BOOKS BY AND ON BENEDICT

From the Introduction to:




Just before the Papal visit to the US, I posted in the preceding page a review by Carl Olson of this book. Ignatius Insight also shares part of the Introduction by the author himself.



Although this book refers on occasion to what Joseph Ratzinger has written or said following his election as successor of Peter, for the most part it is based on his theological, spiritual, and pastoral writings as professor in various German universities (Bonn, Muenster, Tuebingen, and Regensburg) and later as Archbishop of Munich and Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

A deeper understanding of Pope Benedict's Magisterium requires constant reference to his earlier writings, in which the same themes are treated in considerable depth, in the light of Scripture and the Church's tradition and in dialogue with contemporary concerns.

In this regard, it may prove both useful and illuminating to say something about the kind of theological reflection we shall encounter in the course of this book. Although the list is certainly incomplete, a number of characteristics come to mind:

1. All of Joseph Ratzinger's writings are solidly scriptural. Scripture is, of course, the soul of all theology, [8] but not all theologians make such widespread use of Scripture as the primary source and inspiration of their reflections as Ratzinger does. While he makes judicious use of the most reliable findings of modern exegesis, he is careful to read Scripture within the tradition of the Church and as a unity, centered on the person and saving work of Jesus Christ.

2. Ratzinger's work is also firmly grounded in tradition, for he is convinced that the truth gradually unfolds itself in the life of the Church under the direction of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 16:13). [9] His theology is shaped by long familiarity with the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine, whose understanding of the Church was the subject of his doctoral thesis People of God and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church, defended in 1951 and first published in 1954. [10]

3. Joseph Ratzinger's approach to the various issues dealt with in his writings is characterized above all by a search for the truth.

He does not seek originality for originality's sake, but is convinced that the resources of Scripture and tradition provide the fundamental orientation guiding our attempts to answer contemporary questions and challenges concerning the faith.

Acceptance of the faith in its entirety as the truth that we have received from God and that is taught by the Church, over which we are not the masters, is the precondition for any fruitful theological work. [11]

This attitude of receptivity does not reduce theology to a mindless repetition of past insights and conclusions. Theology becomes an exciting and fruitful pursuit when the theologian bases his work on the pluralism in unity found in the Old and New Testaments, and the Church's teaching, while keeping in mind the ongoing life of faith.

There is a unity in faith but a plurality in theology; indeed, the fixing of a common reference point in the truth of Christian faith makes plurality possible. A legitimate theological pluralism arises "not when we make it the object of our desire, but when everyone wants the truth with all his power and in his own epoch". [12]

4. The foregoing points make it clear that Joseph Ratzinger's theology is profoundly ecclesial. It is in the Church that we encounter Christ: she is our "contemporaneity with Christ: there is no other". [13]

It is within the communion of the Church that the Holy Spirit leads us into the fullness of truth. For this reason, the Church is not an authority that remains foreign to the scientific character of theological reflection, but the ground of theology's existence and the condition that makes it possible. [14]

Indeed, as the German exegete Heinrich Schlier, then a member of the Confessing Evangelical Church, reminded his listeners in 1935, at the height of the Nazi campaign to make the Church an instrument of its own policies, "care for the Word of God among men is entrusted to the Church alone". [15]

The teaching office of the Church is not above the Word of God but exercises a humble service to it: this ecclesial office has the task of ensuring that Scripture is not manipulated and that its clear meaning is preserved from the conflict of hypotheses. [16] The freedom of theology is its bond with the Church and any other freedom "is a betrayal both of itself and of the object entrusted to it". [17]

Divorced from the faith of the Church, theological reflection would become no more than a personal theory or, at best, a philosophy of religion. It would also run the risk of being reduced to no more than an alternative formulation of the fashionable ideas shaping contemporary popular culture or of falling prey to political or commercial interests.

Such speculation on religion could well be interesting, but it is hardly what one would stake one's life on.

5. The writings of Joseph Ratzinger are marked by a certain fragmentary quality, in the sense that he never produced a complete synthesis of the Christian faith and that many of his writings, being occasional pieces, do not fully develop the profound intuitions that he enunciates.

In part, this is in keeping with his insistence that the faith is not a system but a path, along which we travel together in the communion of the Church toward the fullness of truth.

It is also due to the simple fact that he had to give up his preferred life as an academic to serve the Church first as Archbishop of Munich, then as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, and now, of course, as Pope.

Ratzinger is well aware of the unfinished character of much of his writing, yet, as his former student Vincent Twomey points out, "He makes a virtue out of this 'weakness'" and presents his various writings as "contributions to an ongoing debate". [18]

6. Despite the admittedly incomplete nature of much of Ratzinger's work, there is an inner consistency that marks all of his writings, although each piece "never fails to surprise with its freshness, originality, and depth." [19]

Many of his basic intuitions about the nature of the Church, the relation of Church and State, the place of history in Christian thinking, and the distinction between utopia and eschatology (with its consequences for the theology of politics and liberation theology) may be traced back to his doctoral thesis on St. Augustine and his Habilitationsschrft (or postdoctoral research required for university teaching) entitled The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, defended in 1957 and first published in 1959. [20] With regard to the inner unity of Ratzinger's theology; an excellent starting point for delving into his rich and exciting work is his Introduction to Christianity. [21]

This book, first published in 1968, was based on a series of lectures on the Apostles' Creed that he gave in the summer term of 1967 at the University of Tuebingen to students of all faculties. It opens "with a masterly attempt to situate the question of belief and its communal expression in the modern world before going on to comment on the contents of the Creed". [22]

Many of the issues that receive more detailed treatment in his later writings make their appearance here: the relationship between faith and reason, the consequences of the doctrine of creation for our understanding of the human person, the interpretation of Scripture, ecumenism, catechetics, the Eucharist, the nature of Christian worship, and eschatology.

7. Ratzinger's is a theology of dialogue, sensitive to contemporary questions. As is clear from Introduction to Christianity, his theology does not limit itself to an orthodox reaffirmation of the central tenets of the faith.

His method involves listening to the discussions and frequently implicit questions of modern culture and contemporary theological scholarship in order to uncover whatever truths they may contain and respond in the light of faith.

In this way, his theology is not an abstract speculation with little to say to modern man, but is solidly connected with the experience of people today: he shows how perennial Christian truths are relevant to our questioning and illuminate the path for life's journey.

Emblematic of his respectful approach to the positions of others is his attitude to the role played by heresies in the development of Christian dogma. After surveying the heresies that arose in the course of the Church's formulation of the Trinitarian dogma, he points out that they should not be viewed simply as failures of human thought in reflecting upon the ineffable.

Rather, "every heresy is at the same time the cipher for an abiding truth, a cipher we must now preserve with other simultaneously valid statements, separated from which it produces a false impression." [23]

8. It is clear from the foregoing that Joseph Ratzinger's theology is eminently pastoral.

Apart from writings explicitly devoted to pastoral themes such as preaching, [24] the celebration of the liturgy, [25] catechesis, [26] ethics, [27] and the Christian approach to politics, [28] most of his theological output is produced with an eye to practical questions about living the faith in the contemporary world in the face of increasing secularization and religious pluralism.

The pastoral approach does not mean accommodation to current ways of thinking and behaving, but entails bringing the joy and the light of the truth to bear on contemporary situations in a manner that is convincing and sensitive to the questions of modern man.

In this regard, Ratzinger cites an entry from the diary of Romano Guardini, which could easily apply to himself: "Truth has such a clear and calm power. My aim in pastoral work is this: to help by the power of the truth." [29]

9. While Joseph Ratzinger has published some explicitly spiritual writings, such as the retreat he gave to the Roman Curia in 1983, [30] and the one he gave to priest members of Comunione e Liberazione in 1986, [31] as well as his contribution to the development of a spiritual Christology, Behold the Pierced One, [32] his writings on priestly spirituality, [33] and the magnificent chapter on the Lord's Prayer in his first book written as Pope, Jesus of Nazareth, [34] all of his theology is characterized by a strong spiritual and prayerful note.

It is no exaggeration to say that just as his explicitly spiritual writings are profoundly theological, so too his theological writings are deeply spiritual and indeed lead to prayer.

In this regard, his writings remind one of the theological method of Hans Urs von Balthasar or the objective approach to spiritual theology found in the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion, an author with whom, more than likely, he would have been well acquainted in the seminary.

However, it is probably even more true to say that his theology reflects his long familiarity with the Church Fathers, who did not separate theological reflection from prayer and pastoral concerns.

10. A final characteristic of Joseph Ratzinger's theology is the sheer joy in the faith that it exudes.

Overcoming a narrow moralistic and legalistic interpretation of Christianity, Ratzinger emphasizes that Christian faith is not a burden but brings joy to the heart of man.

For Ratzinger, joy emerges from the totality of Christian faith when it is received in an open and generous heart. Joy is an overarching or synthesizing theme in his writings.

It refers both to God's gifts of love, salvation, and eternal life and to man's response, shaped by the supernatural attitudes of faith, hope, and charity and lived out amid life's joys and sorrows in the community of the Church as she journeys toward the definitive encounter with her Lord.

Joseph Ratzinger was once asked to describe what he saw as specific to his theology and way of doing theology. In his reply, which synthesizes many of the points made above, he explains that he has always consciously pursued a theology firmly grounded in the faith of the Church and in dialogue with contemporary thought:

---

I began with the theme of the Church, and it is present in everything. Only, in dealing with the Church it was important to me, and it has become increasingly important, that the Church not be an end in herself but exist so that God may be seen.

In that respect I would say that I study the theme of the Church with the intention of opening a vista onto God. And in this sense God is the real central theme of my endeavors.

I have never tried to create a system of my own, an individual theology. What is specific, if you want to call it that, is that I simply want to think in communion with the faith of the Church, and that means above all to think in communion with the great thinkers of the faith.

The aim is not an isolated theology that I draw out of myself but one that opens as widely as possible into the common intellectual pathway of the faith. For this reason exegesis was always very important. I couldn't imagine a purely philosophical theology.

The point of departure is first of all the Word. That we believe the word of God, that we try really to get to know and understand it and then, as I said, to think it together with the great masters of the faith.

This gives my theology a somewhat biblical character and also bears the stamp of the Fathers, especially Augustine. But it goes without saying that I try not to stop with the ancient Church but to hold fast to the great high points of thought and at the same time to bring contemporary thought into the discussion. [35]

---

An attempt, such as this, to convey something of the richness of the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, cannot hope to say everything.

It is intended in the first place as an expression of gratitude for all that this author has gained over the years from frequenting Ratzinger's extraordinarily profound, inspiring, and wide-ranging theological works.

Incomplete and imperfect though it is, this exploration of the central theme of joy also aims at serving the Holy Father's message. It is hoped that these pages will encourage the reader to engage Pope Benedict's own writings and so come to know better the beauty and joy of the Christian faith and grow in love of God and neighbor.

ENDNOTES:

[8] See Second Vatican Council, Decree on Priestly Training, Optatam Totius, October 28, 1965, no. 16. For Joseph Ratzinger's approach to scriptural exegesis, see the Erasmus lecture "Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: On the Question of the Foundations and Approaches of Exegesis Today", which he delivered on January 27, 1988 in St. Peter's Church, New York, in The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings and Speeches, ed. John F. Thornton and Susan B. Varenne (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2007), pp. 243-58. [Editor's note: The lecture is also now available in God's Word's: Scripture, Tradition, Office (Ignatius Press, 2008), by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.]

[9] On this point, see especially Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, November 18, 1965, no. 8.

[10] Joseph Ratzinger, Volk und Haus Gottes in Augustins Lehre von der Kirche (Munich: Zink, 1954); unamended reprint with a new preface (St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1992). To date, this work has not been translated into English. It has been translated into Italian as Popolo e casa di Dio in Sant' Agostino (Milan: Jaca Book, 1978).

[11] Joseph Ratzinger has explored the nature of theology in various writings; see, for example, The Nature and Mission of Theology: Approaches to Understanding Its Role in the Light of Present Controversy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1995); "Faith and Theology", in Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith: The Church as Communion (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005), pp. 17-28; "What in Fact Is Theology", in Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith, pp. 29-37.

[12] Ratzinger, The Nature and Mission of Theology, p. 97.

[13] Ibid., p. 60.

[14] See ibid., p. 61.

[15] Heinrich Schlier, "Die Verantwortung der Kirche fŸr den theologischen Unterricht", in his Der Geist und die Kirche, ed. V. Kubina and K. Lehmann (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1980), p. 241, as quoted by Ratzinger in The Nature and Mission of Theology, p. 45.

[16] See Ratzinger, Pilgrim Fellowship of Faith, p. 35.

[17] Ratzinger, The Nature and Mission of Theology, p. 46.

[18] D. Vincent Twomey, Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age. A Theological Portrait (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), p. 41; also his "The Mind of Benedict XVI", in Claremont Review of Books (2005): 66. Chapter 2 of Twomey's book, which expands his Claremont Review article, provides a useful overview of Joseph Ratzinger's writings over the years.

[19] Twomey, Pope Benedict XVI, p. 42.

[20] On the difficulties encountered with regard to his Habilitationsschrift, see Joseph Ratzinger's own account in his Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1998), pp. 103-14. Ratzinger's Habilitationssch rift was translated into English as The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1971).

[21] The first English edition of Introduction to Christianity, translated by J. R. Foster, was published in London in 1969 and in New York in 1970 and reprinted by Ignatius Press in 1990. I refer to the second edition published by Ignatius Press in 2004. This edition is almost identical in content to the original, with some corrections to the translation and the addition of a new preface, written in 2000 by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, entitled "Introduction to Christianity: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", which surveys some of the new challenges to the Christian faith that have emerged since 1968.

[22] Twomey, "The Mind of Benedict XVI", p. 67.

[23] Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2nd ed., p. 173.

24Ratzinger's theoretical work on preaching is Dogma und VerkŸndigung (Munich and Freiburg in Breisgau: Erich Wewel Verlag, only partially translated into English as Dogma and Preaching (Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1985 [Editor's note: Now available from Ignatius Press as Dogma and Preaching [2008]). Various collections of his homilies and meditations have been published, including Vom Sinn des Christseins: Drei Adventspredigten (Munich: Kšsel, 2005), originally published in 1965; Die Hoffnung des Senfleorns (Meitingen and Freising: Kyrios Verlag, 1973); Gottes Glanz in unserer Zeit: Meditationen zum Kirchenjahr (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 2005); Der Segen der Weihnacht Meditationen (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 2005); Komm Heiliger Geist! Pfingtspredigten, 2nd ed. (Munich: Erich Wewel Verlag, 2005). In English translation: Seek That Which Is Above (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986, 2007); What It Means to Be a Christian (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006); Images of Hope: Meditations on Major Feasts (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006); The Blessing of Christmas (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007).

[25] In this regard, one should mention above all his trilogy on the liturgy: The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986); A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy (New York: Crossroad, 1996); The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000).

[26] See for example, Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, with Christoph Schšnborn (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994); Joseph Ratzinger, Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997). Particularly significant is Joseph Ratzinger's lecture on the contemporary state of catechesis, delivered in January 1983 in Paris and Lyons, which is published in English as "Handing on the Faith and the Sources of the Faith", in Joseph Ratzinger et al., Handing on the Faith in an Age of Disbelief (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), pp. 13-40.

