Benedict XVI: A Guide for the Perplexed

Tracey Rowland holds the St John Paul II Chair of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Australia and is a member of the International Theological Commission.

‘If to be famous is also to be misunderstood, then Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI must count as one of the most misunderstood theologians of our time. No wonder even sympathetic readers find themselves perplexed and on the lookout for a reliable guide. In this latest in T&T Clark's Guide for the Perplexed series, Tracey Rowland has given us just what we need: the best overview of the pope's thought currently available.' - Edward T. Oakes, S.J., Chester & Margaret Paluch Professor of Theology, University of St. Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary, USA.

• Chapter I: The Intellectual Antecedents and Contemporary Interlocutors: Including the seminal contributions to Ratzinger's thought of: Sts. Augustine and Bonaventure, John Henry Newman, Romano Guardini, Peter Wust, Josef Pieper, Martin Buber, Theodore Häcker, Gottlieb Söhngen, Luigi Giussani, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Henri de Lubac SJ; and the works of interlocutors, Josef Rupert Geiselman, Walter Kasper, Hans Küng, and Paul Knitter. Karl Rahner fits in as both an early antecedent and an interlocutor.Chapter II: The Response to the Modernist CrisisThis will include a guide through Ratzinger's many works relating to principles of scriptural interpretation, including documents of the Pontifical Biblical Commission produced under his chairmanship,; and also to his critique of the Suarezian account of Revelation which reached its zenith in the 1960s in the Dei Verbum document of the Second Vatican Council, which Ratzinger and Karl Rahner helped to draft, and the work on Revelation and Tradition co-authored by Ratzinger and Rahner.Chapter III: The Response to HeideggerThis will include material from Ratzinger's Principles of Catholic Theology where he states that an understanding of the mediation of history in the realm of ontology is 'the fundamental crisis of our age'. It will also provide an exposition of Ratzinger's criticisms of Karl Rahner's approach to the crisis and his preference for the approach of von Balthasar. Chapter IV: The Essential Difference of ChristianityThis will cover themes in Ratzinger's seminal Introduction to Christianity (which was anything but an introduction) and more contemporary essays by Ratzinger, including his year 2000 Sorbonne Address, where he presents his understanding of what Christianity is within the context of other world religions. The controversial Regensburg Address will be covered here. Chapter V: The Response to Kasper and KüngThis will cover the criticisms of Ratzinger's ecclesiology from Walter Kasper and Hans Küng and his responses to them. The seminal importance of Augustine and de Lubac for Ratzinger's ecclesiology will be covered here. Chapter VI: The Theological Virtues Since Ratzinger became Benedict XVI he has released two encyclicals: one on love (Deus Caritas Est 2007) and one on hope (Spe Salvi 2008). Since faith, hope and love are treated in theology as the three theological virtues, it is anticipated that a third encyclical will appear in the first half of 2009 on faith. This chapter will provide an overview of the major ideas in the three encyclicals and references to the most important commentaries thereon.Chapter VII: The Importance of Beauty & other Augustinian MotifsThis will include an account of the significance of the transcendental of beauty in Ratzinger's theology and his various criticisms of contemporary mass culture, including the rock music industry. This will be placed in the context of his Augustinian personalism.