Controversies of the Christian Faith St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) was the chief Catholic theologian during the latter part of the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th century. His literary production was immense, since he produced books and treatises on most areas of theology, including Scripture, Christology, Sacraments, Liturgy, Ecclesiology and Eschatology. Among his major works are the three Controversies contained in this series. Controversy I deals with the Bible. In it he proves that the Bible is the revealed word of God and that it contains no errors, that is, he proves the inerrancy of the Bible. These three volumes are called "controversies" because from beginning to end he is refuting the false accusations and errors of the Protestants who denied most of the articles of the Catholic faith, such as the integrity and inerrancy of the Bible, the Mass, purgatory, prayers for the dead, most of the Sacraments, the primacy of the Pope, the infallibility of the Pope, the divinity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, and so forth. He always refers to them as "adversaries" or "heretics," but he never calls them "Protestants.

" Cardinal Bellarmine presents several arguments in defense of the reliability and accuracy of the Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible which was made about the year 200 B.C. He also defends the integrity of the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible which was made by St. Jerome around the year 400 and has been used in the liturgy of the Catholic Church since that time. In all three Controversies he is refuting the errors of many adversaries of the Catholic Church. His favorite targets are Martin Luther and John Calvin. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine was greatly admired by bishops and Catholic theologians during his lifetime and was famous for his scholarship and preaching. He was the theologian and counselor for several Popes.

He was called another Augustine, another Athanasius. He was greatly detested by Protestants because of the power of his arguments to prove that they were in error.