Joseph Ratzinger – författare

Den sanne Jesus, skriver den nye påven, är evangeliernas Jesus, han som är helt annorlunda, krävande och djärv. Jesus som tillgodoser allas önskemål är ett fantasifoster, en dröm, inte en verklig gestalt. Evangeliernas Jesus är sannerligen inte någon som gör livet bekvämt för oss. Men det är just därför som han svarar på våra djupaste existentiella frågor, de frågor som, vare sig vi vill det eller ej, driver oss att söka Gud, att söka få vår djupaste längtan tillfredsställd, den som är gränslös eftersom den gäller det eviga. Vi måste på nytt bege oss på väg för att finna den verklige Jesus. Ur Dagen den 1 september Glädjen över att vara på väg till Kristus lyser upp allt Ny bok På väg till Jesus Kristus Benedikt XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) (Catholica) Det finns människor som på alla sätt önskar och längtar efter enhet i Kristenheten. En av dem är Gunnel Vallqvist som uttryckte delar av detta utmärkt i boken Vad väntar vi egentligen på? (Cordia, 2003) Och frågan är ytterst aktuell också i dag. Ibland är det nästan överdrivet påtagligt i frikyrkan: det stora katolska spöket. Katolicismen har under tiderna av reformationer och uppluckring av traditionella mötesformer kommit att bli de andra. Det är de som sägs ha varit förnekande till det personliga Kristusmötet eller de som tror på Maria lika mycket som Jesus, de som har en kult av helgon och dessutom inte får ha egna åsikter på grund av den stora auktoritet som påven innehar och som försvårar för många att förstå. I alla dessa påståenden ligger ibland korn av sanning, jag är inte rätt person att avgöra det. Liksom att det lätt kan förstås att andra Vatikankonciliet inte innebar den glädje Kyrkan hade hoppats på hos den enskilde troende, nog om det. PETRI EFTERFÖLJARE Benedikt XVI var under en lång tid innan påveämbetet den som var satt att försvara den romersk-katolska kyrkans tro och morallära, högt uppsatt i den kyrkliga hierarkin. Han har under åren både beskyllts för att vara liberal och konservativ, av respektive delar i den katolska kyrkan. Innan läsningen av På väg till Jesus Kristus, som alltså skrevs innan utnämningen till påve, har jag i all stillhet försökt skaka av mig det sjok av fördomar som omringar denna stora del av Kristi världsvida kyrka. Det jag i stället har funnit är vördnad och respekt inför historien och jag har skrapat på ytan till den förståelse som är nödvändig för att närma sig Katolicismen. Vad jag finner är strålande, på varje sida tycks glädjen efter att vara på väg till Kristus lysa över alla skuggor. VAD BENEDIKT XVI främst vill göra upp med i denna bok är inställningen till Jesus som en mjukis som inte kräver något och accepterar allt och alla. Detta är en frontalkrock med det alltmer slätstrukna och relativiserade i både kyrka och samhälle. Det som Benedikt XVI ger uttryck för är en radikal evangelisk Jesus som han skriver är helt annorlunda, krävande och djärv. Jesus som tillgodoser allas önskemål är ett fantasifoster, en dröm // Jesus är sannerligen inte någon som gör livet bekvämt för oss. en det är just därför han svarar på våra djupaste existentiella frågor. Detta är skrivet på bokens baksida och sammanfattar på ett mycket bra sätt den bärande grundtanken i boken. Det som vi framför allt finner i boken är den Kristuscentrering som bör vara själva medelpunkten i den kristnes liv, allt givet av Gud genom den helige Anden. Benedikt XVI är evangelikalt djupt rotad, den ekumeniska tanken finns med, den liksom skrivs in mellan raderna i hoppet om enhet kring centrala trosfrågor. Tidigare har Benedikt XVI varit beskylld för att inta en negativ hållning till teologer som grumlar trons klara skärpa. Det är lätt att förstå när han själv i denna lilla serie av vackert skrivna meditationer når till livsnerven, trons djupaste skikt, och mysteriets strålglans upphäver funktionen av den vetenskapliga tron. Detta är liv, förankrat i en kristen tradition som på gott och ont genom historien har sökt sig till det som ger livet, vinet och brödet. Uppmaningen gäller oss alla, katoliker eller inte, att hålla Kristus i fokus och än en gång ödmjuka oss inför de som gått före, de i evangelierna som såg Jesus och hans efterföljande genom alla tider. Fredrik Wängström

