The Creed in Slow Motion is a collection of sermons given by Monsignor Ronald Knox to the students of an all girls Catholic boarding schooling back during World War II. Knox is a well regarded theological scholar. He was asked and did translate the Bible into English. He was friends with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the like. It is odd that a man of rather ivory tower scholarship should wind up the chaplain of an all girls school but circumstances led to this and we should all be thankful. Because he knew perfectly how to relate to those young girls somehow. His lectures were very popular and thus compiled into this book.
At the suggestion of Suzie Andres, I began to read this book out loud to Becky and Sean on the first day of Advent. We have been plugging along through it slowly for many months. The thing is, you can read a paragraph or two and then wind up having a half hour long discussion about the theology just explained. Knox hits just the right tone for children. He never talks down to them, his sense of humor never fails, the clarity of his analogies and explanations are spot on, and through it all comes an affection and thoughtfulness that makes reading these lectures so pleasant. And when you are done this book, you will have a thorough grasp of what you are praying when you say the creed.
Ronald Knox is really a fascinating person. My aunt Jackie, when she got her Fullbright scholarship, spent it in London, England. This was in the early 1950s. One day she noticed flyers tacked up around the streets. Ronald Knox was going to be speaking at a nearby church. She was delighted. She went and saw him speak and said he was wonderful. She's now 88 years old and still very happy she got to hear him before he passed away.
There's a Ronald Knox Society of North America! I think this might become a favorite site of mine. I'm looking forward to reading more by Knox.
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