"Become good Israelites, and truth will do the rest." Such was the advice that M. Bautain, a young and brilliant lecturer, gave his Jewish students, one of whom is the author of this book, the young Théodore Ratisbonne, brother of Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne, the well known hero of that miraculous conversion which was one of Our Lady's most gracious acts. Converted by the clear and luminous teaching of his lecturer, Théodore was led to understand, gradually, how Christianity is the logical development and completion of Judaism.
"Works must accompany ideas, if ideas are to become conviction," added M. Bautain. And so it was this conviction of the truth of Christianity which led Théodore Ratisbonne to write these Answers to a Jewish Enquirer, an exposition and apology of the fundamental teachings of the Catholic Faith, in the light of the Old Testament promises and prophecies of a future Messiah and His Kingdom, which is to last until the end of time.
Even though the work is aimed first of all at honest Jewish inquirers, it is equally of interest to any Catholic who is zealous for the conversion of souls, always willing to "give a reason for the hope that is in us." It is written in Question and Answer form, and leads the enquirer from the fall of our first parents, through the promises of a Messiah, the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation and the Redemption right to the One True Church, outside of which there is no salvation.