Course Assistance

Each of Father Hardon’s courses is designed as an independent home study, and each contains a set of questions to be completed and mailed, emailed or faxed for correction. All of the courses can be purchased from our bookstore. The Basic Course is the only one available online.

Guidelines for completing the courses:

  1. Add all the “updates” or “changes” to your books. There are updates for the Basic Course, Advanced Course and Modern Catholic Dictionary.
  2. Review the Study Hints flyer that came with your course.
  3. Read the available resources sent with the course-such as the course Manual, Modern Catholic Dictionary, etc. Father Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary is online as is the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
  4. Look at the suggested resources for each course:

5.Also search for answers on TheRealPresence.org. Father Hardon has many articles and recordings on this site. Other sites may also be searched.

6. If you need help on specific questions or to check if there is a study group in your area, please Contact Us.

7. Finally, look at the following translation problems.

TRANSLATION PROBLEMS

1. Canon Law Translations

  1. DOUBLE NEGATIVES: The use of double negatives is a literal translation of the Latin. Using a double negative turns the thought or sentence into a positive one. For example, “God cannot not exist.” Using the double negative and saying that God cannot not exist means that He must You will find double negatives in some of the course questions.
  2. MISTRANSLATIONS: Commonly mistranslated Latin words of the Code of Canon Law found in English translations are the following:
  • Patrini – means “Godparent” but mistranslated as “sponsor” in some English translations. (This error affects questions in lesson 11 of the Basic Course, and lessons 18 and 19 of the Advanced Course.)
  • Pyxide – means “pyx” but mistranslated as “ciborium” in some English translations. (This error affects a question in lesson 20 of the Advanced Course.)

2. Catechism of the Catholic Church Translations
Paragraph #497- The official version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the Latin edition.  In the Latin edition, the word “sponsam” is used which means precisely spouse, in the sense of a wife.  The English version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church mistakenly uses the word “fiancée.”

LATIN: #497. Narrationes evangelicae 159 conceptionem intelligunt virginalem tamquam opus divinum omnem comprehensionem et omnem possibilitatem superans humanas: 160 « Quod enim in ea natum est, de Spiritu Sancto est », dicit angelus ad Ioseph circa Mariam eius sponsam (Mt 1,20). Ecclesia ibi adimpletionem perspicit Promissionis divinae datae ab Isaia propheta: « Ecce virgo in utero habebit et pariet filium » (Is 7,14), secundum versionem graecam Mt 1,23.

ENGLISH: #497.  The gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:148 “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,” said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancée.149 The Church sees here the fulfillment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”150

3. Sacred Scripture Translations:

The Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) of Sacred Scripture is the version of choice by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke even though some publishers print it with this translation error.

  • Incorrect translation of Luke 1: 27, 34.
    Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
    27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
    34And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?”
    (Our Blessed Mother was indeed legally married to Saint Joseph, but not yet living with him. For a more detailed explanation see the Revised Basic Course Manual, p. 27.)
  • Correct translation of Luke 1: 27, 34:
    Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
    27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
    34And Mary said to the angel: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?”
  • Correct translation of Luke 1: 27, 34:
    New American Bible (NAB)
    27to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
    34But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
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