Author Archives: Dick Landkamer

Chapter 14: The Fall of Man Introduction A Note on Sheed’s Enumeration of the Effects of Adam’s Sin In this chapter Sheed speaks well of the effects of Adam’s sin, but his enumeration of these effects is not consistent. For … Continue reading →

Chapter 13: The Testing of Angels and Men God’s Purpose for His Creatures Material Beings Are a Means to an End We cannot use anything intelligently until we know the purpose for which it was made, and the sure way … Continue reading →

Chapter 12: Angels, Matter, Men The Existence of Angels Angels Known from Revelation Only Angels are the highest ranking beings in the created order (152-2). “We see Jesus, who [as man] for a little while was made lower than the … Continue reading →

Chapter 11: The Created Universe Introduction What God Created: Spirit and Matter “By His almighty power [God] created together in the beginning of time both creatures, the Spiritual and the Corporeal, namely the Angelic and the earthly and afterwards the … Continue reading →

Chapter 10: God as Creator Introduction The Universe Is Not an Emanation The ancient philosopher Plotinus (d. 270 AD) believed that the universe was a necessary emanation from the divine nature in the way that light is a necessary emanation … Continue reading →

Chapter 9: Concluding This Part Our Lord’s Teaching on the Trinity Introduction We can only wonder what those people thought who were the first to hear Jesus’ teaching on the Trinity. “But there is a great profit for ourselves, knowing … Continue reading →

Chapter 8: Some Further Precisions Introduction Restatements of the Doctrine The doctrine can be expressed in terms of the procession of persons as follows: “The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity means that the [one] Divine Nature is wholly expressed as … Continue reading →

Chapter 7: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Introduction The Task at Hand From philosophy we learn that the one true God is “infinite existence, possessing all that He is in one single act of being, living His life of infinite … Continue reading →

Chapter 6: Three Persons in One Nature An Underappreciated Doctrine Central Mystery of the Christian Faith Read paragraph on page 3 of “Theology for Beginners” about the woman who anticipated no joy from a lecture on the Blessed Trinity. “The … Continue reading →

Chapter 5: God Tells Man Christ Teaches Us by Being God Relating to a Man Who Is God Our concern here is not why God became man (that is addressed in ch. 16), but with the new way of knowing … Continue reading →