Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith

Patterson, Robert, 1829-1885Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.4
Word count
1M words
Chapters
102

Tags

English Originals Religion Defense of FaithTruth Goodness BeautyMoral DilemmaIntellectual CommentaryCase AnalysisPopular Explanation19th CenturyReligious Debate

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith by Robert PattersonAuthor: Patterson, Robert, 1829-1885,Language: English, Class: BT: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Doctrinal theology, God, Christology, Release Date: Oct 17, 2006

Editor's review

This nineteenth-century work of Christian apologetics sets the "fables of infidelity" against the "facts of faith," answering one by one the skeptical and naturalistic views current in its day. The book is marked throughout by the polemical temper of its era, arguing chiefly from Scripture, historical testimony, and logical rebuttal, and it reflects the characteristic response of Victorian believers to the rise of science and to rational doubt. For today's reader its value lies more in the history of ideas and of religious controversy: it offers a window onto the concerns, rhetorical strategies, and argumentative limits of nineteenth-century apologetics. Written in English in a grave and somewhat elaborate style, it suits readers interested in the history of Christian apologetics and of the relation between religion and science, to be read slowly and savored; it is not to be taken as an introduction to contemporary theology or philosophy of science.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Learn the background of nineteenth-century skepticism and apologetics before entering the text.
  2. Take notes by chapter and theme, distinguishing the author's premises from his conclusions.
  3. Read alongside related contemporary discussions, noting differences of historical context.
  4. There is no need to read every page; select topics of interest for close reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
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  11. 11
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  63. 63
  64. 64
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  66. 66
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  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
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  93. 93
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  102. 102

FAQ

Do this book's arguments still hold up today? Its arguments rest on the intellectual background and debate partners of the nineteenth century, and some specific points have been overtaken by later developments in science and biblical scholarship. Its main value lies in showing the thinking and temper of apologetics in its time; readers should treat it as material for the history of ideas rather than adopt its conclusions directly.
Will a non-Christian gain anything from reading this book? Yes. Readers interested in religious history, intellectual history, or polemical rhetoric can see how nineteenth-century believers answered skepticism and understand the context of religious and rational debate in that era. Read as a historical text rather than a persuasive one, it is more rewarding.
What background knowledge is needed before reading? A rough acquaintance with basic Christian doctrine, the biblical narrative, and nineteenth-century Western intellectual history is best, as it makes the author's opponents and methods easier to follow. If all of this is unfamiliar, begin with a concise history of Christian apologetics or an introduction to modern intellectual history.

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About the author

Patterson, Robert, 1829-1885 Author

Robert Patterson (1829–1885) is an author whose biographical details are very limited in publicly available sources. What can be confirmed is that he wrote Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith. As the title suggests, the work addresses the tension between faith and doubt and belongs to the tradition of Christian apologetics or religious controversy, aiming to expose the emptiness of unbelieving arguments and to set out the grounds of Christian belief. Books of this kind typically proceed by clearly defined topics, contrastive reasoning, and explanation addressed to ordinary readers rather than by elaborate academic annotation. Patterson's style and concerns are best understood within the context of nineteenth-century popular religious writing in the English-speaking world. Since this is the only work by him recorded in our catalog, readers may treat it as the main entry point to his thought, while noting that further historical material remains to be explored.