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Introduction to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's God's Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office | Peter Hünermann and Thomas Södin
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, published three volumes in the series Quaestiones Disputatae: two as professor on theology, and one as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. All three include important pieces from his pen; all three have attracted a good deal of notice; all three are concerned with how God's word is alive in the Church; all three  were written with ecumenism in view; and they all respond to the question of how the truth of the Christian faith can be recognized and articulated, how we can witness to it and hand it on to others. The two earlier pieces are from the context of the Second Vatican Council, and the third is of paradigmatic significance for the development of Vatican theology.
In 1961, in the midst of the preparations for the Second Vatican Council, Joseph Ratzinger, together with Karl Rahner, published the volume Episkopat und Primat (The Episcopate and the Primacy). His contribution was entitled "Primacy, Episcopate, and Successio Apostolica". At the end of the first section, the writer comes to this conclusion:
The Vatican Council [he means the First Vatican Council] represents a condemnation of papalism just as much as of episcopalism. Actually, it characterizes both doctrines as heresies, and, in place of one-dimensional solutions on the basis of late theological ideas or those of power politics, it sets the dialectic of the reality already given, stemming from Christ, a dialectic and a reality that confirm their obedience to the truth in their very renunciation of a uniform formula satisfying to the intellect.
The fact that, according to the Vatican Council, not only episcopalism but also papalism in the narrow sense should be regarded as a condemned doctrine is something that must no doubt be impressed in the public consciousness of the Christian world to a far greater extent than has hitherto been the case. [1] In the second part, the nature of the apostolic succession, as "being taken into the service of the word" [2] and as following the apostles, is shown as essentially based on and influenced by the apostolic tradition. "'Apostolic succession' is by its nature the living presence of the word in the personal form of the witness." [3] It is against this horizon that the agreement and the difference between papal and episcopal succession are determined.
In 1965, during the final year of the Council's work, Joseph Ratzinger (again, together with Karl Rahner) published volume 25 of the Quaestiones Disputatae, under the title of Offenbarung und Überlieferung (Revelation and Tradition, QD 17). His own [first] piece is also entitled, "The Question of the Concept of Tradition: A Provisional Response". The question that sets the tone is of ". . . the way the word of revelation uttered in Christ remains present in history and comes to man". [4] Joseph Ratzinger begins with an analysis of the way the question was put in the Reformation period, then works out fundamental theses regarding the relation between revelation and tradition, and thus interprets the concept of tradition in the documents of Trent. In his concluding reflection, he sums up his findings: "We are faced with a concept according to which revelation does indeed have its  [its 'once-for-all' character], insofar as it took place in historical facts, but also has its constant 'today', insofar as what once happened remains forever living and effective in the faith of the Church, and Christian faith never refers merely to what is past; rather, it refers equally to what is present and what is to come." [5] Tradition comprises:
1. the inscription of revelation ( the gospel) not only in the Bible, but in hearts;
2. the speaking of the Holy Spirit throughout the whole age of the Church;
3. the conciliar activity of the Church;
4. the liturgical tradition and the whole of the tradition of the Church's life. [6] In 1989, Joseph Ratzinger published Quaestio no. 117, Schriftauslegung im Widerstreit (Biblical Interpretation in Conflict). This records the "Erasmus Lecture" that the writer delivered at the Lutheran Center for Religion and Society in New York and the papers discussed in the subsequent workshop with scholars of various Christian denominations. The Cardinal's lecture is entitled "Biblical Interpretation in Conflict: The Question of the Basic Principles and Path of Exegesis Today". This represents a fundamental discussion of questions concerning biblical exegesis ecumenically, and, starting from a "self-critical reflection" [7] on mod- ern critical methods, it sketches the outlines of a new synthesis. The central watchwords of this new synthesis are:
1. The unity of "event and word"; if these are separated in a dualist scheme, then this cuts "the biblical word off from creation and abolishes the interrelationship of meaning between the Old and New Testaments". [8]
2. The way that revelation is "greater" in relation to the news about it. "The biblical word bears witness to the revelation but does not contain it in such a way that the revelation is completely absorbed in it and could now be put in your pocket like an object." [9] It follows from this that, "There is a surplus of meaning in an individual text, going beyond its immediate historical setting." And at the same time, Scripture as a whole has its own status. "It is more than a text pieced together from what the individual authors may have intended to say, each in his own historical setting." [10] This essentially stems from the fact that Scripture witnesses to the word of God, which tradition also produces.
[Modificato da PapaB83 23/04/2010 19:49] |