Sheed Chapters 9 and 10 Flashcards
“Seeing is the key to life in heaven.” Sheed approaches the meaning of this in two steps, what are they?
We can approach the meaning in two steps. First, those in heaven shall see God, not simply believe in Him as now but see Him. Here on earth we do not say that we believe in the existence of our friends, we see them; and seeing them, we know them. But, second, we shall see God face to face, see Him as He sees us.
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 84). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
“That is why the very essence of the life in heaven is called the ____________________ - which means the ________________________________________.”
Beatific Vision—which means the seeing that causes bliss.
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 85). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
When we come to die there is only one question that matters ________________________________.
have we sanctifying grace in our souls?
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 86). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
What two things about grace does Sheed say must be grasped if we are to live our lives intelligently?
First: It is supernatural, it is wholly above our nature, there is not even the tiniest seed of it in our nature capable of growing, there is nothing we can do to give it to ourselves. We can have it only as God gives it, and He is entirely free in the giving. That, as we have seen, is why it is called grace; and because its object is to unite us with God, it is called sanctifying grace.
Second: Even the word supernatural does not convey how great a thing it is. It is not simply above our nature, or any created nature. It enables us to do—at our own finite level, but really—something which only God Himself can do by nature: it enables us to see God direct. That is why it is called “a created share in the life of God.”
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (pp. 86-87). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
According to Sheed, in what can God’s grace indwelling of the soul by grace differ from the notion that all things whatsoever are indwelt by God?
That first presence of God by which we exist is not called indwelling: for this word means God making Himself at home in the soul, and it is not merely fanciful to think that this can only be by invitation. About the first presence we have no choice: we did not invite God to bring us into being,
But the indwelling is by invitation. If we receive sanctifying grace in infancy, the sponsor extends the invitation on our behalf; as we come to the use of reason, we make the invitation our own. At any time, we can withdraw it, and God’s indwelling ceases, leaving us only His presence. (p. 89)
What are the theological virtues?
Faith, Hope and Charity;
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 90). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
Please explain the two differences Sheed gives between the theological virtues and natural habits.
A natural habit is acquired gradually, as we repeat some particular action over and over again: supernatural habits are given to us in an instant by God. They differ again in the way they are lost. To be rid of a natural habit—drinking cocktails again—we must make a long series of efforts; supernatural habits are lost by one mortal sin against them.
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 93). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
Our soul has the supernatural power to act towards God, but it has a natural habit of acting for self, ignoring God.
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 93). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
“All our actions should have God for their end or purpose; that is,
they should be aimed to do His will, to praise Him and thank Him and bring us closer to Him. (p. 90).” (memorize)
According to Sheed, for the theological virtues God is the object as well as the end. How?
Faith, we have already glanced at; it is the simple acceptance of God as our teacher.
Hope is more complex. There are three elements in it: it desires final union with God, sees this as difficult, sees it as attainable. (p. 91).
Charity is simple again. It is love of God.
It means loving things or persons for what they are, and it is rooted in loving God for what He is. (This we have already noted is the strongest reason for learning what He is—that is, for studying theology.)
What are the moral virtues?
Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude (p. 90).
When speaking of the fall of the angels, Sheed contends that theologians are almost at one in thinking it was the sin of pride. What does he say all sins involve and how is pride different from other sins?
All sins involve following one’s own desire in place of God’s will, but pride goes all the way, putting oneself in God’s place, making oneself the center of the universe.
Sheed, Frank. Theology for Beginners (Illustrated) (p. 96). Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.
According to Sheed, man first sin was a disobeying a command of God; the detail of the sin we do not know (although Genesis describes it as the eating of forbidden fruit). What two things about it does he say we do know?
That is what is meant by being born in original sin, which is not to be thought of as a stain on the soul, but as the absence of that grace without which we cannot, as we have seen, reach the goal for which God destined men. We may be given grace later, but we enter life without it, with nature only.
And our nature too is not as Adam’s was before he failed the condition, but as it was after. The gift of integrity, guaranteeing the harmony of man’s natural powers, has gone. Each of our powers seeks its own outlet, each of our needs its own immediate gratification; we have not the subordination of all our powers to reason and of reason to God which would unify all our striving; every one of us is a civil war. At two points principally the disorder is at its worst, the passions and the imagination. (pp. 101-102).
What sin wrecked both Satan and man?
The disease admitted into humanity by the choice of self as against God (p. 105).
As a result of man’s breaking union with God, Sheed says that he lost ________________________ and ______________________________ too.
He lost sanctifying grace; supernaturally he was dead. He lost the preternatural gifts too. He could now suffer, he had come under the natural law of death;
(p. 99).
What reason does Sheed offer as to why in the sin of Adam (our father) we fell? How could his sin involve us (the children of Adam)?
But the human race was tested and fell in one man, the representative man. In his catastrophe every man till the end of time was involved. (p. 99).
