How can I confirm if Alphonsus Liguori's Theologia Moralis is valid?

[Francisco_Fernando]

How can I confirm if a saint’s writings are valid and not deliberately changed? I was wondering if the saint’s writings change over time or have they been kept the same.

• Their writings were written between 1748-1785.
• A Latin version is found on the Internet in 1835, years before they were canonized in 1839.
• The English text was translated from the 1852 version, and it matches the Latin version found on the internet in 1835.

 

[1ke]

How can I confirm if a saint’s writings are valid and not deliberately changed?

Why, exactly, does this concern you? Who would be deliberately changing a saint’s writings and why?

And what do you mean by “valid”?

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

Their writings could potentially help me in my life and I want them to be true. When what I’m saying is valid, it means that they haven’t been deliberately changed.

 

[1ke]

I just don’t see why you would even have this thought. Most saints writings are translated and published by reputable, professional publishing houses.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

I want to know if it was their actual writing and not forged. I want to check to see whether they are clean or not. I don’t want to fall for their writings and being tricked into believing something that’s not true.

 

[Shakuhachi]

Who is the Saint? Maybe we can direct you to best translations.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

Theologia Moralis by Alphonsus Maria Liguori.

 

[Bithynian]

Theologia Moralis by Alphonsus Maria Liguori.

Unless you have access to Liguori’s autographs (that is, the original handwritten manuscripts, if they even still exist), you can’t really determine with absolutely certainty whether a published edition or a translation is faithful (or “valid”).

That being said, I’m not sure if there’s a cause for concern. Most people trust in editors to faithfully reproduce the autographs, and for translators to accurately recreate the meaning. In many cases - especially for early church fathers - the autographs for their works no longer exist and we instead rely on a chain of (copied) manuscripts. It takes editors skilled in textual criticism to develop a suitably accurate edition for publishing.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

The question is, where can I find them?

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

I wonder if someone could become a saint if their books that were published before their sainthood would be invalid.

 

[CilladeRoma]

@Francisco_Fernando
Books by Saints are neither valid or invalid. If someone has been declared a Saint, rest assured that anything they wrote that you can access is perfectly ok to read.
@Bithynian, dont know why I quoted you and I can’t seem to edit it. Sorry

 

[Bithynian]

The question is, where can I find them?

The autographs? It varies: sometimes they’re held as private estate by whomever (perhaps surviving family); they might be held by a religious order or diocesan archives; or they might’ve been bequeathed to a library.

Rarely are they digitized, and so access to the autographs is generally only by submitting a request to the document owners. In almost all cases they would only grant access to academic researchers or publishers.

As others have mentioned, there really isn’t a cause for concern. Even scholars rely on published editions of a saint’s work as they’re generally not going to go to the trouble of sourcing the autographs for scrutiny (unless their area of scholarship is in philology or textual criticism).

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

As others have mentioned, there really isn’t a cause for concern. Even scholars rely on published editions of a saint’s work as they’re generally not going to go to the trouble of sourcing the autographs for scrutiny (unless their area of scholarship is in philology or textual criticism).

Why wouldn’t it be a cause for concern. Isn’t it a real fear that these writings are intentionally edited and people fall for it?

 

[Bithynian]

Isn’t it a real fear that these writings are intentionally edited and people fall for it?

No. Editors and publishers are generally assumed to be reliable in their work.

 

[1ke]

Isn’t it a real fear that these writings are intentionally edited and people fall for it?

Um. No.

Talk to your priest if you have concerns.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

I will find a priest who knows of where to find these manuscripts.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

I’ve already asked one priest how I would determine if the writings are not intentionally changed over Facebook.

 

[1ke]

What should I ask the priest though?

For spiritual guidance.

You need to understand that this concern of yours borders on fringe conspiracy. It’s not normal.

 

[Francisco_Fernando]

There are numerous theories on how the church was not holy after the French Revolution. I think that wanting to investigate the writings of the saints is a normal thing.

 

[Canvas]

There are numerous theories on how the church was not holy after the French Revolution. I think that wanting to investigate the writings of the saints is a normal thing.

St. Alphonsus’s writings are held to high standards by the Holy See. Even if there was some editing (which there is no evidence of), the Holy See still says they are theologically sound.