Gift to the Church and World

John C. Cavadini is the McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life and Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author and editor of several books, including Pope Francis and the Event of Encounter and Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI.Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, Emmanuel Mary of the Cross, is Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He is the author and editor of several books, including Phenomenology: A Basic Introduction in the Light of Jesus Christ and Metaphysics: A Basic Introduction in a Christian Key.

1. "Joseph Ratzinger's demanding and original Introduction to Christianity deserves a set of interlocutors able to rise to its own high level. It has found them in the studies collected here, ranging as they do from close-up snapshots of the work in its place and time to confrontations with a choice of theologians, culture-critics, filmmakers, and visual artists closer either to now or to home." - Aidan Nichols, OP, author of The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger.2. "This collection provides sixteen precious vignettes into Ratzinger's celebrated classic Introduction to Christianity. These eminently scholarly perspectives celebrate a book that presents in 1968 divine-human relationality as the concrete Vatican II watershed. The authors convincingly argue that this christocentric shift grounds the believer in the life and charity of the Blessed Trinity, which in turn permits genuine interhuman charity to flourish. This volume is indispensable for understanding deeper Ratzinger. Most welcome and highly recommended!" - Emery de Gaál, Chairperson of Dogmatic Theology at Mundelein Seminary3. "This book identifies a classic that has never received the notice it's due. Ratzinger's Introduction is so much more than a book; it's a pedagogy, a way of teaching. This fact shines through every contribution here, but especially in the pages that compare Ratzinger's masterpiece with C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. Ratzinger did not simply introduce people to Christianity; he invited them into communion, where the mysteries lead to a living faith. Gift is the rare book that acknowledges the deeply mystical element in the theological task and a person's intellectual life." - Scott Hahn, founder and president of the St. Paul Center of Biblical Theology4. "Is there a theology worthy of the name that does not introduce its readers to the One who 'introduces' the Father through the Spirit? If in this sense all true theology is an introduction to Christianity, then Joseph Ratzinger's corpus - of which his Introduction to Christianity is an exemplification - focuses always on introducing us to the person of Jesus Christ in the face of the difficulties that threaten to block him from our mind and heart. Thus Ratzinger's Introduction has an enduring place in teaching modern theologians how and why to do theology. With its deft elucidations of Ratzinger's approach, the present volume should lay the foundations not only for the future of Ratzingerian studies but for the future of Catholic theology as a discipline." - Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

• List of ContributorsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction by John C. CavadiniI. Overview and Context1. Integral Faith Formation in the Spirit of the Second Vatican Council: Joseph Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity (1968), by Most Rev. Rudolf Voderholzer2. The Articulation of Faith Between Memory and Recollection, by Rev. Richard Schenk, OP3. The Reception of Einfürhrung in das Christentum among the Reviewers, by Tracey RowlandII. Fundamental Theology4. The Introduction to Christianity in Light of Principles of Catholic Theology, by Cyril O’Regan5. Ratzinger on Lessing’s “Ugly Broad Ditch”: Augustinian Ressourcement and Modern Rationalism, by Rev. Aaron Pidel, SJ6. An Introduction to Tradition in Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity, by Catherine R. Cavadini7. An Introduction to Scripture in Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity, by Anthony J. PagliariniIII. Philosophical Theology8. Nein und doch: Ratzinger’s Philosophy of Renunciation in an Augustinian Key, by Donald Wallenfang, OCDS9. “Being for” and Normativity in a Post-Durkheimian Age, by Anthony C. Sciglitano, Jr.IV. Dogmatic Theology10. Joseph Ratzinger’s “Spiritual Christology”, by Rev. Robert P. Imbelli11. Touching the Void: Ratzinger’s Soteriology, by Francesca Murphy12. The Homelessness of Pneumatology: Ratzinger on the Spirit and the Church in the Modern World, by Patrick X. Gardner13. Hide and Seek: The Eschatology of Introduction to Christianity, by Leonard J. DeLorenzo14. The Liturgical Metaphysics of Gift in Introduction to Christianity, by Timothy P. O’MalleyV. Spiritual Theology15. On Christian Structures, by Clemens Sedmak16. On the Absenting of Christ: Cruciform Beauty in Ratzinger’s Introduction to Christianity, by Jennifer Newsome MartinEpilogue: “The Pedagogy of Introducing” by John C. CavadiniIndex