Bringing together their unique vantage points as leaders of Church and State, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Marcello Pera challenge us to imagine what can be the future of a civilization that has abandoned its moral and cultural history. They call on the West to embrace a spiritual rather than political renewal -and to accept the moral values that alone can help us to make sense of changes in technology, economics, and society.

Pope Benedict XVI’s iconic life of Jesus, a rich, compelling, flesh-and-blood portrait of the central figure of the Christian faith.   “This book is . . . my personal search ‘for the face of the Lord.’”—Benedict XVI In this bold, momentous work, the Pope seeks to salvage the person of Jesus from today’s “popular” depictions and to restore his true identity as discovered in the Gospels. Through his brilliance as a theologian and his personal conviction as a believer, the Pope incites us to encounter Jesus face to face.  From Jesus of Nazareth: “. . . the great question that will be with us throughout this entire book: But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God! He has brought the God who once gradually unveiled his countenance first to Abraham, then to Moses and the prophets, and then in the wisdom literature—the God who showed his face only in Israel, even though he was also honored among the pagans in various shadowy guises. It is this God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the true God, whom he has brought to the peoples of the earth. He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about where we are going and where we come from: faith, hope, and love.”

Originally published in English in 1988, Joseph Ratzinger's Eschatology remains internationally recognized as a leading text on the ""last things""—heaven and hell, purgatory and judgment, death and the immortality of the soul. This highly anticipated second edition includes a new preface by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI and a supplement to the bibliography by theologian Peter A. Casarella.Eschatology presents a balanced perspective of the doctrine at the center of Christian belief- the Church's faith in eternal life. Recognizing the task of contemporary eschatology as ""to marry perspectives, so that person and community, present and future, are seen in their unity,"" Joseph Ratzinger brings together recent emphasis on the theology of hope for the future with the more traditional elements of the doctrine. His book has proven to be as timeless as it is timely.

A fascinating and insightful volume collecting together the key writings of Joseph Ratzinger, some of them yet untranslated, from his youthful and more progressive writings, to his ‘transition period' following his disillusionment with the aftermath of Vatican II, to his time as Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith down to 2005. The emphasis will be upon Joseph Ratzinger as ‘private theologian', his many writings released in a personal capacity for such will chart the formation of and comment upon the official statements and texts released under his name in a more informative fashion than the simple inclusion of the formulaic ‘official texts' themselves. Following a section providing insight into the fundamental and systematic theological background and development of Joseph Ratzinger's thought, further thematic sections will also be included, for example, Joseph Ratzinger's writings on Ecclesiology, on Theology and the Role of Theologians, on the Eucharist, on Religious Pluralism, on Sacramental Theology, Ecumenism, on Truth, on the Contemporary Historical Era, on Magisterium and on Faith Morals etc. The volume will open with an introductory essay charting the life and career, the achievements of and the controversies surrounding the new pope. Each reading will be prefaced by a brief introduction to its context and themes and will be followed by recommended further reading on its respective subject matter.

