of Christ.  Our faith in Him compels us to believe in hell; and our belief in hell inspires us with a dread of sin.  You will notice that I say our faith in Christ compels us to believe in hell.  We look, not at the thing we are asked to believe but at the knowledge and veracity of the Christ who tells us to believe it.  The only really valid argument against hell would be to prove that Christ did not teach it, or that He did not know what He was talking about, or that He deliberately lied.  That our limited minds find difficulty in comprehending hell is no argument against it.  We expect that, in the presence of a mystery of faith.

The books are currently out of print, but can be picked up on Ebay and they're well worth the $45 or so you'll have to pay.  If you're interested in understanding true Catholicism and not the mush you may think is Catholicism, these are incredibly valuable resources.

UPDATE:  9/16/12:
I've just discovered that these books are available on Kindle and Nook...for $.99.  That is truly an amazing deal--less than 1 dollar for all three volumes in one, easy-to-read, electronic edition.  It's an absolute must-have.  You can find them under the Radio Replies title or by searching for author Leslie Rumble.