[27] See, for example, "The Church's Teaching Authority--Faith--Morals", in Joseph Ratzinger et al., Principles of Christian Morality (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986); Joseph Ratzinger, La via della fede: Le ragioni dell' etica nell' epoca presente (Milan: Ares, 1996); Joseph Ratzinger, "Conscience and Truth", in Crisis of Conscience, ed. John M. Haas (New York: Crossroad, 1996), pp. 1-20.

[28] See, for example, the following by Joseph Ratzinger: Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Essays in Ecclesiology (Slough: St. Paul Publications, 1988 [Editor's note: Now available from Ignatius Press under the title, Church, Ecumenism and Politics: New Endeavors in Ecclesiology [2008]); Wahrheit, Werte, Macht: PrŸfsteine derpluralistischen Gesellschaft (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1993); A Turning Point for Europe (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994); Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006); Values in a Time of Upheaval (New York: Crossroad; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).

[29] The diary entry is dated February 28, 1954; see Romano Guardini, Wahrheit des Denkens und Wahrheit des Tuns, 3rd ed. (Paderborn: Schšningh, 1980), p. 8; Ratzinger, The Nature and Mission of Theology, p. 92, n. 20.

[30] See Joseph Ratzinger, Journey towards Easter: Retreat Given in the Vatican in the Presence of Pope John Paul II (Slough: St. Paul Publications, 1987).

[31] See Joseph Ratzinger, The Yes of Jesus Christ: Spiritual Exercises in Faith, Hope and Love (New York: Crossroad, 2005), originally published as To Look on Christ: Exercises in Faith, Hope and Love (New York: Crossroad, 1991).

[32] Joseph Ratzinger, Behold the Pierced One: An Approach to a Spiritual Christology (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986).

[33] See Joseph Ratzinger, Ministers of Your Joy: Meditations on Priestly Spirituality (Slough: St. Paul Publications, 1989).

[34] Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (New York: Doubleday, 2007), pp. 128-68.

[35] Joseph Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth: Christianity and the Catholic Church at the End of the Millennium, An Interview with Peter Seewald (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997), pp. 65-66.

probably this book is for most of you "water under the bridge." if not, you can order here: www.mup.unimelb.edu.au/catalogue/0-522-85129-0.html

[IMG]http://i27.tinypic.com/n4bbr7.jpg[/IMG]

No, I hadn't heard of this book and I have my eyes everywhere until I go cross-eyed, looking for books by and about......oh dear, I've forgotten his name for a moment...
I'm going to your link now............whooosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SORRY! I did not realize till just now that I posted this in the wrong place (IN READINGS) on 5/19/08. I've taken it out of there now...


I am posting this only for the record. It has not changed the terrible impression I gained about Vermes with his instant review of JON, which revealed an unrelenting and arrogant bias, if not outright hostility, and he persists in seeing nothing but bad in it. It must make him feel even more full of himself that he can bash someone like the Pope, no less, at will - and National Catholic Reporter gives him an outlet to do so: Vermes, the man who cuts down the Pope, not just to size, but to mincemeat, if he could.

Of course, I don't expect everyone to say only good things about Ratzinger/Benedict, but his critics should at least present their arguments respectfully, not contemptuously and categorically dismissive as this man does.

Vermes's original review of JON is posted on Page 5 of this thread, at the top of the page.



Bible scholar rips Pope's book,
warns of chilling effect
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Lugano, Switzerland




A leading New Testament scholar, and former Catholic priest, has criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 book on the Gospels, Jesus of Nazareth, saying that its insistence on identifying the historical Jesus with the Christ of traditional Christian faith has “turned back the clock” on modern scholarship.

[How can one book do that? How does this book do that? All the other books on 'modern scholarship' on Jesus, including Vermes's, are still out there. Too bad for them if the Pope's book outsells them all. Even if the bulk of his readers are not scholars, but simply persons who want to learn about Jesus from a man who evidently has - or seems to, at the very least - that personal 'friendship with Christ' that he calls on everyone to have and develop.

Nor do I think Joseph Ratzinger has ever assumed that a book written by him - as Pope, even if it is his personal thinking, and not part of the Magisterium - would end the academic debate once and for all on who Jesus is! Since the topic has been open to question now for the better part of two centuries, it is not likely to go away for academic types. It's a different matter for persons who see Jesus - or end up seeing him - with the eyes of faith.]

The comments from Geza Vermes, author of the acclaimed book Jesus the Jew and a longtime professor at Oxford, came during a summit of leading Western intellectuals May 16-17 in Lugano, Switzerland, devoted to the theme of “truth.” The gathering was sponsored by the Balzan Foundation, which awards the Swiss-Italian equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Vermes spoke as part of a panel on religious approaches to truth that also included Swiss Cardinal Georges Cottier, former theologian of the Papal Household under Pope John Paul II.

Vermes devoted his presentation to arguing that on the basis of the New Testament, the image of Jesus that emerges is that of a charismatic, wonder-working Jewish holy man, and thus not the divine Son of God claimed by later Christian tradition.

The Greek-influenced version of Christianity developed by St. Paul and elaborated across centuries of Christian theological reflection, Vermes said, “would have perplexed Jesus the Jew.”

In that connection he criticized the Pope’s book, warning that it could have a chilling effect on Catholic Biblical scholarship.

“In Jesus of Nazareth, published under the alias of Joseph Ratzinger [Alias? That is the name he was baptized with!] , the Pope declares that the Gospels’ Christ of faith is the historical Jesus, thus turning the clock back by several centuries,” Vermes said.

“Pope Benedict bravely invites fellow scholars to contradict him, if they feel so inclined, but the big question is whether Catholic Biblical experts will have the courage to join Ratzinger’s independent critics,” he said. [How patronizing of Catholic intellectuals! And how untrue and unfounded! As if there has been any lack of Catholic academics disputing Ratzinger/Benedict on any number of issues!]

Cottier did not directly respond to Vermes’s critique, though during his own remarks at the Lugano symposium Cottier said that some scholars have pushed the distinction between the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith “to an extreme degree,” and said these issues were laid out in the “beautiful book” of Benedict XVI.

Cottier’s presentation was largely devoted to the Christian understanding of truth as grounded in the person of Christ, based on Cottier’s reading of the prologue to the Gospel of John.

During a later question-and-answer session, Vermes pointedly asked Cottier if he had even used the word “Jesus” during his speech – implicitly suggesting that the presentation was an example of dislodging the historical Jesus in favor of the Christ of faith.

Cottier replied that he referred to “Christ” because that’s the language of John’s Gospel, and that he did not intend to downplay the historical person of Jesus.

Vermes is a former Catholic priest. Born in Hungary to Jewish parents, his family converted when he was seven to evade rising anti-Semitism in pre-war Europe. Vermes lost both parents to the Holocaust, and after the war was ordained in the Order of Sion. He left the priesthood and the church in 1957 and returned to his Jewish roots, and later became the first professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford.

In the field of Biblical scholarship, Vermes is usually seen as a leading exponent of a movement that began to crest in the 1970s, seeing Jesus not in terms of the Greco-Roman religious context of late antiquity but rather in terms of first century Judaism in Palestine.

Vermes was among the first scholars to write a doctoral dissertation on the Dead Sea Scrolls, which he completed in 1953 at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.

I spoke with Vermes May 17 on the margins of the Lugano symposium.

In a nutshell, what’s your objection to the Pope’s book?
I reviewed the book in the Times of London, where I called it “pre-Copernican.” It’s the way he approaches the problem. He claims to be following the historical method, but when it takes him somewhere he doesn’t want to go, it’s no good. He even criticizes Catholic New Testament experts.

[The Pope's book is an argument for and defense of his principal affirmation: that The historical Jesusi is the Jesus of the Gospels, and therefor, teh Son of God. Why would he waste his time dwelling on opposite arguments? It is enough that he mentions what these arguments are and cites the major scholars who think so. Let the interested reader pursue it if he cares. I wonder if Vermes in his own book gives as much space to Catholic arguments about Jesus as the Son of God as he gives to his arguments to dispute that he is not!]


He’s obviously fond of the work of the Jewish scholar Jacob Neusner, who seems to believe that the historical Jesus understood himself to be more or less what Christians think of as the Christ of faith.
Jacob Neusner is a very old friend of mine. We’re bosom pals.
[I wonder if Rabbi Neusner feels the same way!] My impression, however, is that when it comes to the Gospels, Neusner is pulling our legs [sic] . Suddenly he becomes almost a fundamentalist Christian in the interpretation of the New Testament, only in order to disagree with it at the end. But it’s a very useful argument for the Pope, because here’s this unbelieving Jew who’s acknowledging what the Pope really thinks. [Can there be anything more contemptuously arrogant than that statement? This is probably the first time anyone has ever suggested that this Pope dones not really think!]


Would you give the Pope credit at least for being conversant with modern Biblical scholarship?
As far as I can see, he’s conversant with the kind of scholarship he studied as a student. Apart from Neusner, however, he doesn’t seem aware of any scholarship that dates from after 1970. Of course, the Pope was never trained as an exegete. I’m not sure how well he knows the languages involved. There are a few funny bits in the book that experts in Judaism at the time of Jesus wouldn’t say.
[Now, this creep is saying that not only does the Pope not really think - he is also ignorant and has not read enough on the subject matter.]


Can you give an example?
At one point the Pope refers to Joachim Jeremias on the word talya, which means “lamb.” What Jeremias said was quite correct, but the Pope misquotes him. He has Jeremias saying the word is Hebrew, when in fact it’s Aramaic. It doesn’t seem to me that he’s had any serious training in this area. I’m sure he had some Biblical Hebrew, because it was compulsory in German seminary training of his day.

We have to remember that the Pope’s area is dogmatic theology and the church Fathers, not the interpretation of the New Testament from a historical point of view. …

Another example is his identification of the author of the fourth gospel with the apostle John, which is something most scholars today wouldn’t accept. It’s important for the Pope’s argument, however, because he wants to claim direct apostolic witness for that Gospel.
[Here's what the Pope writes in the book, citing Peter Stuhlmacher, who in turn cites two other German scholars, to the effect that "The author of the Gospel of John is, as it were, the literary executor of the favorite disciple" - pp. 226-227 of teh English edition. So 'most scholars today' will not accept it. That does not mean that not a single scholar accepts it. It appears to be just as plausible as arguments to the contrary.]


The Pope wants to reconcile traditional doctrinal beliefs about Christ with what we find in the New Testament. Are you saying that’s just not possible?
It’s possible, if you follow the reasoning. Historical scholars distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith. If you admit this distinction, you can then argue that the Christ of faith is an interpretation of the historical Jesus. You can hold this point of view, as long as it can be argued in a rational way.


But you don’t think the Pope succeeds?
He seems to claim that the Christ of faith simply is the historical Jesus. Even most Catholic Biblical scholars, however, admit that Jesus himself did not make many of the claims that later Christian interpretation would make about his person and his teaching. [Are we going to take Vermes's word for this? I wish somebody would come out with a rebuttal - or verification, if that should be the case. Maybe even someone like Vittorio Messori, who has done his share of rsearch on Biblical schoalrship since his student days and has apparently kept it up as he continues to write new books based on what the Bible tells us.]


You also asserted that the Pope’s book will have a ‘chilling effect’ on Catholic Biblical scholarship, despite his invitation to criticize his work.
I think that must be the case, though I would be very pleased to be proved wrong. [You 'think that will be the case', because you seem to think all Catholic Biblicists are cowards - though there is nothing to support that view!]


Have you seen any evidence of such a chilling effect?
Well, I haven’t seen any Catholic Biblical scholars making critical pronouncements about the book. Maybe it’s too soon, but this is what I fear. I wonder if the bishops would consider it proper to allow their theologians to contradict the Pope, even with the Pope’s permission.

[What a hoot! As if bishops have not been contradicting the Pope on even something as fundamental to the Pope's right to decree for the universal Church in the case of the liturgy!

Probably Allen should have pointed out to Vermes that Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a Biblical scholar of great international repute, who has certainly never held back on criticizing Ratzinger/Benedict, directly or indirectly, did write a couple of reviews on JON, and although he brings up a few questions of Biblical scholarship - like Vermes, he points out that Ratzinger is 'not a trained exegete', as if only professional exegetes were qualified, or as though Ratzinger's deficiencies in exegesis were so appalling - he certainly does does not dispute the central argument of the book. Who knows? Vermes mght also have proceeded to disparage Martini's credentials as a Biblical scholar.

by Peter Hunermann and Thomas Sodin

www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2008/ratzinger_godswordintro_j...






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 Ueberlieferung (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 modern 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.

These three pieces are closely related to the central task that Benedict XVI sees as being set for his pontificate. In his "First Message", of April 20, 2005, before the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, and which he was addressing, not just to his "most reverend brothers", but also to his "dear brothers and sisters in Christ" and to all "men of goodwill", he said,

---

Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Lk 22:32). With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome that Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. [11]

---

Working at this task demands both boldness in the Spirit and an authenticity of action founded in faith. It requires profound insight into theological relationships.

These three publications offer us essential insights into the problem areas posed by this task. They open up perspectives toward solutions that Joseph Ratzinger saw as a theologian and cardinal and that remain important for his pontificate.

The main focus that Benedict XVI is setting for his pontificate has prompted the Herder publishing house and the current editors of the Quaestiones Disputatae series, with its wealth of tradition, to reissue these important texts. They wish that Benedict XVI may have the "assistance" that Jesus promised and all that help which is essential for the achievement of this task.

ENDNOTES:
[1] See below, 20.
[2] See below, 23.
[3] See below, 30.
[4] See below, 41.
[5] See below, 86-87.
[6] See below, 87.
[7] Schriftauslegung im Widerstreit, QD 117 (Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1989), 24.
[8] See below, 121.
[9] See below, 122-23.
[10] See below, 123.
[11] "First Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI at the End of the Eucharistic Concelebration with the Members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel", Wednesday, April 20, 2005, no. 5.

====================================================================

The blurb on the book jacket:
God's Word: Scripture, Tradition, Office
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger


In this book Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, presents the Word of God as a living reality in the Church. God's Word, according to Ratzinger, is encountered in the Bible, in Tradition, and through the teaching Office of the Bishop, who, through apostolic succession, is to be the servant of and witness to the divine Word. Ratzinger examines as well the relationship between the Episcopacy and the Papacy.

He also considers the nature of Apostolic Succession, and he responds to Reformed objections to the Catholic view of the subject. His treatment is sympathetic to the concerns of non-Catholic Christians while remaining faithful to Catholic teaching and practice.

This book also includes the famous Erasmus Lecture of Cardinal Ratzinger, which assesses the strengths and weaknesses of modern critical approaches to biblical interpretation. Ratzinger proposes a new approach that avoids the pitfalls of a narrowly critical outlook on the Bible without succumbing to fundamentalism.

God's Word provides profound insights into Pope Benedict XVI's efforts to renew the Church's participation in God's Truth through the divine Word, as well as the Church's mission to proclaim the Word to all people.

