Theology for Beginners (Ignatius Press)

I was lamenting the other day that there are no "middle-ground" Catholic books. There are thousands of beginner level books that tend to blend together after a while, and there are hundreds of advanced level books that are great for the professors and theology majors. But where are the "middle-ground books" for people who feel they have progressed past the introductory level books? Then, I thought some more and realized I was being arrogant to think I was past the introductory stage and decided to tackle a classic Frank Sheed book called Theology for Beginners.

Theology for Beginners is a 200 page book originally published in 1957. Ignatius Press re-released it for the 60th anniversary. The book is divided into twenty chapters which were originally part of a diocesan weeklies column. The book begins with a chapter on why we should study theology, and to summarize Sheed, it is because the truth is food for us and light for us. We are then treated to lessons on the Trinity, Creation, the Nature of Man, Redemption, the Redeemer, Mary, the Sacraments, the Eucharist, and the Next Life.

One of the most interesting chapters in this book dealt with the Fall. In this chapter, Sheed looks at both the Fall of the Angels and the Fall of Adam. He talks of some angels choosing self over God. This sin of pride resulted in a rejection of God and His love. With Adam's fall that resulted from Satan's temptation, man had broken his union with God and he was supernaturally dead. All future men (and women) would now be born with original sin. Additionally, our imagination and passions (two things which were good before the Fall) have been distorted and disordered and now can consume us in a very negative way. We can now become slaves to them and let them rule us, if we allow ourselves. This leads us to the truths about Hell. It exists. It exists because of Satan and the angels Fall. It is a place of suffering. It is eternal. It is important to remember that God doesn't send people to Hell. Man sends himself there by choosing self-love over love of God. Thankfully, Hell is not our only possible destination. If we love God, but have minor sins, we can go to Purgatory and receiving sanctifying purification to eventually get to the ultimate destination of Heaven!

This book is an excellent guide to theology that has stood the test of time. The writing style is concise and succinct, getting the message across without overly complicating matters. It was also a very humbling read, because it showed me that even in beginner level theology, there is still much to be learned. I highly recommend this book!