[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-568138-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":74,"doc-detail-568138-en":124},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":67,"head_meta":69,"extra_data":71,"updated_unix":73},105,"en","the-stumbling-block-by-francois-mauriac-preface","THE STUMBLING BLOCK - By Francois Mauriac - Preface","","The Stumbling Block presents Francois Mauriac’s spiritual testimony as a Catholic layman in his declining years. Written to express an inner state and record personal reactions, it addresses how certain religious zeal and institutional piety can become spiritually harmful. Mauriac emphasizes conviction in Church doctrine while arguing that the Assumption does not justify abuses, warning that bad examples endanger tender devotion. The author also reflects on his own restraint versus the freer audacities of other Catholic writers.",{"@graph":14,"@context":66},[15,34,49],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/","Religion & Spirituality",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-stumbling-block-by-francois-mauriac-preface/568138/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"author":36,"headline":10,"publisher":39,"fileFormat":42,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":43,"datePublished":43,"encodingFormat":42,"isAccessibleForFree":44,"interactionStatistic":45},"DigitalDocument",{"name":37,"@type":38},"วิน","Person",{"url":19,"name":40,"@type":41},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-13",true,{"@type":46,"interactionType":47,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":48},"ViewAction",{"@type":50,"mainEntity":51},"FAQPage",[52,58,62],{"name":53,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":55},"Why does Mauriac write The Stumbling Block?","Question",{"text":56,"@type":57},"He writes to give expression to a spiritual state and to record his reactions as a Catholic, without presupposing their value.","Answer",{"name":59,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":60},"How does the author view the dogma of the Assumption?",{"text":61,"@type":57},"He receives it with conviction that the Church cannot be wrong in matters of faith, but he argues it does not legitimize the abuses he calls attention to.",{"name":63,"@type":54,"acceptedAnswer":64},"What does Mauriac say about his own tone compared with other Catholic writers?",{"text":65,"@type":57},"He explains that, unlike Bloy and Bernanos, his belief’s affective character and antipathy for theology limit the audacities he allows himself.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":68,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":40,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":70,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":72,"site_id":7},568138,1791869569,{"code":4,"msg":75,"data":76},"success",[77,81,85,89,94,99,104,109,113,116,120],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":78,"show_sort_weight":79,"slug":80},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":82,"show_sort_weight":83,"slug":84},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":90,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},9,20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":115},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":119},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":123},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":75,"data":125},{"doc_id":72,"user_id":126,"nickname":37,"user_avatar":127,"doc_module":4,"category_id":110,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":128,"file_id":129,"file_url":130,"file_type":131,"file_size":132,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":133,"language":134,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":135,"faqs":136,"seo_title":137,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":73,"read_time":138},2336475104736,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c4c5e0e5b17e70?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786591360781797222","hanccisolauriac  \n宦the  \nStumblingBlock  \n# THE STUMBLING BLOCKBy FRANCOIS MAURIAC\n\nThis is the testament,written brilliantly,with scintillating logic,of an internationallyfamous Catholic layman.Seeking only to giveexpression to a spiritual state and record hisreactions as a Catholic,he sets down in hisdeclining years his thoughts on the things onearth that make up the human comment onit.He is angered and humiliated by the “piousBarnums of the Holy Church,\"who considerextent of faith rather than quality,and con-fuse extent with depth of absorption,to whoma man of great faith is a man who can be-lieve anything with closed eyes.  \nThe great French novelist,poet,and play-wright argues for a democratic Christianityand a militant Catholicism,for the evangelicmessage carried in arms upraised above thecompromises and the sinecures.He pleadsfor a restoration of contact between God andthe working classes and denounces those whoconfuse the Church with the pompous velveton which they feed.  \n13  \n。  \n# TheStumblingBlock\n\n# The\n\nStumblingBlock  \nFRANCOISMAURIAC  \nP HILOSO PHICAL LI BR ARY  \nCopyright 1952 by the Philosophical Library,Inc.15 East 40th Street,New York 16,N.Y.  \nManufactured in the United States of Americaby The Haddon Craftsmen,Inc.,Scranton,Pa.  \n# Preface\n\nWhen,early in 1948,I published The Stum-bling-Block in the first issues of La Table Ronde,I did not know that the Church intended to definethe dogma of the Assumption.I am anxious tostate at the beginning of this book that the reservesinspired in me by certain excesses of the Mariancult do not imply any sort of resistance to thenew dogma.I have received its promulgation withthe feelings of a Catholic who is convinced thatthe Church cannot be wrong in a matter of faith,nor deceive us.But I also think that the Assump-tion of the Virgin does not legitimize,any morethan do her other privileges,the manifest abusesto which I am calling attention.On the contrary,it makes them more embarrassing,more dangerous,since by setting a bad example among the “wor-  \nPreface  \nshippers in spirit and in truth”they threaten toreflect on that tender and filial devotion which isessential to Catholic piety.Moreover,in thesepages I am only seeking to give expression to aspiritual state.I record my reactions as a Catholicwithout prejudging their value.It is possible thatthey are evidence against me.Dare I confess thatin reading them over,I am struck less by theiraudacity than by the timidity with which I ex-press them,and by the “repentance”with whichI put them forward.I have often been reproachedwith not taking advantage of that wild liberty ofwhich Bloy and Bernanos did not deprive them-selves.It is because the faith of those two Catholicswas of stuff valuable in a different way,of clothdifferently woven from mine.Those men of visioncould,within a certainty bom of contemplation,permit themselves everything.The affective char-acter of my belief,which is evident in the antip-athy I feel for theology,forbids me the audacitiesinto which Bloy and Bernanos allowed themselvesto be transported.But I have said enough toenable my readers to understand that,in this littlebook,I do not set myself up as a judge of theChurch,and that,on the contrary,I once againdeliver myself to their judgment.","cbCaidAnPGXxewN5","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidAnPGXxewN5","pdf",3509362,104,"English","# Preface\n## Faith and doctrine\n## The Assumption and abuses\n## Spiritual purpose and self-judgment","[{\"question\":\"Why does Mauriac write The Stumbling Block?\",\"answer\":\"He writes to give expression to a spiritual state and to record his reactions as a Catholic, without presupposing their value.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the author view the dogma of the Assumption?\",\"answer\":\"He receives it with conviction that the Church cannot be wrong in matters of faith, but he argues it does not legitimize the abuses he calls attention to.\"},{\"question\":\"What does Mauriac say about his own tone compared with other Catholic writers?\",\"answer\":\"He explains that, unlike Bloy and Bernanos, his belief’s affective character and antipathy for theology limit the audacities he allows himself.\"}]","THE STUMBLING BLOCK - By Francois Mauriac - Preface | PDF",262]