"The calm, clear, and precise teaching that has characterized the theological work of Joseph Ratzinger as Peritus, Archbishop, Prefect, and Pope is placed before the Christian reader in this newly republished volume, God's Word:Scripture, Tradition, Office. Both refreshing and prophetic, this writing lays the groundwork for the two great initiatives that Pope Benedict XVI has stated are the top priorities of his pontificate, evangelization and ecumenism. Bypassing the bland contemporary approach that reduces these noble objectives to mere niceness, this book faces the problems that, if resolved, will make possible the 'New Evangelization' envisioned by Pope John Paul II and the 'full and visible unity of all Christ's followers' so desired by Pope Benedict XVI himself. This book, though not light reading, will be of interest and inspiration to all Christians who honestly seek truth and unity."
-- Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz



"This book brings together three important treatises on the issue of Scripture and Tradition from the pen of one of the greatest theologians ever to hold the papal office. Written with clarity and insight, this book helps us to trace the development of this important theme in Catholic theology since Vatican II, and it also opens up fruitful avenues of ecumenical advance. A little masterpiece!"
-- Timothy George
Founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School Samford University


=====================================================================

I must admit I have not been able to keep systematic track of the books coming out about Benedict XVI nor of the reissues and new editions/translations of the books he wrote as Joseph Ratzinger. Not even in English, let alone in other languages, except those in Italian which are usually heralded with formal book presentations, a very civilized practice whichI wish could be SOP in the United States as well. So I will post what I come across at random, such as this one, which seems to date from summer of 2007.







An Invitation to Faith:
An A to Z Primer on the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI
110 pp.


Description:

As soon as he was elected to the Papacy, Benedict XVI immediately challenged the relativism of our times that rejects God, that sees nothing as definitive, and that, according to the Pope, sets as the ultimate yardstick the individual's own ego and desires alone. The Pope offers instead an opposing standard: Christ, the Son of God, the true man. The Pope's words are rousing and demand an examination of conscience. His words are meant for all.

With strong words, Benedict XVI invites us to place God at the center of our lives. Thus, this book is a selection of key words from the teachings of the Holy Father since he began his Pontificate, presented in alphabetical order. Each key word leads to an inspiring and insightful meditation from the Pope on various important spiritual themes and topics. Benedict XVI invites us in these words to become daily actors in the real revolution that comes from God and is called Love.

This volume is a handy little primer on the thought of the beloved Pontiff in which the reader can pick out any key word or topic from the alphabetical order of meditations throughout the book to meditate and focus on.




The God of Jesus Christ
145 pp.


Description::

In this book of meditations, based on a series of homilies and meditations presented and compiled by the author shortly before he became Archbishop of Munich-Freising, in 1977, theologian Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) presents his profound thoughts on the nature and person of God, building a bridge between theology and spirituality as he makes wide use of the Sacred Scriptures to reveal the beauty and mystery of who God is.

He writes about each of the three persons in the Holy Trinity, showing the different attributes of each person, and that “God is three and God is one.”

God is — and the Christian faith adds: God is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three and one. This is the very heart of Christianity, but it is so often shrouded in a silence born of perplexity.

Has the Church perhaps gone one step too far here? Ought we not rather leave something so great and inaccessible as God in his inaccessibility? Can something like the Trinity have any real meaning for us?

It is certainly true that the proposition that "God is three and God is one" is and remains the expression of his otherness, which is infinitely greater than us and transcends all our thinking and our existence.

But, as Joseph Ratzinger shows, if this proposition meant nothing to us, it would not have been revealed! And as a matter of fact, it could be clothed in human language only because it had already penetrated human thinking and living to some extent.

---

Without Jesus, we do not know what 'Father' truly is. This becomes visible in his prayer, which is the foundation of his being. A

Jesus who was not continuously absorbed in the Father, and was not in continuous intimate communication with him, would be a completely different being from the Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus of history… In Jesus's prayer, the Father becomes visible and Jesus makes himself known as the Son. The unity which this reveals is the Trinity.

Accordingly, becoming a Christian means sharing in Jesus's prayer, entering into the model provided by his life, i.e. the model of prayer. Becomng a Christian means saying 'Father' with Jesus, and thus becoming a child, God's son — God — in the unity of the Spirit, who allows us to be ourselves and precisely in this way draws us into the unity of God. Being a Christian means looking at the world from this central point, which gives us freedom, hope, decisiveness, and consolation.

— Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)

---

In this profound series of meditations, Ratzinger shows the enduring core of his theology.

The future Pope begins with an ancient Jewish story: The prophet Jeremiah and his son one day succeeded in creating a living man, through the correct combination of words and letters. “Now that you are able to create a man, God is dead. My life is the death of God,” the man says.

Ratzinger then shows that man’s knowledge of God depends on the relationship that a man establishes between himself and the world and his life; that the question of whether God exists can be answered only in terms of some image of who or what God is, of some sense of how he shapes the whole of our existence."
— David L. Schindler, John Paul II Institute



Dogma and Preaching


Description:

All of us have at one time or another wrestled with the problem of evil; few of us have not experienced in themselves the predicament of Job.

Others have been consumed by the question: What is time? Some have cried that more attention be given the individual, specifically to women. Still others harbor a deep fear of the word "Americanize."

In one way or another the foregoing questions and voluminous others of equal rank are the basis of problems that worry the modern world. Whether we realize it or not they are the kind of questions to which we would like answers in order to make life worth living.

Fortunately, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has proposed a series of incisive meditations that go a long way in facing questions that besiege the modern mind.

Beginning with a consideration of his personal Christology the author clearly and calmly unfolds against the backdrop of the liturgical year the drama in which the modern soul finds itself.

In consideration of Jesus, the author proposes the question: What does it mean to be human?

On Good Friday he examines Auschwitz, Vietnam and evil. On Easter he asks how them mystery of death and resurrection become the central focus of all religions.

What meaning can be attached today to such phrases in thr Creed as: "He ascended into heaven?" Is Henri Bergson's comment (in contemplating the vast technological development our century has seen) that the human race has too big a body for its soul really a true statement?

Does Pentecost bring to mind the mistake of the Tower of Babel and its implications for today's world? Did John the Baptist whose Advent call for metanoia rang so loud and clear experience his own dark night of the soul? Does the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven relate in any way to the current cultivation of youth?

Dogma and Preaching in Matthew O'Connell's English translation is a clear meditation on the modern world and on the only force capable of bringing forth uplifting progress.

For all who are readers and Christians and non-Christians, this volume sweeps away many cobwebs and light dark corners. It brings light to darkness; it brings hope to despair. It speaks the life-giving word to deadening silence.




CREATION AND EVOLUTION:
A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI
Foreword by Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn
200 pp.

We've had previous posts about the German and Italian editions of this book. The English edition came out in April 2005.


Description:

In 2005 the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn wrote a guest editorial in The New York Times that sparked a worldwide debate about “Creation and Evolution”.

Pope Benedict XVI instructed the Cardinal to study more closely this problem and the current debate between “evolutionism” and “creationism,” and asked the yearly gathering of his former students to address these questions.

Even after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI, he has continued to maintain close contact with the circle of his former students. The "study circle" (Schulerkreis) meets once a year with Pope Benedict XVI for a conference. Many of these former Ratzinger students have gone on to become acclaimed scholars, professors and writers, as well as high ranking Church prelates.

This book documents the proceedings of the remarkable conference on the topic of “Creation and Evolution” hosted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo.

It includes papers that were presented from the fields of natural science, philosophy and theology, and records the subsequent discussion, in which Pope Benedict XVI himself participated.

---

Ultimately it comes down to the alternative: What came first? Creative Reason, the Creator Spirit who makes all things and gives them growth, or Unreason, which, lacking any meaning, strangely enough brings forth a mathematically ordered cosmos, as well as man and his reason. The latter, however, would then be nothing more than a chance result of evolution and thus, in the end, equally meaningless. As Christians, we say: I believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in the Creator Spirit. We believe that at the beginning of everything is the eternal Word, with Reason and not Unreason.
— Pope Benedict XVI

---

"Creation and Evolution is an extraordinary opportunity for the public to listen in on the conversation as some of the greatest minds in the Catholic Church — theologians, philosophers, scientists, and Pope Benedict himself — wrestle with one of the most thorny and far-reaching of topics.

Participants clash repeatedly over what we really know about the forces that shaped life on earth, over what is data and what is hype, over what certain scenarios might mean even if they were true. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know where we might have come from and where we might be headed.
— Michael J. Behe, Lehigh University, Author of The Edge of Evolution


"At a time when evolution is the subject of so many bitter polemics, it is refreshing to see theologians and scientists together to engage in respectful, informed, and thoughtful discussion of it."
— Stephen M. Barr, professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Delaware, and author of Modern Physics and Ancient Faith.




CHURCH, ECUMENISM & POLITICS
250 pp.
This was scheduled to come out in May 2008 but it is still on back order.


Description:

This work features the most discussed topics of the life of the Church, treated with unique frankness and depth by the Church’s spiritual and theological leader.

In this collection of essays, theologian Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, tackles three major issues in the Church today — the nature of the Church, the pursuit of Christian unity, and the relationship of Christianity to the secular/political power.

The first part of the book explores Vatican II's teaching on the Church, what it means to call the Church "the People of God", the role of the Pope, and the Synod of Bishops.

In part two, Ratzinger frankly assesses the ecumenical movement — its achievements, problems, and principles for authentic progress toward Christian unity.

In the third part of the work, Ratzinger discusses both fundamental questions and particular issues concerning the Church, the state and human fulfillment in the Age to come. What does the Bible say about faith and politics? How should the Church work in pluralistics societies? What are the problems with Liberation Theology? How should we understand freedom in the Church and in society?

Beneath a penetrating analysis on these important topics by this brilliant teacher and writer, both concise and also surprising, is revealed the passion of a great spiritual leader. The result is an exciting and stimulating work, which can be provoking, but never boring.



"In tricky theological disputes, Pope Benedict XVI separates the wheat from the chaff — a gift for precision that defines this compendium of his thought on ecclesiology and ecumenism. Dating from the 1970s and 1980s, the essays, interviews and lectures contained in this book remain highly relevant. Careful distinctions are his winnowing fork as he cuts through the confusion to identify what is orthodox and heterodox in the important controversies of our time."
— George Neumayr, Editor, Catholic World Report


"In this wonderful collection of essays, Pope Benedict XVI offers to us a sophisticated, though accessible, understanding of the relationship between politics, the church, and the differing religious communities that encounter one another across the globe.

"The vision that the Pope imparts is one that supports religious liberty without entailing theological relativism. He shows us that one can take theology and ecclesiology seriously, as authoritative knowledge traditions, without rejecting the best insights of Enlightenment liberalism."
— Francis J. Beckwith, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University.
Author of Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice
[Prof Beckwith converted earlier this year to Catholicism. He was Episcopalian.]

The Holy Father stated that his beautiful book [always by my bedside] is the result of his own personal search for Jesus Christ.

What the critic, above, has to say about it therefore, signifies absolutely nothing.

I look forward eagerly to Volume Two.

An Interview with Monsignor Joseph Murphy
by Carl E. Olson
June 5, 2008



Monsignor Joseph Murphy, a native of Ireland, received his S.T.L. degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has taught in colleges and seminaries, written articles for several publications, and is currently an official of the Secretariat of State at the Vatican.

Carl E. Olson, editor of Ignatius Insight, recently interviewed Monsignor Murphy about his recently published book, Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI (Ignatius Press, 2008).

An excerpt from Mons. Murphy's Introduction to the book was posted on this page of this thread earlier (See above).


Ignatius Insight: What was the genesis of your book? What do you hope readers will learn and better appreciate about the theological work of Pope Benedict XVI?
Monsignor Murphy: Joseph Ratzinger's writings have fascinated me for a long time. As a seminarian, I became familiar with such works as The Ratzinger Report, Introduction to Christianity, To Look on Christ, Ministers of Your Joy, and Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life.

From that time, I was impressed by the extraordinary clarity and depth of Ratzinger's thought, and his ability to diagnose the problems of the current situation, engage in dialogue with contemporary ideas, and offer a way forward, drawing on the perennial riches of the Christian tradition.

The book came about in this way. When Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, I was immediately struck by the content of his first homilies, which offered a thought-provoking and inspiring presentation of the Christian message.

In particular, I was intrigued by his emphasis on joy and decided to take a closer look at his writings to get a better understanding of what he meant by it.

I initially found what I was looking for in an article entitled "Faith as Trust and Joy—Evangelium", which was his contribution to Bernhard Hoering's Festschrift, published in 1977. The article itself was later reprinted in Principles of Catholic Theology (Ignatius Press, 1987).

Subsequently, on reading other texts, I noticed that joy is very much present in throughout Ratzinger's work and that it arises in connection with all the key themes of the Christian faith. It seemed to me that this was exactly the kind of message that people today, with all their questions and problems, needed to hear again.

Also this way of presenting the Christian message could serve to overcome the indifference or discouragement which afflict many members of the Church, and rekindle their enthusiasm and love for the faith.

I hope that the readers of Christ Our Joy will enjoy it as much as I did writing it! I tried to show that even though Pope Benedict, because of his other heavy commitments, never had the opportunity to develop a systematic presentation of the Christian faith — the closest he comes to it is in Introduction to Christianity — there is something like a complete vision of Christianity in his various writings, that joy is central to that vision, and that this manner of presenting the Christian message is particularly appropriate in today's circumstances.


For many people, especially those who know little about Benedict XVI except what they have read or heard via the secular media, associating "joy" with the Holy Father might be surprising, even strange. What would you say to those who might be puzzled by this association? How is joy a part of Benedict's theological vision?
While certainly criticisms could be made of some media presentations of the Pope, which are often little more than caricatures, it should also be pointed out that it is thanks to the media and, in particular, to television, newspapers and news magazines that many people have come know the Holy Father better, particularly in such high-profile events as the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the inaugural Mass of the Pontificate and Pope Benedict's recent pastoral visit to the United States.

I can well imagine that for people who have become used to a certain one-sided image of the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, associating the word "joy" with the Pope might well appear somewhat surprising.

However, I would simply invite them to listen to what he has to say and read some of his writings. They will find that his thought is actually very hope-filled, encouraging and inspiring.

Rather than saying that joy is part of Pope Benedict's theological vision, I would say that joy characterizes both his thought and, more generally, Christian life itself, which after all is a life in the Holy Spirit, in the "Spirit of eternal joy", as the Pope calls him.

Authentic joy is bound up with the Christian faith in its entirety and it flows from living that faith to the full. In the article I mentioned above, the Pope shows how joy presupposes inner harmony and serenity, and these in turn arise from the experience of being loved with a love that is true and unfailing.

Only God, who reveals himself in Jesus Christ, can provide this true and unfailing love. As Ratzinger's friend, the German philosopher Josef Pieper, puts it, only God can truly say to us: "Yes, it is good that you are, that you exist".


What are some aspects of joy found in Benedict's work that might be new or surprising to readers? What are some other essential qualities of Benedict's thought that are interrelated with joy?
Joy is of course a central Biblical theme, and so Christianity and joy must be closely associated. For example, in the intimacy of the Last Supper, Christ says to his disciples: "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (Jn 15:11).

