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Joseph McCabe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
1 Early life
2 Writing career
3 Works
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links
Early life
Joseph McCabe
McCabe was born in Macclesfield in Cheshire, but his family moved
to Manchester while he was still a child. He entered the Franciscan
order at the age of 15, and spent a year of preliminary study at Gorton Monastery. His novitiate year
took place in Killarney, after which he was transferred to Forest Gate in London (to the school which
is now St Bonaventure's Catholic Comprehensive School) for the remainder of his priestly education.
In 1890 he was ordained into the priesthood with the name Father Antony.
He was recognised as an outstanding scholar of philosophy, and was sent for a year (1893 – 1894) to
study at the Catholic University of Louvain. Here he was successfully taught Hebrew by A van
Hoonacker, and less successfully, Syriac by T. J. Lamy. He also studied under, and befriended,
Mercier. He returned to London and resumed priestly and educational duties, until in October 1895
when he was put in charge of the newly founded Franciscan college in Buckingham, (which is now
St Bernardine's Catholic Church, Buckingham). He had gradually been losing his faith and
eventually left that post and the priesthood in February 1896.[1][2]
Writing career
Shortly after leaving the priesthood, McCabe began writing. He wrote a pamphlet on his
experiences, From Rome to Rationalism, published in 1897, which he then expanded to book length
as Twelve Years in a Monastery (1897). From 1898–1899 he was secretary of the Leicester Secular
Society, and he was a founding board member in 1899 of the Rationalist Press Association of Great
Britain. He wrote prolifically on science, religion, politics, history and culture, writing nearly 250
books during his life. Many of his books and pamphlets were published by E. Haldeman-Julius,[2]
both as Little Blue Books and Big Blue Books. Over 100 Big Blue Books by McCabe were
published.
McCabe was also respected as a speaker, and gave several thousand lectures in his lifetime.[2]
McCabe is also known for his inclusion in G. K. Chesterton's book Heretics.[3] In a previous essay
he took Chesterton to task for including humor in his serious writings. By doing so, he allowed
Chesterton to make the quip "Mr. McCabe thinks that I am not serious but only funny, because Mr.
McCabe thinks that funny is the opposite of serious. Funny is the opposite of not funny, and of
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nothing else."
In about 1947, McCabe accused the Encyclopædia Britannica of bias towards the Catholic Church.
He claimed that the 14th edition, which had been published in 1929, was devoid of the critical
comment about the church that had been in the 11th edition.[4] McCabe similarly accused the
Columbia Encyclopedia of bias towards the Catholic Church in 1951.[5] These and similar actions
have made him be termed a "Catholic basher" by his Christian critics.[6][7] Biographer Bill Cooke,
however, disputes the allegation, citing McCabe's opinion that "Catholics are no worse, and no
better, than others", and "I have not the least prejudice against the Catholic laity, which would be
stupid." .[8]
McCabe was also active in organizations, although his biographer notes that he had a difficult
relationship with some of their leading figures, and consequently relations between McCabe and
various groups could also be strained. McCabe's freethought stance grew more militant as he got
older, and he joined the National Secular Society in the year before he died.
Works
The 'Big Blue Books': (a selection of titles available online)
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http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18650.
- (1918). The Popes and their Church: a Candid Account. London: Watts & Co.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/popes_and_church/.
- (1920). A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists. London: Watts & Co. See List of
names in A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists
- (1926). The Human Origin of Morals. Little Blue Book 1061. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-
Julius Publications. http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/mccabe02.htm.
- (1926). Christianity and Slavery. Little Blue Book 1127. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius
Publications.
- (1927). The Psychology of Religion. Little Blue Book 446. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius
Publications. http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/mccabe01.htm.
- (1929). The Story Of Religious Controversy. Boston: The Stratford Company.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/religious_controversy.
- (1930). Why I Believe In Fair Taxation Of Church Property. Little Blue Book 1502. Girard,
Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/taxation_of_church.html.
- (1930-1931). The True Story of the Roman Catholic Church (in six double volumes). Girard,
Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
- (1933). What Gods cost Man. Little Blue Book 1732. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius
Publications.
- (1934). The Riddle of the Universe To-day. London: Watts & Co.
- (1935). The Social Record of Christianity. Thinker's Library 51. London: Watts & Co.
- (1936). Is The Position Of Atheism Getting Stronger?. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius
Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/atheism_growing_stronger.html.
- (1939). A History of the Popes. London: Watts & Co..
- (1945). A Biographical Dictionary of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Freethinkers. Girard,
Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/dictionary.html. (Note that online
sources often erroneously date this work to 1920, confusing it with his Biographical
Dictionary of Modern Rationalists.)
- (1947). Eighty Years a Rebel; Autobiography. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
Publications.
- (1947). The Lies and Fallacies of the Encyclopedia Britannica; How Powerful and
Shameless Clerical Forces Castrated a Famous Work of Reference. Girard, Kansas:
Haldeman-Julius Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/lies_of_britannica.html.
- (1948). A Rationalist Encyclopædia: A Book of Reference, On Religion, Philosophy, Ethics,
and Science. London: Watts & Co.
- (1948). A History of Satanism: Telling How the Devil Was Born, How He Came to Be
Worshipped as a God, and How He Died. Haldeman-Julius Publications.
- (1950). Rome's Syllabus Of Condemned Opinions: The Last Blast Of The Catholic Church's
Medieval Trumpet. Big Blue Book B-878. Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/condemned_opinions.html.
- (1951). The Columbia Encyclopedia's Crimes against the Truth. Big Blue Book B-939.
Girard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius Publications.
http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_mccabe/encyclopedia_crime.html.
References
1. ^ Joseph McCabe (1897) Twelve Years in a Monastery
2. ^ a b c The Secular Web: Joseph McCabe
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Bibliography
Cooke, Bill (2001). A rebel to his last breath: Joseph McCabe and Rationalism. Prometheus
Books. ISBN 1-57392-878-X.
External links
Works by Joseph McCabe at Project Gutenberg
Checklist of the Little Blue Books - lists little blue books including Joseph McCabe's, not
listed in the "Works" section of this article.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCabe"
Categories: English atheists | Atheism activists | Rationalists | English non-fiction writers |
Encyclopædia Britannica | Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom | 1867 births | 1955 deaths
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCabe 13/03/2010