THEOLOGY AND SANITY - by F. J.  Sheed - Sheed & Ward London & New York. First published 1947 - by Sheed & Ward Ltd.  110-111   Fleet Street  London,  E.C.4 - & Sheed & Ward Inc  830 Broadway  New York - 5th impression 1951. This edition prepared for katapi by Paul Ingram 2004. Revised 2020.
| HOME | forward | contents | preliminary | God | creatures | oneself | ... you can read T&S also HERE

FOREWORD

I played with the thought of dedicating this book TO ALL WHO KNOW LESS THEOLOGY THAN I. It would have sounded flippant. But it would have been exact. There are thousands who know more theology than I, and for them I have no message: they must teach me. But there are thousands who know less, and less is not enough: I must try to teach them.
This book contains theology, not the great mass of it that theologians need, but the indispensable minimum that every man needs in order that he may be living mentally in the REAL WORLD - which is what the word SANITY means in my title.

SANITY, remember, does not mean living in the same world as everyone else; it means living in the REAL WORLD.
But some of the most important elements in the real world can be known only by the revelation of God, which it is theology's business to study. Lacking this knowledge, the mind must live a half-blind life, trying to cope with a reality most of which it does not know is there. This is a wretched state for an immortal spirit, and pretty certain to lead to disaster. There is a good deal of disaster around at this moment.

F. J. S.

Quotations from the translation of the New Testament by Monsignor Ronald Knox are made by courtesy of the publishers, Messrs. Burns, Oates and Washbourne, Ltd.
top


CONTENTS

 PRELIMINARY: chapters ...
| 1: RELIGION & THE MIND I 2: EXAMINATION OF INTELLECT |
 GOD: chapters ...
| 3: HE WHO IS | 4: THE MIND WORKS ON INFINITY | 5: GOD TELLS MAN |
| 6: THREE PERSONS IN ONE NATURE | 7: FATHER, SON, & HOLY GHOST |
| 8: SOME FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS | 9: CONCLUDING PART |
 CREATURES: chapters ...
| 10: GOD AS CREATOR | 11: THE CREATED UNIVERSE |
| 12: ANGELS, MATTER, MEN | 13: THE TESTING OF ANGELS & MEN |
| 14: THE FALL OF MAN | 15: BETWEEN THE FALL & THE REDEMPTION |
| 16: THE MISSION OF CHRIST | 17: THE REDEEMER | 18: THE REDEEMING SACRIFICE | 19: REDEMPTION |
| 20: THE KINGDOM | 21: DISPENSING THE GIFTS | 22: THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST |
| 23: LIFE IN THE BODY | 24: LIFE AFTER DEATH | 25: THE END OF THE WORLD |
 ONESELF: chapters ...
| 26: HABITUATION TO REALITY | 27: HABITUATION TO MAN | 28: THE INSUFFICIENCY OF MAN |
| 29: SUFFICIENCY IN THE CHURCH | 30: THE LIFE OF GRACE |
| 31: THE LANDSCAPE OF REALITY | 32: IDYLL & FACT || INDEX |