Christianity is not about imposing heavy burdens on people, nor is it an oppressive system of do's and don'ts. Rather, it is the path to freedom and to true joy. Hence, the Holy Father's emphasis on joy is simply in keeping with his desire to communicate what is essential to Christianity, what it is really all about.

In this regard, there are some aspects of Pope Benedict's thought that readers may find new or at least thought-provoking. For example, many people, when they hear about the Church, automatically think of her institutional aspects, structures and personnel.

However, the Pope places the emphasis elsewhere; for him, the Church is, among other things, what I referred to in the book as the servant, guardian and teacher of joy. He alludes to this idea, for example, in Introduction to Christianity, where he says: "Only someone who has experienced how, regardless of changes in her ministers and forms, the Church raises men up, gives them a home and a hope, a home that is hope — the path to eternal life — only someone who has experienced this knows what the Church is, both in days gone by and now." (2nd ed., Ignatius Press, 2004, p. 344).

The Pope often cites French Catholic authors in his writings and there are similar ideas about the Church in Georges Bernanos's great novel, The Diary of a Country Priest, which, incidentally, teaches us a lot about the nature of Christian joy, despite the novel's initially somewhat somber appearance.

In one well-known passage, for example, the Cure de Torcy describes the true nature of the Church and tells his younger colleague, the Cure d'Ambricourt: "Joy is in the gift of the Church, whatever joy is possible for this sad world to share" (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002, p. 20).

An important question, which the Pope addresses in his writings, is whether there can be joy in the face of suffering and death. A merely superficial joy cannot withstand these difficult realities, which bring us face to face with the fragility of our lives and the question of ultimate meaning.

However, Christian joy is something much more profound. It springs from knowing that the God of love is close to us in all the circumstances of our lives and, as the saints teach us, it is this that enables us to face illness, suffering and death with serenity, confidence and hope. Ultimately, it is Christ's victory over sin and death that makes it possible for joy and suffering to co-exist.


Benedict has often been portrayed as "triumphalistic" and "rigid", and yet isn't the case that his life's work has been marked by a deep and serious dialogue with other religions and belief systems? What stands out to you the most about Benedict's writings about secularism, modernity and skepticism?
Anyone who has ever met or read Pope Benedict would see just how wide of the mark it is to describe him as "triumphalistic" or "rigid". His theology is marked by a willingness to engage in dialogue, and he is very well informed about the questions posed by contemporary culture and theological debate.

In this regard, those who wish to get a better idea of what the Pope is really like would do well to read the first chapter of Fr. Vincent Twomey's recent book Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (Ignatius Press, 2007), where Twomey, who wrote his doctoral dissertation under Professor Ratzinger's direction, gives us an interesting description of his former teacher's method of conducting seminars, which were characterized by open debate and respect for the views of others.

The Pope has discussed other religions and belief systems on various occasions, especially in recent years in such works as Many Religions — One Covenant (Ignatius Press, 1999) and Truth and Tolerance (Ignatius Press, 2004).

In his writings on these subjects, as well as on secularism, modernity and skepticism, what emerges very clearly is the emphasis on the primacy of truth, without which joy is simply not possible.

It is interesting that in the encyclical Deus Caritas Est, he stresses that by fidelity to God and to his revealed law, man "comes to experience himself as loved by God and discovers joy in truth and in righteousness — a joy in God which becomes his essential happiness" (no. 9).

Man is made for the truth and cannot avoid posing the ultimate questions about meaning, about life and death, about his origins and destiny. In all cultures and religions, we find attempts to answer these questions, and there is no doubt in Ratzinger's mind that Christianity can engage in fruitful dialogue with the world religions on the basis of this common quest for answers and also on the basis of the knowledge about human existence and morality which transcends national, cultural and religious boundaries.

Ratzinger stresses that modern skepticism and relativism, by ignoring the truth-claims of religion and the fundamental human insights about the deeper questions of life, pose a grave danger for man since they risk leading him into a vacuum devoid of meaning, which would prove fatal.

Truth is necessary to lead us out of alienation, but if there is no possibility of knowing the truth, man is left without meaning and direction. However, man has an unquenchable thirst for truth, love and meaning; he needs them in order to live.

In this context, Christianity reassures us not only that truth and meaning exist but that these are in fact personal and are ultimately to be identified with the God who is love.

Ratzinger puts it very strikingly in Introduction to Christianity: "Christian faith lives on the discovery that not only is there such a thing as objective meaning but that this meaning knows me and loves me, that I can entrust myself to it like the child who know that everything he may be wondering about is safe in the 'you' of his mother." (p. 80).


Benedict XVI and John Paul II are continually compared to one another— sometimes fairly (and understandably), sometimes not. What key similarities and differences do you see in their theological works?
It is clear that Benedict XVI and John Paul II are very different as to temperament, spirituality, background and theological approach. However, they are also very complementary.

Pope John Paul was of course more of a philosopher, initially trained in the Aristotelian and Thomist traditions, which left a lasting mark on his thinking. His interest in the human person and in the reality of human love, sexuality and marriage led him to integrate his early philosophical education with the more personalistic insights of phenomenology, thus producing a very interesting and original synthesis of his own, the fruits of which we find in Love and Responsibility, The Acting Person and Theology of the Body.

His love for the theatre and his indebtedness to the Carmelite spiritual tradition also contributed to the formation of this great pastor, thinker and man of prayer. Pope John Paul has left a large corpus of writings which will require considerable time to absorb. Among them his teaching on ethical questions, social doctrine and anthropology (the theology of the body) undoubtedly holds a special place and has yet to be fully integrated into the life of the Church and her members.

Pope Benedict's background is rather different. His spirituality is deeply influenced by the liturgical movement, as is clear from his writings on liturgy and his manner of celebrating the Eucharist. His theology has a strong Biblical and Patristic note. It owes much to the Fathers of the Church, especially St. Augustine, and to medieval authors like St. Bonaventure.

Even though Pope Benedict's thought is less explicitly philosophical than that of Pope John Paul, it does pay close attention to the questions raised by the Enlightenment and by the thinkers who shaped modern culture.

Pope Benedict is also a remarkably clear teacher, with a gift for expressing profound ideas in a very simple way, and so it is no wonder that the many people who attend his Angelus and General Audience talks pay close attention to what he has to say.

While he certainly has an interest in moral and social issues, Pope Benedict, in keeping with his own academic background in the area of fundamental and dogmatic theology, has tended to devote more attention to the central articles of the faith, to the dialogue between faith and reason, and to the liturgy, as is clear from his encyclicals on love and on hope, and his very beautiful work on Christ, Jesus of Nazareth.

In short, the teachings of both Popes, in their complementarity, provide us with an extraordinarily profound understanding of the riches of the Christian faith.


In Christ Our Joy you emphasize how Joseph Ratzinger, in his Christological writings, focuses on both the Incarnation and the Cross. Why is this significant and how does it relate to other aspects of his work, especially soteriology and ecclesiology?
In the Christological section of Introduction to Christianity, Ratzinger mentions that, broadly speaking, there have been two major approaches to the mystery of Christ, one which concentrates on the mystery of the Incarnation and the other on the Cross.

An approach based on the Incarnation tends to focus on the being of Christ, who is both God and man. The interlocking of God and man, so to speak, appears as the truly decisive factor. This approach is in keeping with the old Patristic adage "what is not assumed is not saved", which proved immensely helpful in the formulation of the early Christological dogmas.

The risk of a unilateral Incarnation-based approach to the mystery of the redemption is to produce a static, optimistic view of man, in which sin plays at most a secondary role.

The other major approach, stressed by St. Paul and in later times by the Reformers, is based on the Cross, and stresses the victory of Christ over sin and death. The risk here is to produce an anti-world interpretation, which sees Christianity as a "constantly appearing breach in the self-confidence and self-assurance of man and of his institutions, including the Church" (Introduction to Christianity, p. 230).

An adequate Christology, and consequently an adequate soteriology and ecclesiology, must somehow embrace both approaches, without reducing them to a facile synthesis. It must pay due attention to the unity of Christ and his saving work.

The "being" of Christ, which is the focus of the Incarnation-based approach, is also "doing". This means that it is intrinsically connected with his saving activity, which is the focus of the approach based on the Cross. Christ's being is in reality "actualitas"; it is a stepping beyond oneself, an exodus.

His being is not a static resting in himself but the act of being sent out, of being son, of serving. In short, his "being" is "doing" and his "doing" is "being".

This interesting way of connecting the Incarnation and the Cross is intimately bound up with Ratzinger's notion of person, which stresses the importance of relatedness: the person is "from" someone (ultimately, God), and "for" others. The more a person abandons himself "for" the other, especially for the other who is God, and the more he moves away from himself towards the other, the more he comes to himself and fulfils himself.

Jesus Christ, in giving himself, "is the one who has moved right out beyond himself and, thus, the man who has come completely to himself" (Introduction to Christianity, p. 235).

All of this has consequences for our understanding of the Church and Christian life. The piercing of Christ's side shows that his existence is now completely open: "now he is entirely 'for'; now he is truly no longer a single individual but 'Adam', from whose side Eve, a new mankind, is formed" (Introduction to Christianity, p. 241).

The blood and water which flow from Christ's side point to the basic Christian sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, and thus to the Church, which is the new community of men and women. To live as a new creation, to be fully part of the new community, means to live like Christ, in a community of relationships, in a spirit of giving oneself for the other. All of this is made possible by Christ's saving work, which we receive into our own lives through the sacraments.


In writing about the Blessed Mother, Ratzinger has often focused on her being the Daughter of Zion. What is the importance of that and how does it relate to the theme of joy?
In 1977 Joseph Ratzinger published a short but profound book on Mariology, Daughter Zion (Ignatius Press: San Francisco, 1983), in which he identifies the Daughter of Zion theme as one of five Old Testament strands of thought which were taken over by the New Testament and by the later Christian tradition, especially by the liturgy, in order to understand better the person of the Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation.

The other strands are (1) the figure of Eve; (2) the barren women who eventually bear a child: Sarah, Rachel, Hannah; (3) the great salvific figures of Esther and Judith; and (4) personified Wisdom.

For Ratzinger, the Daughter of Zion has particular significance. In Old Testament thought, this figure comes to represent Jerusalem and indeed Israel as a whole. Israel, the chosen people, enjoys a covenant relationship with God, which is based on God's love, mercy and grace. The covenant itself is seen more in terms of a marital relationship than as a political or legal arrangement.

In this context, especially in the prophetic writings, Israel is often described in feminine terms as woman, virgin, beloved, wife and mother. In the New Testament, Mary is seen as the true Daughter of Zion, in whom God takes up his dwelling, so much so that she becomes the Mother of God, the Theotokos.

The connection with joy is already clear in the prophets Zechariah and Zephaniah, who urge the people, the Daughter of Zion, to rejoice because God is victorious and present in the midst of Israel. Israel can rejoice because her hope is sure, since it is solidly founded in God's saving work, his consoling presence and his promises. However, in Old Testament times, the promises await fulfillment.

The hope of Israel is realized in the Virgin Mary, who is to be the mother of the long-awaited Savior, and it is significant that when the angel Gabriel addresses her, he does so in a manner which recalls the Daughter of Zion prophecies: "Rejoice!"

This is why Pope Benedict constantly emphasizes that Christianity, which really begins with the angel's words to Mary, is an invitation to joy. Mary is at the same time the Daughter of Zion and the true Israel, in whom the old and new covenants, Israel and the Church are inseparably one.

Mary teaches us what the Church is to be, namely, God's dwelling place. She also teaches us to place our trust in God in an attitude of complete openness and self-giving. In doing so, she indicates where we will find true joy.

From all of this, we can understand the place of Marian devotion in Christian life. As Joseph Ratzinger puts it: "Marian devotion is the rapture of joy over the true, indestructible Israel; it is a blissful entering into the joy of the Magnificat and thereby it is the praise of him to whom the daughter Zion owes her whole self and whom she bears, the true, incorruptible, indestructible Ark of the Covenant." (Daughter Zion, p. 82).


You often refer to Introduction to Christianity, widely considered an essential work by Joseph Ratzinger. What are some other works by Ratzinger/Benedict that you think are at the core of his large body of theological work?
In many ways, Introduction to Christianity is the closest Joseph Ratzinger came to producing a theological synthesis, even though it is incomplete and there are significant developments in later writings.

It has to be remembered that Introduction to Christianity was first published forty years ago (in 1968), yet it remains an extraordinarily fresh work and a classic of modern Catholic theology. Introduction deals with the question of faith and belief in the modern world, before commenting in an original way on the contents of the Apostles' Creed. As my book aims to present Ratzinger's approach to the main elements of Christian belief, it is only natural that I quote and refer to it quite frequently.

It is a pity that Ratzinger's doctoral thesis, People and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church, has never been translated into English. It is important for a better understanding of the genesis of Ratzinger's thought as contains the basic insights on the Church in her inner nature and in her relationship to the state that he develops in his later writings.

Ratzinger's Habilitationsschrift, The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure, is important for his thinking about salvation history and about the distinction between eschatology and utopia.

Regarding Ratzinger's strictly theological work, one would also have to mention Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life, which is intended as a manual for students of theology, although it is quite original in its presentation.

As to other areas of theology, much of his thought is developed in a series of articles published in various journals or collections. These were often republished in books such as his important volume on fundamental theology, Principles of Catholic Theology, his recently republished meditations on the Trinity, The God of Jesus Christ, his more recent works on ecclesiology among which I would count Church, Ecumenism and Politics, and Called to Communion, his collection of articles and meditations on the Eucharist, God is Near Us, and his volume of articles on religious pluralism, relativism and faith, Truth and Tolerance.

Regarding Christology, apart from the relevant chapters of Introduction to Christianity, one would have to mention his interesting attempt at developing a spiritual Christology, Behold the Pierced One, and, above all, his most recent book, Jesus of Nazareth.

His liturgical writings are also very significant and already proving quite influential. In this regard, his liturgical trilogy must be mentioned: The Feast of Faith, A New Song for the Lord and, above all, The Spirit of the Liturgy.

For readers unfamiliar with the Pope's thought, an easier introductory approach could begin with his short autobiography Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, which explains the context for much of his earlier work, and his three book-length interviews, The Ratzinger Report, Salt of the Earth,and God and the World.


What do you think is the place of Joseph Ratzinger in 20th century theology? What are some aspects of his work that will likely to have a significant influence on theological studies and writing in the years to come?
It is very difficult to prognosticate how Joseph Ratzinger will be seen in the history of 20th century theology. Now that he is Pope, many who were unfamiliar with his work previously will want to know more about his thinking.

His theology is less speculative than that of Karl Rahner or Bernard Lonergan, and, largely because of his other commitments, he did not produce a monumental synthesis like that of Hans Urs von Balthasar.

His thought has a lot in common with that of ressourcement theologians, like Henri de Lubac, who did much to recover the rich heritage of the Fathers and prompt a greater appreciation of the complexity, subtlety and variety of medieval thought beyond the simplifications of a large part of the manual tradition.

