Ratzinger Reader

Lieven Boeve is Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. As of August 1, 2014, he has been appointed the Director-General of the general office of Catholic Education in Flanders (Fundamental Theology). His research concerns theological epistemology, philosophical theology, truth in faith and theology, tradition development and hermeneutics. From 2005 till 2009 he served as president of the European Society for Catholic Theology. He is the author of Interrupting Tradition. An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (2003), God Interrupts History. Theology in a Time of Upheaval (2007), Lyotard and Theology (2014) and Theology at the Crossroads of University, Church and Society (2016). He has co-edited various volumes, of which the most recent are: Questioning the Human: Toward a Theological Anthropology for the Twenty-First Century (2014) and The Normativity of History. Theological Truth and Tradition in the Tension between Church History and Systematic Theology (2016). On September 17, 2015, the European Society for Catholic Theology awarded him the biennial prize for the best theological book of the past two years, for his monograph Lyotard and Theology.Joseph Ratzinger was Professor of theology at Munich and Regensburg before becoming head of the Congreation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected Pope taking the name Benedict XVI in 2005.  'Gerard Mannion is the Amaturo Professor in Catholic Studies at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, where he is also a Senior Research Fellow of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He serves as chair of the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network (www.ei-research.net) and is editor of the Bloomsbury Series, Ecclesiological Investigations'

First as a theologian, then bishop and later the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Ratzinger is often thought to have moved steadily to the right. In this collection, Gerard Mannion and Lieven Boeve dispel such easy generalizations. With judiciously chosen and suitably lengthy extracts from Ratzinger's writings, accompanied by helpful editorial comments, these two leading European Catholic theologians demonstrate the continuity of the one Ratzinger and consequently shed light on the complexity of his present-day role as Pope. Anyone who wishes to understand better the current face of Roman theology is greatly in their debt.

• PREFACE: AIMS AND APPROACH INTRODUCTION: Joseph Ratzinger - His Life, Thought And Work 1. THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS (LB) Revelation, Scripture and Tradition Enduring Importance of Church Fathers for Theology Faith and Reason History, Doctrine and Hermeneutics Problems with Modern Theological Hermeneutics a. Introduction b. Theology and Exegesis c. The Limits of Theological Hermeneutics Theology Today 2. HUMANITY AND SALVATION: ANTHROPOLOGY & SOTERIOLOGY (LB) Christology Religious Anthropology Salvation Sacramentology Eschatology 3. UNDERSTANDING THE CHURCH: FUNDAMENTAL ECCLESIOLOGY (GM) The Essential Nature of the Church On the Scope and Tasks of Ecclesiology The Ecclesiology of Communion: a Project on the Way Church Local and Universal: Revisiting the Dilemma The Church of the Future 4. THE CHURCH IN RELATION TO THE WORLD: THE CHALLENGES OF THESE TIMES The Mailaises of Modernity: Liberalism, Atheism, Marxism The Problematic Reception of Gaudium et spes Europe Church, Faith and Politics 5. CHRISTIAN UNITY AND DIALOGUE: ON ECUMENISM AND OTHER FAITHS Extra Ecclesia Nulla Salus (Outside the Church There is No Salvation) Defining Churches and Ecclesial Communities: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism Ecumenical Realities Today The Uniqueness of Christian Salvation Against Pluralism and Relativism 6. TEACHING AND AUTHORITY: DIMENSIONS OF MAGISTERIUM The Relationship between the Bishops and the Papacy: a Reading of Lumen Gentium Free Expression and Obedience in the Church The Ecclesial Vocation of the Catholic Theologian The Structure and Task of the Synod of Bishops Magisterium and Morality Conscience, Truth and Dissent 7. LITURGY, MINISTRY AND CATECHESIS Ministry Today The Liturgy and the Life of the Church The Eucharist - Heart of Ecclesial Life The Task of Catechesis The Teaching Office of the Bishop 8. INTERPRETING THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL Interpreting the Documents of Vatican II: between the Spirit and the Letter of the Council Interpreting the Dogmatic Constitution on Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum concilum) Interpreting the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in Our Times (Gaudium et spes) Who Has the Authority to Receive Vatican II? Renewal not Revolution