Joseph McCabe is a man who vies for a place as perhaps the most eloquent and prolific writer and speaker to wage a battle against religion – the Catholic Church specifically – in the 19th and 20th century. In his life, which extended from 1867 to 1955, McCabe wrote 250 books – about 15 million words, total – and gave thousands of lectures from venues as diverse as England, Germany, America, and Australia.
The Making of a Friar
McCabe was born to an Irish Catholic family. Both of his parents were Catholics, his father having been born into the Catholic tradition in his native land of Ireland, and his British mother converting after marrying his father. Joseph’s mother wanted him to get involved in the church early, and opted to christen him with the name of Joseph – a trivial Biblical character to Protestants, but a saint to the Catholics.
Because of the enthusiasm his parents had for his participation in the church, they sent him to a Catholic school as soon as he was of school age. Here, Joseph immediately proved himself to be a bright student, and excelled in his lessons. But Joseph’s enthusiasm didn’t end at academics. His interest in religion was also sparked immediately, and his instructors described him as a “zealous” Catholic while he was still a child.
Given his personal interest, the pressure placed on him by his parents, and his instructors’ encouragement, Joseph entered the Franciscan order of monks at the early age of 15, and four years later, became a monk. For a year, Joseph studied at the monastery, and then he advanced his religious education, training to be a priest. Joseph was finally ordained at the age of 23.
But Joseph’s career advancement was not entirely religious. With both religious and academic goals in mind, Joseph became fluent in Hebrew. He was also recognized as an outstanding philosopher, and was soon awarded the prestigious title and station of “professor of philosophy” in charge of a Franciscan college at the youthful age of 28.
The Making of an Atheist
Only a year after being granted professorship, McCabe renounced his faith, left his post, and exited the priesthood. According to one source, he was “disgusted” by his fellow monks and with Christian doctrine. Another source claims that it was his intense and continuous learning and scholarship that led him to the position of atheism. Perhaps it was some of both. He put it this way:
“I took a sheet of paper, divided it into debt and credit columns on the arguments for and against God and immortality.
“On Christmas Eve I wrote ‘bankrupt’ at the foot. And it was on Christmas morning 1895, after I had celebrated three Masses, while the bells of the parish church were ringing out the Christmas message of peace, that, with great pain, I found myself far out from the familiar land–homeless, aimlessly drifting. But the bells were right after all; from that hour on I have been wholly free from the nightmare of doubt that had lain on me for ten years.”
Joseph left the priesthood for good on February 19, 1896.
Life as an Atheist
All of the ambition and zeal Joseph had once had for the church, he now directed against it. He began almost immediately by publishing pamphlets – his “little blue books” – about his experience, and what led him away from the church. Eventually he began to write full books – his “big blue books” – actively attacking the church. Joseph’s goal in writing appeared to be not merely to recuse the church, but to actively emancipate others from the captivity of doctrine and into the freedom of pure rationalism.
Joseph’s new perspective on Jesus was that he was a Jewish holy man who had been exaggerated and mythologized over time, borrowing elements from a number of other religious traditions to turn him into a dying and rising God. Said William Ferguson, “He was bitterly anti-Catholic but also actively undermined religious faith in general.” For example, Joseph devoted considerable time to debunking spiritualists.
Joseph’s intelligence was impressive and persuasive enough to sell his many books and land him many speaking opportunities and lectureships. Emanuel Haldeman-Julius, the famous atheist publisher responsible for the publication of Joseph’s books, described McCabe as “the world’s greatest scholar” and as “the atomic bomb of the intellectual world.”
Joseph’s intense and effective campaigning against the church quickly gained wide attention. He was asked to step into a secretary position at the Leicester Secular Society, and eventually became a founding member of the Rationalist Press Association as he continued publishing his work.
With his broad influence, Joseph began to expand his efforts beyond mere campaigning against religion. He used this platform as a springboard into campaigning for women’s rights and for the publicization of science – especially the evolutionary theory. As part of this effort, Joseph translated Ernst Haeckel’s work on evolution in 1900. This became one of his greatest literary achievements, the translation selling at an astounding rate – over half a million copies in Germany alone.
Joseph’s work as a secularist and rationalist became his entire life. He spent practically all of his time on the road, and eventually these long absences built up tension within his family life. After 26 years of marriage, Joseph and his wife Beatrice parted ways. He claimed that this was a mutual decision, and it further distanced him from his two boys and two girls.
At the age of 88 years, Joseph passed away. He left an unrivaled legacy of work disputing religion, debunking spiritualism, promoting rationalism, and promoting secular philosophy and ideals. His signature works, still popular long after his death, were these:
- The Key to Culture (40 volumes beginning in 1929)
- The Key to Love and Sex (8 volumes beginning in 1929)
- The Rise and Fall of the Gods (6 volumes beginning in 1931).
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