With regard to medieval thinkers, it is true that Joseph Ratzinger is more influenced by Augustinianism and by its continuation in the Franciscan tradition found in St Bonaventure than by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, whereas de Lubac devotes more attention to the latter.

Also Ratzinger's thought has a very strong Scriptural component, as can be seen in Introduction to Christianity and even more so in Jesus of Nazareth.

I am of the view that Pope Benedict's approach to doing theology is likely to have a strong influence. In the introduction to Christ Our Joy, I outlined some of the characteristics of his theology, mentioning among other things that it is very Scriptural, profoundly rooted in tradition, especially in the Fathers, and is also both pastoral and spiritual.

While the necessary distinctions must be made between Pope Benedict's personal theology and his Magisterium, we do find something of his theological approach in his official teaching.

At present, following a number of General Audience talks on the Apostles and the early Church, recently published by Ignatius Press [Jesus, The Apostles, and the Early Church], the Pope is engaged in a very interesting series on the Fathers of the Church, in which he explains the key aspects of their thought and gives some indication of their relevance to contemporary debates.

I believe this is likely to encourage theology students to delve into the riches of the Patristic writings and this is sure to benefit both theological reflection and preaching in the future. As a result, we can hope for a more reflective and spiritual style of theological writing, which draws on Scripture and tradition, while being sensitive to the questionings of our contemporaries.

The best on Benedict:
a selection of papal biographies



This story has a weird and blatantly uninformed premise - as if the world had just discovered that Benedict XVI's books sell! Nevertheless, for what it's worth... And maybe you have your own list...


Following reports that Benedict XVI is now a best-selling author, Luke Coppen, editor of The Catholic Herald newspaper chooses his five :

1. Tracey Rowland: Ratzinger's Faith: The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI, Oxford University Press (£11.69 Times Books) - An acute and sympathetic study by an Australian academic. The perfect introduction to the ideas of Joseph Ratzinger.

2. Aidan Nichols: The Thought of Benedict XVI: an Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger, Burns and Oates (£16.19, Times Books) - A classic guide to Pope Benedict's theology by one of the England's most creative theologians.

3. John Allen: Pope Benedict XVI: a biography of Joseph Ratzinger, Continuum (£12.59, Times Books) - A controversial biography by a leading Vatican-watcher. Lots of juicy ecclesiastical politics and critical judgments about Ratzinger's role as the Vatican's doctrinal policeman.

4. Alessandra Borghese, Sebastian Creswell-Turner (translator): In the Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger, Family Publications (£7.95 Times Books) - A charming account of the Pope's childhood and formative years in Bavaria.

5. D. Vincent Twomey: Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age - Ignatius Press (£6.41, Amazon price). A warm, insightful portrait of the Pope by a former student who is now a prominent priest in Ireland.

For more books on Pope Benedict, please visit www.timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst.


====================================================================


There's an old article I had set aside for a propitious time to post, which is now, I think, because it ties in two of the authors mentioned in the above list - Fr.Twomey reviewing Allen's original version of his 'biography' of Cardinal Ratzinger, first published in 2000 and then re-issued with revisions by Allen soon after the Conclave of 2005.


A Question of Fairness
A Review of
John Allen's Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith(New York/London: Continuum, 2000)
by Vincent Twomey

October 2001

Cardinal Ratzinger is perhaps the most controversial figure in the Church today, a subject awaiting an author. Various articles about him have appeared, but no book, until the recent appearance of that by John L. Allen, Jr., Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.

Is it fair to Ratzinger? As a former student of the Cardinal, I must admit to having some serious misgivings.

This book, Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith (Continuum, 2000), is a strange mixture, part early biography (ch. 1-3), part chronicle of some major controversies (4-6), part judgment on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's performance as "enforcer of the faith" and his chances at becoming future pope (7-8).

Towards the end of the book, Allen describes the Cardinal as "in most ways the best and brightest the Catholic Church of his generation has to offer, a musician and man of culture, a genteel intellectual and polyglot, a deep true believer" (p. 313).

Yet, Allen adds, he has left in his wake a fractured Church. The "yet" (or its equivalent) well typifies Allen's account of Ratzinger's position on various theological and ecclesiastical issues, which is often concise, though lacking any great depth or insight, but in the final analysis is negated by some "fault" or other.

In his concluding chapter, he also offers his readers a succinct summary of the main points of what he considers to be of enduring value that remained with him after reading Ratzinger for over a year (pp. 303-6). Anyone skeptical of Allen might first read this to be assured of his good faith.

So too, Allen's accounts of various major controversies, in particular the chapter on liberation theology, are invariably interesting. How accurate they are is another matter, but the author generally tries to be fair and balanced. The crucial question is: to what extent does he succeed?

For Ratzinger, in the final analysis, remains for Allen the bogeyman that frightens most liberals, the main source of division and demoralization in the contemporary Church. He is the power-wielding churchman whose later theological views, in contrast with his earlier "liberal" stance, has had the effect, inter alia, of "legitimizing the concentration of power in the hands of the pope and his immediate advisors in the Roman curia" (p. 309).

In other words, despite all his efforts to be fair, and Allen does make considerable efforts in that direction, the Cardinal remains the ogre.

Take, for example, Allen's account of the liberation theology saga culminating in its effective defeat as a result in large measure of Ratzinger's theological analysis and, more importantly, it is claimed, his ecclesiastical, political machinations. This account is not without its merits, but one's confidence in Allen's historical judgment is placed under severe strain, when he blames the Cardinal for the failure of Latin American Catholicism to create a social order that better reflects gospel values, namely less inequality between rich and poor (cf. p. 173).

One could reasonably argue that more might have been accomplished at the political level in Latin America, if liberation theologians had at the outset not been so skeptical of either Catholic social teaching or the political potential of indigenous cultural traditions of piety they later rediscovered, but that is another issue.

Allen claims that Ratzinger's attitude to other religions is negative, yet he fails to note, for example, that the Patriarch of Constantinople awarded Professor Ratzinger the Golden Cross of Mount Athos for his contribution to a greater understanding between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

Later on, as Cardinal, he joined his former students at the Orthodox center near Geneva for a most amicable and fruitful discussion with representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church, whose tradition he frequently cites.

Allen seems not to know anything about the Cardinal's role in helping to establish diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Israel. And not a word is heard of his defense of Islam from the blanket charge of fundamentalism (cf. A Turning Point for Europe?, p.165-70) or his appreciation of the significance of primordial religious rituals and myths, as found, e.g. in the Hindu tradition (cf. ITQ 65/2, 2000, 257).

But it is above all in Allen's attempt to write a life of Cardinal Ratzinger (ch. 1-3), that the distorting effect of what seems to be the liberal's underlying fear of the bogeyman can be seen.

The main tendency in these opening chapters, it would appear, is to find an explanation for the transmutation into the "enforcer of the faith" of the earlier "liberal" Ratzinger, the young and promising theologian, who as peritus to Cardinal Frings, played such an important role at the Second Vatican Council.

Joseph Ratzinger grew up in the shadow of Nazi Germany within a family that was decidedly anti-Nazi and a Church that was hostile to Hitler — though perhaps not as publicly defiant as a later generation, that did not live in those circumstances, might claim that it should have been. That experience undoubtedly had an influence on Ratzinger, as he himself expressly said.

But the claim that "Ratzinger today believes that the best antidote to political totalitarianism is ecclesial totalitarianism" (p. 3), however appealing as a sound bite, does not stand up to scrutiny. It is, however, the leitmotif of the whole book.

According to Cardinal Ratzinger himself, on the contrary, the best antidote to totalitarianism is the upright conscience typically associated with the poor and the weak (cf. Church, Ecumenism and Politics, p. 165-80).

And the role of the Church, he once affirmed, is primarily educational — understood in the spirit of the Greek philosophers who sought" . . . to break open the prison of positivism and awaken man's receptivity to the truth, to God, and thus to the power of conscience . . . " (A Turning Point for Europe?, p. 55).

Though of central importance to Cardinal Ratzinger, both as a man and as a theologian, the primacy of conscience is not even mentioned by Allen.

More serious are insinuations about the supposed failure of Ratzinger's own family to show more overt opposition to Nazi terror. Such a judgment shows little understanding of what living in a reign of terror involves, especially for a policeman and his young family (one is reminded of the film Life is Beautiful).

Failing to note the fleeting and sketchy nature of such recollections, and unaware of other autobiographical references to that time (cf., e.g., Dolentium Hominum, no. 34,1997, p. 17), Allen claims that Ratzinger tends to be selective in his own memory of those times.

To prove that Ratzinger's positive appraisal of the role of the Catholic Church at the time was "one-sided and even distorted in its emphasis on the moral courage of the church, at the expense of an honest reckoning with its failures" (p. 30), Allen claims that "Hitler came to power on the back of Catholic support" (p. 27).

This is a serious misinterpretation of events. Allen gives no source for this or similar doubtful interpretations of events. (Indeed, his failure to give his sources is a major weakness of the book.) It would seem that here Allen is following some very biased reading of the historical events.

But the reader is left with the vague, overall impression that Cardinal Ratzinger must be hiding something, or at least temporarily repressed it. And so, a shadow is cast over his youth in preparation for the emergence of the full-blown ogre in later life.

It is a cliche in popular theological circles to distinguish between the early and the late Ratzinger. He himself maintains that there is a basic continuity in his theology, a continuity that is not inconsistent with significant changes in perspective, even at times contradicting isolated claims he made in his theological youth.

He has acknowledged, for example, a significant development in his eschatology. After all, "[T]o live is to change . . . " Is it too much to suggest that the changes in his thinking might best be interpreted as signs of maturity, of further reflection due to changing circumstances and broader experience, especially as Prefect of the Congregation?

His youthful enthusiasm for collegiality, for example, led to a reappraisal of the institution of national Episcopal Conferences in the light of his own personal experience in such conferences and as a result of his further theological reflection. He also noted the failure of the German bishops during the Nazi period to act more decisively and effectively because of collective responsibility.

Instead, Allen attributes a radical change from "erstwhile liberal" to the conservative "enforcer of the faith" to four causes: the 1968 student unrest, perceptions of decline in church attendance and vocations, too much exposure to Catholic faith at its most distorted, and, finally, power.

The student unrest in the late '60s did have a profound effect on anyone who lived through that turbulent period, and he himself has on occasion referred to this, though it seems to me that his reflections on this period make use of ideas he had already formed in his earlier writings.

It is doubtful if the decline in church numbers could have had such a radical effect on him. At a discussion of precisely this topic during a meeting of his former students, he once remarked that the sin for which David was most severely punished by the Lord was not his adultery or the murder of Bathsheba's husband, but the census, the king's attempt to number the people of God.

Thirdly, his exposure as Prefect to the "pathology of the faith," as Allen calls it, is more than offset by his own wide reading in the Fathers, contemporary theology, and philosophy, not to mention literature. His scholarly disposition to read and research finds due expression in various scholarly and general publications, the most recent being The Spirit of the Liturgy earlier last year (also not mentioned by Allen).

And so one is left with the final "cause": power. To suggest that the lust for power played a central role in any supposed "change of heart" that Professor Ratzinger revised his theology to advance his career, is (to put it mildly) mistaken, since his theological shift was manifest long before he went to Rome.

It should be mentioned that Ratzinger was never a student of Rahner, as Allen, quoting Wiltgen, claims. Nor was his move to Regensburg made in order to separate himself "intellectually from hitherto close colleagues like Kung and even his old ally, Rahner," as Adrian Hastings in a review of this book claims. Rahner at the time was at Muenster, not Tu3bingen.

The main reason for Ratzinger's decision to leave such a prestigious university was to escape the turmoil among students and on the faculty in Tuebingen, and thus be able to devote himself completely to scholarship in his native Bavaria.

This was told to me by Professor Kevin McNamara, Maynooth, in 1970 — information that led to my going to Regensburg for postgraduate studies instead of Tuebingen. Later, some of Ratzinger's doctoral students and assistants at Tu3bingen confirmed this. (He also had personal, more familial reasons.)

Incidentally, Rahner was invited by Ratzinger to be a guest speaker at one of the end-of-semester doctoral colloquia in Regensburg. To the best of my knowledge, their theological differences (which were profound) predate Ratzinger's appointment to Tuebingen. Such differences did not dull his respect for Rahner.

His so-called "change of heart" in theology, it is claimed, is reflected in the two Schuelerkreise (not Studentenkreise, the term Allen uses) he is supposed to have built up: those from his years in Bonn, Muenster, and Tuebingen and those from his years in Regensburg, "the latter group theologically at odds with the former" (p. 104). This division "underlines the gap between Ratzinger before and after the Council." I am mentioned as an example of the latter group.

Allen seems to have conducted fairly extensive interviews with two students of the "earlier Ratzinger," but only spoke briefly on the phone to one of the "later Ratzinger", Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

Considering the number of postgraduate students who studied under Ratzinger (somewhere between 40 and 50), this is slim evidence on which to base such a far-reaching thesis. It is a pity that the author did not consult the comprehensive report on the doctoral colloquium and the later Schuelerkreis by his former Assistant, Professor Stephan O. Horn, SDS (cf. Alla scuola della Verita, Milan, 1997, pp. 9-26).

Allen is wrong on several details, such as describing me as a spokesman for the Archbishop of Dublin (untrue) and citing extracts from my writings, especially that from my thesis, without any regard for the context.

And he erroneously makes Cardinal Schoenborn a student of Ratzinger's, devoting several pages to the present Archbishop of Vienna to illustrate the "later Ratzinger" (While a visiting scholar in Regensburg, Schoenborn joined our colloquium for two semesters, as did other visitors. It was only after Ratzinger's elevation as Archbishop of Munich, that Professor Schoenborn became one of a number of regular guests at the annual meetings of the Schuelerkreis.

It is, further, misleading to say that Ratzinger "built up" two distinct circles of students. There was never more than one, though its composition evidently changed with its members. Indeed, some of his students from his time in Bonn, Muenster, and Tuebingen might well be considered to number among his more "conservative" students, while others who started their studies while he was in Regensburg are held to be among his more "liberal" students.

However, it is true to say that his critical views on postconciliar developments tended in time to attract students more sympathetic to such views. More significant is the fact that all students, irrespective of their basic standpoint, felt at home in the colloquium. This is because of Ratzinger's evident respect for each member, his quite remarkable ability to promote dialogue and discussion, and his tolerance of diverse viewpoints.

I have never encountered anyone who could engender such a free and frank discussion as Professor Ratzinger could. And he gave his students total academic freedom in the choice and treatment of their topic.

It is therefore simply untrue to claim that it was at Regensburg "that Ratzinger began educating a generation of students who would go on to play a leading restoration role in their own national churches" (p. 92). He never set out to indoctrinate any group of students, as seems to be implied here.

The seminars and colloquium in Regensburg were places of intense debate and disagreement — and, it should be added, of wit and humor. It was also a time of intensive ecumenical activities for Ratzinger, including his pioneering lecture on the future of ecumenism at the University of Graz in 1976, his support for the various Regensburg Ecumenical Symposia, and the end-of-the-year doctoral colloquia with the Lutheran theologians Pannenberg and Joest, none of which Allen mentions.

