This book is sort of like a Roman Catholic version of C. S. Lewis�
MERE CHRISTIANITY. What the author means by the title, THEOLOGY AND
SANITY, is that the worldview from the Christian perspective is the
sane view. A rejection of this worldview is insanity, i.e. not living
with reality. I find this assertion similar to a statement made by
Lutheran theologian Franz Pieper in volume one of his book CHRISTIAN
DOGMATICS. I am not Roman Catholic. I am Lutheran. But I still found
the book to be most interesting. His arguments for theism and the
trinity sounded possible, probable and persuasive. I found his
writing on the redemptive work of Christ to be moving. So, yes I did
find points of agreement between myself and the author. And like
Lutherans, Sheed writes that Christ died for the sins of the world.
So on this point Lutherans are actually closer to the Roman Catholics,
than the Protestant Calvinist�s who say Christ died only for the sins
of the elect, not the world.
I would also express agreement with Mr. Sheed, that one should
exercise one�s intellect.. I like the way he makes the point: a
knowledgeable man may be bad person in his character, committing all
sorts of evils and an ignorant man may be good person in his
character showing much virtue; but that does not make ignorance a
virtue. Well said !
Too many Christians have become intellectually lazy letting the
unbelieving world doing the thinking for them.
His point about having a high regard for divine revelation is very
good. But I�m afraid he is not consistent in following his own
advice. He fails to take Genesis in a straightforward manner, instead
calling the Garden of Eden story a �metaphor.� How disappointing !
He clearly states that death came into the world by Adam�s fall. But
he fails to see that by allowing for ancestors before Adam and
theistic evolution, he is allowing for death before Adam. In not
taking Genesis in a straightforward manner, Mr. Sheed has had to
resort to somewhat lame sophistries Well, he is not the only one who
has allowed for death before Adam. Others in so called Protestant
denominations have allowed for this error. To be charitable, Mr.
Sheed was writing at a time when science seemed to have the upper hand
in explaining the world. How was he to know that the �Piltdown Man�
was later to be proven a fraud in 1952? Books such as ICONS OF
EVOLUTION by Jonathan Wells and SHATTERING THE MYTHS OF DARWINISM were
not readily available in Mr. Sheed�s time.
The book is more focused on the teaching of the Roman Catholic church
than the �mechanics� or practices of the church. And he does quite
a thorough job of explaining in detail the teaching of his church.
His explanation of how one is saved reminds me of what I read about
the debate between the Roman Catholic Erasmus and Martin Luther.
While, I would like everyone to be Confessional Lutheran, I realize
that is not possible. But perhaps I could encourage my Roman Catholic
friends to become better informed about the teachings and practice of
their church. Better a magisterial Catholic who is pro life, than a
secular Catholic who is �pro choice.� Frank Sheed�s book does an
excellent job of explaining the beliefs and some of the practices of
the Roman Catholic church.
# posted by GuyTak @ 10:56 PM
