Lesson 1: Light in the darkness – a spiritual combat!

12/14/2023
|By Fr. Timothy Joseph Ring, EP

Back to: The Holy Angels – Our Companions for all Eternity!

The history of creation began even before we humans made our appearance on the scene. But, it began with a great war, the like of which has never been known since! “Then war broke out in heaven” (Rev 12:7), the Book of Revelation tells us. The first battle ended in Heaven, but the war continues. And whether we realize it or not, we’re all drawn into this spiritual combat. But we have strong allies! In this first lesson of the course, Fr. Timothy Ring introduces the subject of angelology from this perspective: The Angels are our defenders on earth and will continue to be our companions for all eternity!

Course Lessons

A4 1
Lesson 1: Light in the darkness – a spiritual combat!

The history of creation began even before we humans made our appearance on the scene. But, it began with a great war…
2
Lesson 2: Angels – Do they really exist?

In this second lesson of the course, Fr. Timothy Ring begins to deal with the important question of the existence of the Angels. In our materialistic world…
3
Lesson 3: Proofs for the existence of Angels from revelation

We do not owe the faith that we Catholics profess simply to reason, but to the authority of God who reveals them through the Church…
1
Lesson 4: Angels – Can we prove their existence from reason?

The existence of Angels is an article of our faith, and we should believe it simply because of the authority of the Church. But, faith and reason are both about truth…
5
Lesson 5: Creation and Number of the Angels

When did the Angels come into existence? Were they created by God? How can we know anything about this?…
6
Lesson 6: Angelic Nature I

To understand a nature that is superior to us seems an impossible mental game. But, what we believe must have at least some foundation in reason…
7
Lesson 7: Angelic Nature II

How many Angels can dance on a pinhead at the same time? A literary giant once asked this question to mock those who study Angelology…
8
Lesson 8: Angelic Knowledge I

For us to try to understand angelic knowledge might seem a little like a pet trying to understand its owner. Well, that’s the kind of intellectual adventure…
9
Lesson 9: Angelic Knowledge II

Do Angels really know everything? Can the Angels read our minds? Do they know the future? What do they know about God’s plans…
10
Lesson 10: Angelic Will

To end this first module of the course on the Angels, we’ll be talking about the angelic will. Do Angels have free will? Do they love?…

Bibliography

Angels in Medieval Philosophical Inquiry – Their Function and Significance. Edited by Isabel Iribarren & Martin Lenz. Ashgate, 2008.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

ADLER, MORTIMER J. The Angels and Us. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York. 1982.

BONINO, O.P., SERGE-THOMAS. Angels and Demons – A Catholic Introduction. Translated by Michael J. Miller. Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C., 2016.

CRUZ, JOAN CARROLL. Angels and Devils. TAN Books, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1999.

DENZINGER, HENRY. Denzinger – The Sources of Catholic Dogma. Translated by Roy J. Deferrari from the Thirtieth Edition of Henry Denzinger’s Enchiridion Symbolorum. Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam, NH.

EUTENER, THOMAS J. Exorcism and the Church Militant. Human Life International, 2010.

FARRELL, O.P., WALTER. A Companion to the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1: The Architect of the Universe. Loreto Publications, Fitzwilliam New Hampshire, 2022.

GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, O.P., REGINALD. Reality – A Synthesis of Thomistic Thought. Translated by Rev. Patrick Cummins, O.S.B., B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, MO – London, W. C., 1950.

GILSON, ETIENNE. Thomism, the Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Translated by Laurence K. Shook and Armand Maurer. Pontifical Institue of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, 2002.

GILSON, ETIENNE. The Philosophy of St. Bonaventure. Translated by Dom Illtyd Trethowan, Monk of Downside Abbey and Frank J. Sheed. St. Anthony Guild Press, Paterson, N. J., 1965.

HUBER, GEORGES. Mi Ángel marchará delante de ti. Ediciones Palabra, S. A., Madrid.

KECK, DAVID. Angels & Angelology in the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press, New York – Oxford, 1998.

KREEFT, PETER. Angels and Demons – What do we really know about them? Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1995.

KREEFT, PETER. The Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Course Guide. Recorded Books, LLC. 2009.

LÉPICIER, O.S.M., ALEXIUS M.,         The Unseen World – An Expostition of Catholic Theology in its Relation to Modern Spiritism. Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, 1906.

MORAZZANI ARRÁIZ, EP, PEDRO RAFAEL (Org.). A criação e os Anjos. São Paulo: Lumen Sapientiæ, 2015.

OTT, LUDWIG. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. (Edited in English by James Canon Bastible, D.D. Translated from German by Patrick Lynch, Ph.D.) TAN Books, Charlotte, North Carolina. 1974.

ROYO MARÍN, O.P., ANTONIO. Dios y su Obra. BAC, Madrid, 1963.

WILHELM, JOSEPH, & SCANNELL, THOMAS B., A Manual of Catholic Theology based on Scheeben’s Dogmatik. Vols. I & II, Benziger Brothers, London, 1909

WILLIS, S.J., JOHN R. (Ed) The Teachings of the Church Fathers, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2002.