What Professor Ratzinger taught us at Regensburg, primarily by his example, was to search for the truth with scholarly rigor, to be objective and respectful in debate, to risk unpopularity, and to give reasons for one's convictions.

I even heard the reproach that he had failed to form his own distinct "school," so diverse were his students and so open was the atmosphere he cultivated. In this, he has not changed with the years, as evidenced by the yearly meeting with his former students.

This characteristic of openness and dialogue is perhaps the key to understanding Ratzinger then as now: it is expressive of his concern for truth, which, he is convinced, will always prevail in the end (cf. p. 286), and explains both the primacy of conscience and the complementary role of the Church in his writings.

This in turn involves the greatest possible objectivity, the continual (personal and collective) search for what is in fact true, and so openness to the opinions of others, and the courage to speak the truth in love.

As a result, Ratzinger manages to preserve a certain distance from all the controversies that embroil him and his office. Contrary to what is claimed in this book he is ready to listen, is in fact a consummate listener, who once said that "All errors contain truths" (A Turning Point for Europe?, P. 108).

Consistent with this thinking is the statement in the Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian that a judgment of the Church on theological writings "does not concern the person of the theologian but the intellectual positions which he has publicly espoused" (my emphasis).

For this reason it is strange for Allen to claim that when "Ratzinger denounces a theologian, he also implicitly rejects his theology" (p. 242). On the contrary, he, as Prefect, disciplines theologians because of their theology, not the other way around, and can only do so if they are recalcitrant in their refusal to accept the authoritative judgment of the Church, unpleasant though that may be.

For Allen to underline the personal charm of Charles Curran, whom "virtually no one who knows him could construe as an enemy of the faith" (p. 258) is to miss the point completely.

Equally misleading is the claim by Curran (and others) that the methods of the congregation are "a violation of the most basic notions of due process" (p. 271). Such a comparison is invidious.

The process used in determining the objective orthodoxy of a theologian must of its nature be different from the process used in a court of law, which judges the subjective guilt of the criminal.

Likewise, the various penalties he has imposed on theologians disciplined by the Congregation are, no doubt, very much out of tune with the temper of the times, though to compare them — as has been done — with the penalties meted out to dissidents by totalitarian regimes in the twentieth century is grotesque, and deeply offensive to the dissidents. Those penalties are of course regrettable but, sadly, unavoidable.

They do, however, underline the significance the Church accords to theology. Ratzinger is simply fulfilling his responsibility as Prefect of the Congregation with which he has been entrusted, scrupulously adhering to the approved procedures.

Theology reflects on the revelation of ultimate human truth as handed on by the Catholic Church. It is concerned with our spiritual health, and is not a value-free academic discipline. In that regard, of course, it is in the same boat as any other serious human endeavor such as, for instance, medicine or law.

If someone wishes to practice alternative medicine, he or she is free to do so, but outside the canons of traditional medicine. Mutatis mutandis, that is what is at stake in Ratzinger's disciplining of certain theologians in recent years.

In passing judgment on the "enforcer of the faith" — itself a loaded term — Allen fails to appreciate the extent to which the Cardinal Prefect has in fact made the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith conform in the letter and spirit to the reform inaugurated by Pope Paul VI.

This was symbolized most recently, when he opened the archives of the Congregation to scholarly research (not mentioned by Allen). It is also evident in the way he takes considerable pains to give the reasons for each decision taken by the Congregation. Few of his predecessors have provided anything like the close argumentation to be found in documents such as Donum Vitae or the two Instructions on Liberation Theology.

Though on two occasions Allen quotes from papers read by Ratzinger to meetings held between officers of his Congregation and presidents of episcopal doctrinal commissions on various continents, he misses the real import of such meetings.

They were attempts to enter into dialogue with the Asian, African, and American Churches, to bring the center to the periphery, as it were, to listen, to promote debate.

That Ratzinger did listen was clear to us, when at the annual meeting of his Schuelerkreis, he spoke informally about various events of the previous year involving his Congregation. While in Zaire, he evidently appreciated the adaptation of the Mass to African culture, including the incorporation of ritual dance in that liturgy. He was impressed with the caliber of the Asian theologians he experienced at first hand in Hong Kong.

Apart from the seminars on papal primacy, Allen seems unaware of various other seminars organized by the Congregation under his direction to listen to and learn from experts from around the world on controversial questions, for example, in moral theology and bioethics.

Neither is there any mention of the publication by the Pontifical Biblical Commission (under his direction) of the important document on biblical interpretation.

In addition, Cardinal Ratzinger has continued to lecture and publish in his own name as a theologian, inviting criticism. The bibliography of his publications (including secondary literature) up to 1997 covers some 101 pages. And he continues to publish.

Last year alone, for example, saw the publication of two major books, one an extended interview with a German journalist. That he listens and responds to serious objections is illustrated by his readiness to enter into public debate, as in his extensive interview (covering two full pages) with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (22 September 2000) on hostile reactions to Dominus Iesus.

Finally, far from trying to centralize power in Rome, he has been heard to complain that, because the local bishops fail to act (or feel powerless to act when faced with a theologian who has built up his own international network), his Congregation is often reluctantly drawn into the controversy.

Allen's account of the case of Fr. Tissa Balasuriya would have been more credible, if Allen had taken the trouble to investigate the way this particular case ended up in Rome.

Allen describes a book quoted by Ratzinger (in a discussion of the pluralist theology of religions) as having a reputation for being "tendentious and error-prone, down to small details such as citing the wrong page" (p. 240, again no source is given for this serious accusation). This is really the kettle calling the pot black.

As I have briefly described, Allen's book is error-prone, down to small details of German spelling. It is certainly tendentious, illustrated not only by its subtitle but above all by the uncritical way he quotes accusations made by hostile witnesses, such as Hans Kueng, without ever questioning their objectivity or veracity. And, apart from those gaps already mentioned, there are other serious lacunae.

There is, for example, no appreciation of Ratzinger's writings in areas such as spirituality, politics, and ethics. Many of his sermons, meditations, and retreat talks have been published, even in English, but his rich spirituality does not merit Allen's attention.

Neither is there any treatment of his substantial body of writings on politics and ethics. International recognition of his unique contribution to the field of politics and ethics came when he was appointed a "membre associe etranger" at the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of the Institut de France on 7 November 1992 in Paris, taking the seat vacated by the death of the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov. One searches in vain for any reference to this significant fact in Allen's book.

Allen is neither a theologian nor a historian. And yet, despite its drawbacks, his book gives the reader who otherwise might not even glance at any of Cardinal Ratzinger's writings a little taste of their richness. He conveys something of the importance of this largely undereestimated theologian holding one of the central offices in the Church at this tempestuous yet exhilarating time in history.

But the price to be paid is a rather black and white approach to a man who is far more subtle, charming, and courageous than the man portrayed here.

The book is unable to convey the richness and diversity of Ratzinger's theology, which is not "derivative," as some anonymous theologian quoted by Allen claims, but highly original and seminal, covering a vast range of subjects with refreshing clarity, insight, and, yes, optimism.

Hopefully, its publication may prompt others to study his original writings, to judge for themselves — and so to enter into dialogue with one of the truly great contemporary thinkers.


Reverend Vincent Twomey, S.V.D., was ordained in 1970. He completed his doctorate at the University of Regensburg, Germany (1971-78) under the supervision of the then Professor Joseph Ratzinger. He taught theology first at the Regional Seminary of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands then at the SVD Faculty at Modling, Austria, and is at present Lecturer on the Faculty of Theology, Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland. This is his first article in HPR.

======================================================================

It's because of reviews like this that I was never once tempted to look at Allen's book - neither the original nor the revised version. That, and the fact that I do not see how one can write a biography of a healthy living person without ever once interviewing the subject nor even visiting the places that shaped his life. That's what Allen and someone like David Gibson have done with their respective 'biographies' of Joseph Ratzinger.

On her website, benoit-et-moi.fr, Beatrice points out an even more dreadful and elementary error committed by Allen in the 'biography'. He mistakes the Traunstein of Ratzinger's youth with another Traunstein in Germany, whose geographical description he apparently picks up verbatim from some atlas or encyclopedia, and which, of course, has nothing to do with Ratzinger's Traunstein. Now, that's a really embarassing mistake....

It appears, of course, that Allen has come a long way since 2000 insofar as appreciating Ratzinger/Benedict XVI for who he really is, but the offensive book is still out there. Unfortunately, since it was the first and only 'biography' of Ratzinger in English for five years, it has acquired a 'reference value' which is unfair and misleading in view of the liberal bias that informed its writing.

What to expect from Benedict XVI:
A 2005 interview with John Allen
by Laura Sheahen



I had to look for an article that would present Allen's point of view about his biography of Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, and luckily, there's this one in 2005 done for beliefnet.

In addition to a reprint of the biography retitled Benedict XVI: A Biography, Allen also came out with an instant book called The Rise of Benedict XVI after the Conclave. The rest of this interview is what Allen thought of the immediate prospects for the Ratzinger Pontificate.

The interview makes clear that the Allen speaking here is different from the Allen who wrote the biography - or at least, it's an almost diametrically opposite point of view.


John L. Allen, Jr. is the Vatican correspondent for National Catholic Reporter and one of America's leading authorities on Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected pope in April 2005. Allen spoke to Beliefnet recently about his new book, The Rise of Benedict XVI.

Several years ago, you wrote perhaps the first English-language biography of Cardinal Ratzinger. Are there parts of the book you would change now?
That was my first book, written before I arrived in Rome and before I really knew a lot about the universal church. The facts and figures are right, but the overall presentation is unbalanced. It gives prominent voice to criticisms of Ratzinger; it does not give equally prominent voice to how he himself would see some of these issues.

It wasn't because of ill will. It's like anyone's first work: You get a better sense of the complexity of things as you move along. In that sense, it's a flawed book; it just isn't a complete picture.


You're referring to issues important to North American Catholics -what are some of these issues and how would he see them?
You take almost any of the hot button issues: homosexuality, women's ordination, birth control, whatever. Obviously, Benedict would take a somewhat restrictive stance. There's no mystery about that. What's missing in the [earlier] book is that from his point of view, it's not restriction for its own sake. He's not saying no to women's ordination because he takes pleasure in frustrating the aspirations of women.

It's part of a deeper concern for objective truth. It's what he called, the morning the [2005] conclave opened, the struggle against this 'dictatorship of relativism.' The notion is that there are truths out there that place limits on our behavior.

It's a question of defending the whole notion of objective truth. This isn't a reaction against feminism or a fear-based defensiveness, but a much deeper passion about truth.


What should liberal Catholics know about Benedict XVI?
The basic thing is, Ratzinger has a new job now. For 24 years, he was the church's top cop - it was his job to draw lines in the sand.


Was it a job he enjoyed?
Certainly he enjoyed the intellectual challenge of it.


But when he was writing a letter silencing theologian Charles Curran, was he...
Taking pleasure in the disciplinary dimension? No, I don't think so. I don't think that was his profile. On the other hand, he didn't shrink from it, either.

The nature of that job imposes a certain profile on somebody. To use a banal example, the least popular member of the faculty in high school is the one who enforces the dress code and punishes. But take them out of that job and put them back in the classroom, and the kids discover a whole different person.

To some extent, the same phenomenon applies here. Pope Benedict is in a spot where other aspects of his personality that are a lot more engaging and user-friendly can surface. For example, his genuine humility and commitment to being collegial and listening and acting on the advice of others.

He understands people are not persuaded by doctrinal debates - they're persuaded by seeing models of Christian living.


There are concerns that he's a bit abstract, that he hasn't been in the trenches enough. What would his response to this be?
His response is going to be to do what he can to reassure on those concerns. He's been talking about the developing world, ecumenism, collegiality.

But at the end of the day, people are who they are. He is an intellectual, professorial. He's most comfortable in his study surrounded by books unlike John Paul, who was most comfortable on the stage. John Paul II had a streak of ham in him.

This is going to be a dramatic papacy, but it's not going to be a drama of the stage. It's going to be a drama of ideas.

The Achilles's heel is that it will shade off into an abstract thought world, losing contact with the reality in the trenches. There, the one thing that will save him is that he really does have this strong humble streak. He does want to allow people around him to emerge. If he picks those people well, they keep him grounded.


Conservative Catholics have hailed the election. What do they need to know?
Pope Benedict is quite clear that he's not the leader of one faction of the church. He's not going to usher in this "night of the long knives" that some conservative Catholics have been dreaming of, where all the dissidents and cafeteria Catholics will get flushed out of the system.


There's this idea among conservatives of the "smaller, better church."
His program is not to downsize the Catholic church. If he has to choose between quality and quantity, I'm sure his choice would be quality. If it's a question of 10 fully orthodox Catholics, fully committed to the wide range of church teaching, and 15 who are kind of lukewarm, I'm sure he'll choose the ten. In that sense, there clearly will be a call to discipline in this pontificate.


Will this impact regular churchgoers at the parish level?
I don't know if it will very much. If you're in a very progressive parish and your pastor gets called to task because the bishop has got a complaint from Rome, then I suppose it will reach down into your life. For athe verage Sunday Mass-going Catholic, it won't.

I think Benedict will call the church to a full-throated witness against this dictatorship of relativism, which means a strong emphasis on Catholic identity. What are the markers of our identity? Part of it is liturgical practice: Eucharistic adoration, better preaching, better music, sticking closer to the rules.


In what way?
Well, for example, praying the Eucharistic prayers as they are given, not making them up as you go along. He wants people to fall in love with the liturgy.

And all the 'politics of identity' things that embattled minorities do to preserve their identity.


You think Benedict perceives the orthodox Catholic Church as an 'embattled minority'?
Oh sure. His view would be that in terms of the agenda-setting level of Western developed culture, orthodox Christianity represents a minority presence. He's talked about the Church as a creative minority, which is a phrase that comes out of British historian Arnold Joseph Toynbee - the idea that cultures are regenerated by their creative minorities.


Toynbee was Protestant, right?
Yes. Ratzinger reads widely, not just Catholic historians. His criticism of the encyclical Gaudium et Spes was that it didn't draw heavily enough on Luther. [That's rather simplistic, and an odd way to put it!] He cites Toynbee all the time.

He wants more mission and less bureaucracy. He'd like to trim the Vatican, to trim Bishops' conferences. Even at the parish level, fewer boards and committees, more focus on getting outside the church and transforming the secular world from within.


Will laypeople see this as him taking away decision-making power?
Some will. It's perfectly legitimate to debate that. But I think the goal is to help Catholics understand that being Catholic doesn't mean holding some office in the church. It means taking the word of God to the outside world, redeeming the secular world from within.


You don't see wide-scale disbanding of parish councils, for example?
No. I do think the tone will be: we don't need new structures, we need a new spirit.

Finally, I think he is going to be a determined, dogged, ecumenical Pope, especially in relationships with the Orthodox.

I believe Benedict will be able to do what John Paul never could, which is go to Moscow - because he's not Polish. Doctrinally, I think Pope Benedict believes the Orthodox are closer to orthodox Catholicism than the mainstream churches of the reformed West -Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, which have certainly become much more liberal.

