Controversies of the Christian Faith: The First General Controversy - on the Word of God

St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, S.J. (1542-1621) was the chief Catholic theologian during the latter part of the sixteenth century and at the beginning of the seventeenth century. His literary production was immense, since he produced books and treatises on most areas of theology, including Scripture, Christology, Sacraments, Liturgy, Ecclesiology and Eschatology. Among his major works are the three Controversies contained in this series.
Volume One covers the First General Controversy and deals with the written and unwritten Word of God—the Scriptures and Tradition. In it he proves that the Bible is the revealed Word of God and that it contains no errors. Cardinal Bellarmine presents several arguments in defense of the reliability and accuracy of the Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible which was made about the year 200 B.C. He also defends the integrity of the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible which was made by St. Jerome around the year 400 and has been used in the liturgy of the Catholic Church since that time.
In all three Controversies in this series he is refuting the errors of many adversaries of the Catholic Church, who were very vocal in the sixteenth century and published many books attacking the Catholic faith and traditions. His favorite targets are Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Robert Cardinal Bellarmine was greatly admired by bishops and Catholic theologians during his lifetime and was famous for his scholarship and preaching. He was the theologian and counselor for several popes. He was called another Augustine, another Athanasius. He was greatly detested by Protestants because of the power of his arguments to prove that they were in error. In fact, he was so detested in England that lectures were instituted at Oxford and Cambridge in order to refute his arguments.