A fascinating and insightful volume collecting together the key writings of Joseph Ratzinger, some of them yet untranslated, from his youthful and more progressive writings, to his ‘transition period' following his disillusionment with the aftermath of Vatican II, to his time as Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith down to 2005. The emphasis will be upon Joseph Ratzinger as ‘private theologian', his many writings released in a personal capacity for such will chart the formation of and comment upon the official statements and texts released under his name in a more informative fashion than the simple inclusion of the formulaic ‘official texts' themselves. Following a section providing insight into the fundamental and systematic theological background and development of Joseph Ratzinger's thought, further thematic sections will also be included, for example, Joseph Ratzinger's writings on Ecclesiology, on Theology and the Role of Theologians, on the Eucharist, on Religious Pluralism, on Sacramental Theology, Ecumenism, on Truth, on the Contemporary Historical Era, on Magisterium and on Faith Morals etc. The volume will open with an introductory essay charting the life and career, the achievements of and the controversies surrounding the new pope. Each reading will be prefaced by a brief introduction to its context and themes and will be followed by recommended further reading on its respective subject matter.

A fascinating and insightful volume collecting together the key writings of Joseph Ratzinger, some of them yet untranslated, from his youthful and more progressive writings, to his ''transition period'' following his disillusionment with the aftermath of Vatican II, to his time as Prefect of the Vatican''s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith down to 2005. The emphasis will be upon Joseph Ratzinger as ''private theologian'', his many writings released in a personal capacity for such will chart the formation of and comment upon the official statements and texts released under his name in a more informative fashion than the simple inclusion of the formulaic ''official texts'' themselves. Following a section providing insight into the fundamental and systematic theological background and development of Joseph Ratzinger''s thought, further thematic sections will also be included, for example, Joseph Ratzinger''s writings on Ecclesiology, on Theology and the Role of Theologians, on the Eucharist, on Religious Pluralism, on Sacramental Theology, Ecumenism, on Truth, on the Contemporary Historical Era, on Magisterium and on Faith Morals etc. The volume will open with an introductory essay charting the life and career, the achievements of and the controversies surrounding the new pope. Each reading will be prefaced by a brief introduction to its context and themes and will be followed by recommended further reading on its respective subject matter.

Timely theological insights on culture and humanity from the pen of the PontiffIn this second volume of Joseph Ratzinger in Communio, Pope Benedict XVI speaks to various issues relating to humanity today -- conscience, technological security, the origin of human life, the meaning of Sunday, Christian hope, and more.As editor David L. Schindler notes, "Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) rarely writes on any churchly matter that does not manifest its implications for man and culture, and vice versa. Indeed, this indissoluble linking is one of the main distinguishing features of his theology." This is the second of three volumes; the first deals with themes relating to the Church, and the third volume is to focus on theological renewal.

What did ancient Christians and pagans believe makes the unity of the nations? Just as he began serving as a major adviser at the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) studied this question in lectures delivered at Austria's University of Salzburg. These lectures, originally published in German, are now made available in English in this volume.According to Ratzinger, pagan Rome said the Empire was the ""cosmopolis"" which united the world. The church affirmed the goodness of the world, and acknowledged the proper role of the state. But Christian belief that Christ had given birth to the church, the eternal cosmopolis, present now, was revolutionary. Christ was the New Adam, who restores unity to a humanity scattered in the Fall and at Babel. For Origen, Israel was the true state that remained under the one God; other nations were under archons or dark angels, from which Christ came to liberate them. Christ instituted the eternal kingdom of peace, to which Christians belong now, living within and at the service of, their earthly nations. In Ratzinger's view, Origen thought peace between the church and world before the Eschaton - the eternal kingdom - was possible.Augustine responded in two ways to claims by pagans that the Christian God had not protected Rome from being sacked in 410. First, Rome's pagan civic religion was undermined in its function of aiding state security by the fact that it was not true. Second, Christianity, as the truth, was not subordinate to the state, but was a new community. In Ratzinger's view, Augustine saw the church, the City of God, as an alien citizen, but one very much within the City of Man and meant to renew, not take over, that earthly city, until Christ's Second Coming.This early work of Ratzinger's showcases the development of his theology, including themes that will inform his life's work, such as how God's transcendence and the doctrine of creation inform a Christian worldview, and the central role of the Incarnation in understanding how the church relates to the world.