The other option in the West are the evangelicals. The problem with the evangelicals is that many of them are explicitly anti-ecumenical . It's difficult to dialogue with them - the so-called sects are very diffuse, so even if you wanted to have dialogue, it's not clear who the partner would be.

The ones expanding in Latin America and Africa and other places tend to be fairly hostile to the Catholic Church in some ways.

All of that explains why there's this preferential option for the Orthodox. The level at which that will filter down is that there will be a strong push for sister parish relationships with Eastern churches. For trying to promote an awareness of Eastern liturgical, spiritual traditions. You'll see more icons showing up in Catholic churches. You might see exchanges - Orthodox clergy and Catholic clergy.


So an Orthodox priest would come and say Mass at a Catholic Church?
He couldn't say Mass, but he could come and preach, or give a talk, or lead a retreat


With regard to Islam, will we see Benedict going to a mosque as John Paul II did?
In trying to balance priorities, the ecumenical issues will be more important to him. I don't think he's not going to reach out to Muslims. It's not that he's going to support restrictive immigration policies. I just don't see inter-religious dialogue as one of the towering priorities of this pontificate.

He'll want to have good relations. But the core concern of this pontificate is truth, the reassertion of truth, and the reassertion of Catholic identity as a way of preserving that truth. In the context of that, I don't think outreach to Islam or anybody else will be a front-burner concern.


What would you ask him now that he's Pope?
I would ask him to comment on what Cardinal Francis George said the morning after his election, which is that the defining issue for the pontificate of John Paul II was the struggle against the Soviet dictatorship, and the means was teaching about human dignity and supporting solidarity. The defining issue for Benedict's papacy is the struggle against the dictatorship of relativism.

I'd ask him if that's true, and how does he intend to prosecute that battle? How does he intend to turn around four centuries of intellectual development in the West towards subjectivity and towards relativism?

I'd ask, "How do you do it when there are a lot of people within the Catholic Church who, when you start talking about 'truth,' what they hear is 'authority'?"


It's about how to put the genie back in the bottle.
Exactly. This is a Pope of epic ambition. This is no small task.

Pope Benedict’s evolution book
finally comes out in English
Posted by Tom Heneghan
FaithWorld Blog

June 17, 2008


An English translation of Pope Benedict’s 2006 discussion of evolution with his former students has finally come out and I recommend it to anyone who’s confused about where the Roman Catholic Church stands on this issue.



It’s called Creation and Evolution and is publised by Ignatius Press in the U.S. The discussion was held in German and the original text, Schöpfung und Evolution, appeared in April 2007.

I mention the confusion about this issue because a 2005 New York Times op-ed piece by Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schönborn prompted supporters of “intelligent design” (ID) to think the Church was embracing their argument. He denied that to me in an interview a few months later.

So when it became known that Benedict would discuss evolution with his former doctoral students — his so-called Schülerkreis — at Castel Gandolfo in September 2006, there was considerable interest in what he would say.

The German publisher, Sankt Ulrich Verlag in Augsburg, sent me a PDF version of the book in German under embargo, so I wrote a news story the day it appeared. In the book, Benedict said science was too narrow to explain creation, which was not random as Darwinists insist, but has a rationality that goes back to God.

He argued this on philosophical and theological grounds, not on the faith arguments that creationists use (”the Bible says so”) or the biology-based examples that ID prefers to argue that some life forms are too complex to have evolved.

This is classic Catholic teaching and it’s called theistic evolution. Benedict is not alone in advocating it either — it is accepted by most mainline Protestant churches as well.

Francis Collins, the U.S. geneticist who will soon step down as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, advocated this view in his 2006 book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

Sam Harris, the best-selling neo-atheist author of The End of Faith, predictably trashed it in a scathing review. But it did have a seven-week run on the New York Times bestseller list, which must mean it speaks to quite a few people.

My news story prompted one of the oddest reviews I’ve ever had to anything I’ve ever written. The Seattle-based Discovery Institute, the leading advocate of the intelligent design view, put the headline “Pap about the Pope” on its post and claimed the seminar entitled “Creation and Evolution” was actually about philosophy (despite all the scientists who spoke there).

Their reviewer, Jay Richards, started off his comment on the report by announcing “I suspect there’s a translation problem here.”

He then noted that Benedict had challenged scientism and called for a broader concept of reason than the strictly empirical view science uses.

“That’s easy for classically informed philosophers to understand,” he wrote. “But you can be sure that exactly 0% of reporters and 1% of readers will understand that. What every reporter will take away is that all this talk about God, purpose, and design are private, since in modern parlance, only ‘science’ constitutes public knowledge.”

Hmmm… First, he claims to find translation problems even though he hasn’t seen the original and may not even understand it. Then he writes off all reporters and almost all readers as dimwits who can’t understand what he can. He then proceeds to twist the argument around so fully that he ends up saying the takeaway from all this is that the debate belongs to some realm “along with fairies and the Easter bunny.”

This intrigued me so much that I emailed him to ask for chapter and verse on where the mistranslations could be found and which improved translations he would suggest. Of course, he had none because he hadn’t read the book. I’m not sure he could even read the book, but that didn’t stop him from telling his readers he suspected some mistranslations.

When challenged, he launched into an elaborate deconstruction of the word “translate” that basically concluded that a mere reporter could not explain Benedict’s views to an average reader. In the end, it was clear the purpose of the exercise was to cast as much doubt as possible on a report he didn’t agree with. In other words, shoot the messenger.

This theistic evolution view clearly rattles the ID camp. One of its main supporters, William Dembski, fired off a broadside last week in a post entitled Theistic Evolutionists Close Ranks — Let the Bloodletting Begin!

Unlike Richards, Dembski didn’t mince words: “So here’s the deal, everyone. Theistic evolutionists are implacably opposed to ID … They are happy to jump in bed with Richard Dawkins if it means defeating ID. They are on the wrong side of the culture war. And they need to be defeated.”

Science and Religion, a blog that widens the debate by also looking at the Islamic world, commented: “William Dembski has gone ballistic.”

Dembski at least writes clearly here, you have to say that. But I wonder about his conclusions too. If theistic evolutionists are as he says, that means that Pope Benedict would be ready to join forces with the man who wrote the bestseller The God Delusion (Dawkins).

This is as curious a conclusion as the one Richards drew. Creation and Evolution is now out — and in a fine translation by Michael J. Miller that improves the style but does not contradict the content of my quotes — so English speakers can now read it and judge for themselves.


=====================================================================

ENGLISH 'JON' IN PAPERBACK


also announces that

---

The paperback edition of Benedict XVI's JESUS OF NAZARETH will be out this October. It will have a new index and is listed at $14.95. Here is the link and info over at www.ignatius.com.

---

Creation and Evolution: B16’s Schülerkreis
Posted by David Delaney

cosmos-liturgy-sex.com/
(A group blog)
June 25, 2008


Rather serendipitous that I just posted a story in NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT by the below-mentioned Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor of Reuters, for his journalistically questionable (on many apects) report today about the SSPX 'snubbing" the Pope's latest offer for their return to full communion with Rome.

Delaney's criticism here has to do with Heneghan's recent blog (see above post) on the book Creation and Evolution published by the Ratzinger Suchelerkreis - which goes to the basic problem with Heneghan's reporting: a failure, through inability, just sheer laziness, or both - to see and report the whole picture.

The SSPX story is not, of course, the first time that I have commented on Reuters's chronic flawed reporting about papal and Church matters - which also extends to their Iraq reporting, so it must be more extensive than just the examples I have personal knowledge of! But then, that's emblematic of and endemic in MSM today, not Just Reuters, and certainly not just Heneghan....

Delaney gives us a better idea of what the book actually contains and raises the ultimate questions man continues to grapple with about the issue.



I recently read the English translation of the book covering B16’s 2006 Schülerkreis (a yearly meeting he has with his former students) published by Ignatius Press under the title, Creation and Evolution.

That is probably why Carl Olson’s post on the book interested me. What caught my eye in particular was Carl’s reference to a Reuters article/post on the topic. The Reuters author, Tom Heneghan, recently did a blog post on the English translation in which he makes reference to an earlier article of his based upon the release of the German edition of the book.

Heneghan says that anyone who wants to know where the Catholic Church stands on the issue of creation and evolution, should read this book. His claim is that B16 proclaims in the book, the classic Catholic teaching on the topic called, Theistic evolution. He doesn’t explain this term but does link to a Wikipedia entry on the topic which I guess we must assume is his definition. Wikipedia indicates that this term refers to those who believe there is no necessary conflict between Christian faith in creation and the theory of evolution.

However, the term itself, and Heneghan’s use of it, seem to imply that the biological theory of evolution is accepted by B16 on some level.

I would not agree with Heneghan assertion that this book will explain the Catholic position on evolution and creation. There is no magisterial, or even private, attempt to explicate the Catholic position. One should not even read the book with the expectation of a great insight into B16’s thought on the subject (though the Foreword does contain copious relevant quotes from his pre-Papal writings).

The bulk of the book is comprised of the presentations and discussion that occurred the day prior to B16’s joining the group. On the day that Benedict was there, he did not comment at any considerable length. In fact, of the 210 pages in this translation, there are perhaps only about five pages in which B16 gives his view. One hears much more from Cardinal Schönborn than from the Holy Father.

Heneghan only comments upon Benedict’s interventions so it is not clear whether he read the whole book or made himself aware of the context of the discussion upon which the Pope was entering. Rather, it seems his primary concern is to show that Benedict rejects what Heneghan terms “Intelligent Design.”

Heneghan does not make any precisions about ID and so he does not correlate the views that B16 does present to the various ID theories. It is, therefore, hard to know if Heneghan has the background to make such a claim.

I suppose that B16’s response to the one evolution proponent in the book’s recorded discussions could be an indicator that he does not find compelling the ID theory that irreducibly complex organic structures necessitate a designer of some type.

Peter Schuster, professor of theoretical chemistry and one who follows Darwinian mechanisms for common descent, argued that there was not to be found, God’s activity in the process of biological evolution. This he said, put one in danger of falling into the God of the gaps conundrum.

B16 said that he did not wish to cram God into the gaps but he went on to say that evolutionary theory implies questions which the natural sciences do not have the competence to address and so, must be assigned to philosophy (see pp. 161-62; all page numbers in this post refer to Creation and Evolution from Ignatius Press).

However, one cannot read the discussions carefully without understanding that Benedict seems to favor Cardinal Schönborn’s ideas. In other words, neither seem to be a fan of the biological theory, or at least its Darwinian mechanisms of random mutation (and its subsequent modulations) and natural selection. Referring to John Paul the Great’s oft cited statement that evolution is more than an hypothesis, B16 says that JPII had his reasons for saying this, strongly suggesting that he did not share the thought (see p. 152).

He says several times that evolution is something that science can never prove by empirical methods (which modern science limits itself to) because one can observe 10,000 generations in a lab (see p. 162).

He refers to Cardinal Schönborn’s interest in the fact that punctuated equilibrium has replaced Darwin’s gradualism and suggests that evolution “by leaps” has many questions to answer before he would find it compelling (see p. 162). This much is further suggested by his subsequent reference to the fact that positive mutations are very rare (see p. 163).

Benedict does not make his views explicit but one can legitimately say that he appears to be suspicious of Darwinian mechanisms; what he thinks of common descent is not as obvious.

This is all to say that one cannot assume that Benedict would reject the design detection algorithm proposed by William Dembski, though the ability to mathematically detect a designer is certainly not necessary, or one might add a strong advantage, for Benedict’s view of creation.

He says that he is aware that there is a certain “rationality” in matter, it can be read (primarily through mathematics). Further, there is a rationality to the process of evolution as proposed by modern science. All of this rationality corresponds to the human intellect’s capacity to know and to understand.

He asks where this rationality originates. This question is not one that modern empirical science can answer - in fact he says, it must not try (see pp. 163-64). This, presumably, is because of its reductionist methodology. He answers the question about rationality’s Source later on. This Source can only be found in the creative and redemptive Logos of faith. It is here one can turn to find not only the Source of rationality but the source of irrationality (the Fall) that has the capacity to be surmounted, nay, redeemed, in the loving act (the Incarnation, death and Resurrection) of the Logos.

Cardinal Schönborn does the reader a great service by including quite lengthly quotes from Benedict’s pre-Papal writing in the Foreword. In his book Truth and Tolerance, Ratzinger more profoundly indicates his thinking on this matter.

He asks the question whether it is more “reasonable” to believe that the rational has been begotten by the irrational. In the Logos, Christians choose the rational over the irrational. This is very profound when considered carefully. Those who reject God based on claims of reason are in fact placing the priority on the irrational and thereby undermining the basis for their confidence in their reason.

Ratzinger asks: “. . . can reason really renounce its claim that the Logos is at the ultimate origin of things, without abolishing itself” (quoted in Creation and Evolution, p. 20).

Contemplating the fact that all of creation is rational (qualifications aside) and in the visible world, that the human mind alone has the innate capacity to understand it should be enough for most.

The atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel, in his book, The Last Word, contemplates this paradox. He is committed to reason and he is fascinated at the fact that reason always seems to work. He admits that he greatly dislikes the implications of this because it points to a world view he is uncomfortable with, that there is a Creator. However, he admits that an honest thinker has to recognize that the mind seems to be made for the world.

I think, in general, Heneghan does not have a sufficient understanding of the nuances of Benedict’s philosophy or of his knowledge of the sciences to allow him to recognize that he (Heneghan) is jumping the gun in trying to classify B16’s position. [As he does about Bishop Fellay's response to the Vatican conditions, making assumptions that are not implausible but remain assumptions, nevertheless - or presumptions, better - until we hear the SSPX's formal answer.]

Henegaen provides a snarky response to a critique of his first article which suggests the same thing. However, in truth, I think that he does not show he is aware of the distinctions necessary for his claims.

A similar problem seems to be at play in the discussions with the evolutionist, Peter Schuster, in this Schülerkreis. Schuster, several times, makes the claim that God cannot be found in biological evolution because there are no points at which he must “intervene.” He does not think philosophy/theology has much to say about biological evolution with respect to creation. He believes there is more potential for fruit in cosomology, presumably because of anthropic principle.

These statements seems to completely miss B16’s thought. Benedict is not the only one of the participants to try to show Schuster that he is presupposing organization of matter (even more, cosmic order) and then using its existence for arriving at philosophical assumptions (e.g. God does not need to intervene).

One participant points out that modern science assumes that if it finds a mechanism (the efficient cause), it has exhausted not only questions of an empirical nature, but it has also obviated philosophical questions to boot. In other words, this is the reduction of all causality to material and efficient causality. This is not as a matter of method mind you, but as a matter of ontology.

One Johannes Lehmann-Dronke (identity unknown to me), in a very insightful intervention that goes on almost as long as all of B16’s combined interventions – but is much worth reading, points out that the intelligibility of matter can only be presumed by empirical methods, but it cannot be understood or explained per se (see pp. 166-70; though much of this material seems to have been added during the book’s editorial process).

Schuster’s paper shows that he completely misses this point. He points to evolution through computer programs as evidence that it is more than a theory and so God does not need to “intervene.” He never steps back to realize that the logos for that program came from a human intellect.

He also attempts to demonstrate that complexity can come from simple structures by pointing to mathematical structures called “cellular automotons” [sic]. He does not appear to stop to ask the question “why that should be” Simply knowing the mechanism by which it takes place is sufficient for the modern scientist, even when he plays philosopher.

Schuster, who appears to be a believer, is not alone. I recall a lengthly interchange that Hierothee and I had with some otherwise solid Catholics back in 2005 after the Schönborn article came out in the NY Times. They also had a difficult time stepping back and asking these meta-questions.

I had intended to call this post, “Confessions of a Recovering Reductionist” because I too continue to uncover reductionist presuppositions still latent in my thinking; put there by my upbringing. I was going to describe my challenges with extracting myself from this perennial problem of so many coming from the science and engineering fields, but the post ran too long.

The problem is what I call “ontologizing of the method.” Modern science reduces reality to its component parts as a method of study but then makes the unwarranted (and unarticulated) philosophical leap that this is the way of reality. That all entities are simply the sum of their parts.

Some fields of science and engineering are beginning to come to terms with this philosophical error (e.g. the quality movement in engineering and systems biology in science). However, it takes much work, patience, and critical thinking to exorcise this demon.

Hopefully this Schülerkreis can be Dr. Schuster’s path on his road to recovery.

July 2008

Fr. Baker is the editor of HPR.





For spiritual reading and during my studies for the priesthood, I have read many books about Jesus and the Bible — hundreds of them. But I have never read anything quite like Pope Benedict’s recent book, Jesus of Nazareth. As he says, this is his “personal search for the face of the Lord.”

The book is meant for the general public and is easy to read. It is not burdened with footnotes and lots of scholarly apparatus. The tone is very much like his weekly homilies in St. Peter’s in Rome. He takes a passage from the Bible and explains it in a way that all can understand and apply to their own lives.

Perhaps this is one reason why the crowds at the weekly audiences in St. Peter’s Square have doubled to about fifty thousand every Wednesday. The last time I was there I noticed how Pope Benedict speaks to the heart of each person present and how all listen with rapt attention.

The book is not intended to be a “life” of Christ in the sense of a biography. Benedict does not try to tell the whole story of Jesus from conception to glorification. What he does is select some words and deeds of Jesus, situate them, explain them and apply them to the life of faith of the Catholic Christian.

The main areas he covers are the following: the baptism of Jesus; the temptation in the wilderness; the Sermon on the Mount; the Lord’s Prayer; the message of the parables; themes in St. John’s Gospel such as water, bread and the shepherd; Peter’s confession and the transfiguration on Mount Tabor; and finally, three titles that declare his identity — Son of Man, Son and “I Am.”

The book presents the Pope’s search for the identity of Jesus Christ. It is not a scholarly book, but it is based on an immense wealth of scholarship. After all, the Pope taught theology for fifty years and is the author of scores of books — most of which are now available in English translation.

He is familiar with the many theories about Jesus that have been propounded by Scripture scholars over the past two hundred years, especially those published by German, French and English scholars.

Much of what the Pope says in this book is a refutation of theories proposed about the supposed difference between the “Jesus of history” and the “Christ of faith.” Most of these theories are based on the (false) assumption that the four canonical Gospels are not authentic history, but creations of various “communities” in the second century.

Some of them also assume that miracles cannot happen. Therefore, in their view, all the accounts of miracles in the Gospels performed by Jesus did not really happen; so they are “myths” created after Jesus’ death and attributed to him in order to enhance his claim to be the “Son of God.”

As is well known, this type of exegesis, or interpretation, of the Bible had the result of destroying the faith of many priests and nuns during the 1970s and 1980s. For if Jesus is just a man and not God, why bother with him? Why follow him and base one’s whole life on him?

Jesus of Nazareth is refreshing because Benedict affirms, along with the constant tradition of the Church, the historical validity and truthfulness of the Gospels (see Dei Verbum, #19). He sees and affirms the divinity of Jesus shining through his words and deeds. He is the Son of God and he came into this world to reveal to us the Father and to save us from our sins.

Here is the way Pope Benedict puts it on page 44: “What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: He has brought God.” And we can see God in the face of Jesus (see John 14:9). That is a brief summary of the whole book.

I recommend this book for spiritual reading and also as a way to attain some understanding of sane Catholic biblical scholarship. If you read only one book this year, I urge you to choose this one. You will not regret it.

Kenneth Baker, S.J., Editor

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I like to imagine every day the people out there, around the world, who are reading Benedict XVI's JESUS OF NAZARETH for the first time, and revelling in the (most likely) unfamiliar wonder of this Aladdin's cave of spiritual riches to be inexhaustibly mined....and examined one by one... and clutched close by the tendrils that the heart puts forth to hold on to this wealth... The more I reread it, the more wondrous it gets...

BOOK TO FEATURE POPE'S THOUGHTS ON ST. PAUL

WASHINGTON, D.C., AUG. 19, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A book due out next week will feature reflections from Benedict XVI on St. Paul, as the Church continues to celebrate the Pauline Jubilee Year.

The U.S. bishops, in agreement with the Vatican Publishing House, are creating a series of books presenting reflections from the Pope. The series is called "Spiritual Thoughts" and the book on Paul is its second installment. The books contain excerpts from a variety of Benedict XVI's speeches and homilies.

Paul Henderson, publishing director for the episcopal conference, said he views the release of a book on St. Paul as "a timely opportunity for Catholics to join the Pope and return to the Bible as the source of parish and personal renewal."

Father David Toups, of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, added: "The book series is an opportunity for U.S. Catholics to gain access to the Pope's personal thoughts and deep spiritual insights."

The first book of the series featured reflections from the Holy Father during his first year as Pope. After the work on Paul, the Spiritual Thoughts series will continue with other books on Mary, the saints, and excerpts from the second year of the pontificate.

The Spiritual Thoughts book on St. Paul will be available Aug. 29, and can be ordered online at www.usccbpublishing.org.

Thanks, Mary.


I'd love to see Alessandra interviewed. I am impressed not only by her conversion but by her volunteer work at Lourdes.

Has anyone read or heard any information about when the second volume of 'Jesus of Nazaret' is coming out?
Can't wait for it!

The Imprimatur of Happiness
In Pope Benedict's hands, Christian joy
becomes the antidote to modern meaninglessness.

Review by Ryan Anderson

10/10/2008

---

Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI
by Joseph Murphy
Ignatius Press, April 2008
236 pp., $16.99

---

For the better part of his ALMOST 82 years, Pope Benedict XVI has dedicated his life to serving Christ and his church — as priest and pastor, as theology professor and author, as archbishop of Munich-Freising and prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and now as the Roman Catholic Church's chief shepherd. What, if anything, has unified his thought throughout these years?

In Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI, Monsignor Joseph Murphy, an official in the Vatican Secretariat of State who studied theology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, proposes that what ties Benedict's theology together is an emphasis on joy.

Consider Benedict's diagnosis of our existential plight. As he sees it, modern man is, above all else, unhappy. Modern anxieties, Murphy notes, produce "boredom, spiritual lethargy, and a sense of meaningless" that make life almost insufferable.

The American phenomenon of the "man-child" — the 20-year-old professional who works by day and parties by night with no plans to settle down — and Europe's plummeting birthrates and low religious practice support Benedict's claim. Searching for joy yet blind to the point of living, we retreat from reality.

Murphy pays particular attention to Nietzsche, to whom Benedict returns repeatedly. In his first encyclical letter as pope, Benedict summarized the Nietzschean mindset: "Doesn't the church, with all her commandments and prohibitions, turn to bitterness the most precious thing in life? Doesn't she blow the whistle just when the joy which is the Creator's gift offers us a happiness which is itself a certain foretaste of the divine?"

Nietzsche's attack on Christianity's "slave morality" paved the way for modern rejection of objective standards of goodness, truth, and beauty. But by making ourselves the measure of everything, we have lost a shared measure of anything.

Having shrugged off Christ's yoke and with it our moorings to God's truth and goodness, we know of no excellence for which to strive, only arbitrary tastes and their pointless pursuit: the "escapist pleasure of the consumer economy" and the "exploitation that increasingly marks human relationships." What was to be our liberation has become our enslavement.

But we need not remain slaves forever. As Benedict sees it, we can regain joy by participating in love—both giving and receiving. Thus, Benedict invites modern man to rediscover his lofty vocation as a beloved child of God, for "one cannot become wholly man in any other way than by being loved, by letting oneself be loved."

This divine love cannot be a noble fiction meant to keep us from despair; as Benedict writes, "Only when love and truth are in harmony can man know joy." The question, then, is whether the gospel is true.

From here Benedict launches his fight against the "dictatorship of relativism." While many commentators focus on relativism's moral and political implications, Benedict probes its spiritual consequences. Modern scientific rationalism has so neutered reason that, though useful for solving technical questions, it is impotent to address major questions about life's origins, meaning, or destiny.

As Benedict puts it, "Knowledge of the functional aspect of the world … brings with it no understanding of the world and of being," since what is immaterial "cannot be approached with methods appropriate to what is material."

The scientific method can never establish or discredit Christianity, he argues, "because the kind of experiment demanded — pledging one's life for this — is of quite a different kind."

Benedict proposes, then, not the Uncaused Cause of Greek philosophy or the unnamable, unknowable Absolute of Eastern religion, but the God of love revealed in Jesus Christ.

He stated this forcefully in his inaugural homily as pope: "If we let Christ in our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful, and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation."

Murphy traces this double motif of joy and love in the pope's writings. Benedict presents the persons of the Trinity as essentially related by love; Jesus Christ as uniting all mankind to himself so that we might participate in the Trinitarian life of love; and the church as the communion of believers making Jesus — and his joy — present in the world.

He presents the Eucharist as the sacrament whereby Jesus gives himself fully to each of us so that our joy might be complete; Creation as the intelligible, loving work of the Creator, intrinsically ordered toward the Sabbath rest that allows man to worship his Creator and thus discover his true and lasting joy; and the Holy Spirit as the one whose indwelling makes our joy manifest.

Of course, no book can exhaust its subject. Christ Our Joy passes over Benedict's extensive work in moral and liturgical theology, as well as his writings on European culture and Western civilization.

Likewise, there is little on Benedict's place within history or his theological influences. Also problematic is Murphy's failure at times to distinguish his own reasoning, Benedict's thought, and standard Catholic theology.

But the book is a fine introduction to Christian theology through Benedict's eyes, especially suited for anyone suffering the existential crisis of meaninglessness.

Evangelicals will particularly appreciate Benedict's focus on Christology and his firm grounding in Scripture and in the church's early tradition, particularly Augustine and the church fathers.

By his own admission, Benedict has "never tried to create an individual theology. … I simply want to think in communion with the faith of the Church … in communion with the great thinkers of the faith."

What he has discovered by thinking with the Church is friendship with Jesus Christ, who is our joy, and the call to communicate that joy — as priest, professor, bishop, cardinal, and Pope.

As Benedict proclaimed at the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, "Anyone who has discovered Christ must lead others to him. A great joy cannot be kept to oneself. It has to be passed on."


Ryan Anderson is a junior fellow at First Things and a Ph.D. student in political philosophy at Notre Dame.

The THIRD ENCYCLICAL????? I read that it was due to be published on September 30th. Surely Papa has finished it by now. Don't wish to push him but I'd like to ask him. Perhaps it won't be published until it's been translated into several languages.

Oh well, dream on for the moment.....

The Preface to
Benedict XVI: An Intimate Portrait

300 pp.


Finally, this book is out in English. Why did it take three years????


What is it like to sit opposite a man like Joseph Ratzinger for many hours, alone in a monastery, and discuss things with him, asking a thousand questions?

We were high up in our monastery, often in reality above the clouds, and there was always something that gave you the feeling there was a good spirit there.

At any rate, I came to know Joseph Ratzinger as a great man for patience, as a spiritual master who can give answers.

Here was someone who simply understood people, who had retained the liveliness of youth. Someone who did not burn out quickly but in some way remained whole--and most impressive in his attitude of humility, with which he makes small things seem great.

Joseph Ratzinger is a born teacher, but he did not want to become pope. Even after the conclave, on the loggia of Saint Peter's, his face showed the traces of an inner struggle. And he probably felt like crying, so disturbingly moved was he by the condescension of the great God who entrusted him, at the end of his path, with the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

The man from Bavaria - contrary to all the projections dumped onto his shoulders - is a revolutionary of the Christian type. Seeking out what was lost and saving it is the constant element in his life.

An inconvenient man who can seize on the spirit of the times, who warns people against the aberrations of modern life. Anyone who really wants change, he cries out, needs a change in his consciousness and his personal behavior - anything else is insufficient.

Now, as Benedict XVI, the most powerful German at the beginning of the new millennium may offer a new opportunity for Europe and, especially, for his homeland.

And Peter's successor has given his own people an exciting motto for this: "We are not working to defend a position of power", he says. "In truth we are working so that the streets of the world may be open for Christ."

That would mean, then, something like a "Benedictinizing" of the Catholic Church, a healthy revitalization of mercy, of the origin of the mystery.

This is an approach based, not on activism or considerations of feasibility, but on faith. And the pontifex in Rome could find himself helped not only by a reawakened longing for meaning and a new consciousness that truth is indispensable, but also by a new generation of young Christians, whose desire is to live out their faith in all its vitality and fullness once more, piously and without inhibitions.

"The Church is certainly not old and immobile", declared the new Pope enthusiastically [at his inaugural Mass], "No - she is young."

And it was also untrue, he said, that youth is merely "materialistic and egotistic: young people want an end to be put to injustice. They want inequality to be overcome and for everyone to be given his share of the good things of the world. They want the oppressed to be given their freedom. They want greatness. They desire goodness. And that is why the young ... are once again wide open for Christ."

And then he added, just like a rebel of earlier times. "Anyone who has come to Christ seeking what is comfortable has indeed come to the wrong address." And, quite certainly, anyone who seeks that with Pope Benedict, too.

Abbey of Benedictbeuern
September 2005






And here is Ignatius Press's blurb for the book:


In the person of Benedict XVI, the Church has a Pope who is one of the most significant of Europe’s intellectuals.

The journalist Peter Seewald, who has known Ratzinger since 1992, conducted the “longest interviews in Church history” with him, for two books which were best-sellers world-wide, Salt of the Earth, and God and the World.

Now, for the first time, Seewald describes these intensive encounters in detail, and draws a portrait of this brilliant theologian who has put his life entirely at the service of the Catholic Church. This book is also the story of a long dialogue that changed Seewald’s life.

Many people are trying to understand who Benedict XVI really is. On one point they all agree: in the person of Joseph Ratzinger, the chair of Peter is occupied by one of the most brilliant minds in the world.

Peter Seewald’s portrait of Benedict recounts details about the personality and life of Benedict that were hitherto completely unknown.

Sample illustrations in the book:

I've read it. Twice. It's good! Really good!!

I must issue a heath warning!! This will def. give an even bigger case of benaddiction!!