Introduction to Christianity

I bought this because I thought it was about time I read something `orthodox'. I'd been reading quite a bit that challenged the traditional teaching of the Church. I'd also never read anything by Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI. Having read the book, I don't know if I'm any more comfortable with traditional teaching about the nativity, resurrection, descent into hell, ascension etc, but I am most impressed by Benedict XVI's presentation of the philosophy and spirituality that underpins the Apostle's Creed. The book is, after all, not so much a general `introduction' to Christianity, but an unpacking of the earliest of the creeds we still use. I was aware that Benedict is a highly regarded man, even by those who have come to the disciplinary interest of his former office, and that he is recognized as a fine teacher, but I didn't have any idea when I began the book of the impact his thinking would have on me. His is truly a mind that soars above and beyond the mental categories and sequences I usually encounter. Benedict has invited us to think beyond the standard categories, to escape the `dictatorship of the milieu' (p.250: 2000 edition) and to open ourselves to truths that lie beyond conventional interpretation. I was interested in his frequent reference to Teilhard de Chardin and application of his ideas in developing his own theses. Although he criticizes Teilhard for excessive biologism, he clearly approves of and uses his general thesis regarding the unfolding purpose of the cosmos. He has been severely criticized for this by the `ultra-orthodox', who regard Teilhard as an apostate and a pantheist. So much for the view of Ratzinger as closed to non-conventional thought. I suppose that, Teilhard's thinking being speculative and not necessarily in conflict with Magisterial teaching, there's no reason why the younger Ratzinger should not incorporate it. I wonder if his views are still the same? I'm not sure how much it would help to have a good background in philosophy or Christian theology before picking up this book. I thought I had a reasonable layman's background, but found that the ideas are so fresh and so logically presented I was carried along without feeling much need to refer to what I already knew. I would think a reader with an interest but not a lot of background would still find the explication clear and the ideas illuminating.

This is my my second review on one of the Pope's books. I read "Salt of the Earth" first and that should really be your starting point as it is very readable, the tone is conversational. BTW, this is the first edition, pick up the 2nd edition at the Ignatius website, the new preface is worth it. This is a book for thinkers. It is not for people who have a simple faith (no less authentic, of course) but rather for people who spend a lot of time in their own minds analyzing and questioning. Former Prefect Ratzinger approaches Christianity unapologetically, as you would expect. He is very well read in psychology, world religions, philosophy, history, and probably everything else. He makes his points eloquently as one who is convicted about Truth. I am still a little shocked. I expected the man to be a hard line conservative and hold to a very rigid and traditional point of view. He actually doesn't, instead he upholds the role of tradition in the face of modernism. He does not want to go back in time, but wants to move the Church forward using the time-tested truths of Christ in the Gospels. He brings to light the timeless voice of God for this and every generation. I loved JPII, but I fear this man will be greater. Even though many are already aluding to his soon-to-be short pontificate, he was already well-known and instrumental many years before. He only needs to be here long enough for people to understand what he has already said, and to put a capstone on JP's theology which he heavily influenced. JPII denied his resignation three times, I think he knew the role that this man needed to play in the Church. It was providence and grace at work.

This is a some what forgotten classic . It is almost forty years old and yet it is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. The Pope John Paull II is a tough act to follow. We first met him as a strong middle aged man who reached out to the young and built bridges between Catholicism and other faiths. There may be therefore some trepidation now that the Catholic church suddenly has a 78 year old German Pope. To make matters worse the Catholic haters have filled the Internet with rumors and half truths of Ratzinger's membership in the Hitler Youth. Anyone who reads this book will find it a comfort as we see in Ratzinger a man very much like the late John Paul II who like the recently deceased Pope is a scholar, mystic and humanitarian. And like John Paul II he is a principled man with backbone. And by that I mean not an unbending man but a man of conviction. This book works on many levels as it is both scholarly and approachable. Ratzinger uses the Apostle's creed as a jumping off point. He dusts it off and has us look at it in various ways. This approach is help not only to the Catholic but to all Christians and to any non-Christian who wants to gain insight into Christianity. It is an approach where he refers to and elucidates on both the mystical and the practical nature of man. Rather than being the stodgy figure some of the media has been painting him to be Ratzinger has his moments of cleverness and humor in this book which makes it all the more appealing.Yet as I said it has its scholarly side for Ratzinger not only refers to Catholic theologian but numerous philosophers from various periods and cultures to draw his points home. Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, shows in this book that he has the tools and the desire to continue the work of John Paul II to build bridges while keeping the doctrine of the Catholic Church intact. I strongly recommend this book to all.

10 years ago when I was considering whether to convert to my wife's faith, a Baptist minister friend singled out this book as one of his own, all-time favorites - the one that best lived up to its title, as an "Introduction to Christianity." First drafted in the summer of 1967, this book is based on a series of lectures father Joseph Ratzinger gave to students at Germany's university at Tubingen. As if it were written just this morning, it centers on the timeless communications dilemma faced by any Christian, trying to speak about God to young people in today's world. Writing the "Introduction to Christianity" 16 years after his ordination, the un-heralded priest from the land of Luther (who would one day have his arm twisted to remain in Rome for 24 years, by his predecessor as Pope) cited a famous story by Kierkegaard, about "the clown and the burning village" - to best sum up the difficulty faced by any Christian attempting to communicate theology to young people. "According to the story," he wrote, "a travelling circus in Denmark had caught fire. The manager sent the clown, who was already dressed and made-up for the performance, into the neighboring village to fetch help, especially as there was a danger that the fire would spread across the fields of dry stubble and engulf the village itself. So, the clown hurried into the village and requested the inhabitants `come as quickly as possible' and help put the fire out. "But the villagers took the clown's shouts simply for an excellent piece of advertising, meant to attract as many people as possible to the performance; they applauded the clown and laughed till they cried. The clown felt more like weeping than laughing; he tried in vain to get people to be serious, to make clear to them he was speaking in bitter earnest, that there really WAS a fire! His supplications only increased the laughter; people thought he was playing his part splendidly -- until finally the fire DID engulf the village, and both circus and village were burned to the ground." And that, said Father Ratzinger, almost 40 years ago, is the "theologian's position today . . . the appearance of a clown trying in vain to make people listen to his message! "In his medieval, or at any rate old-fashioned clown's costume he is simply not taken seriously. Whatever he says, he is ticketed and classified, so to speak by his role. Whatever he does in his attempts to demonstrate his (seriousness) people always know in advance that he is in fact just --- a clown. They are already familiar with what he is talking about, and know he is just giving a performance which has little or nothing to do with reality. "So, they can listen to him quite happily without having to worry too seriously about what he is saying." The German priest of 40 years ago, (who would no doubt express the same views on this day of his election as "Peter's successor") - will now face the same dilemma on a global scale -- when he reaches out to non-C

Perhaps given the situation with Cardinal Ratzinger becoming the newly-elected Pope Benedict XVI, no better book could be read as an insight into the general directions of the man than this - a text intended for use as a introductory textbook on Christian theology. Ratzinger takes the approach for a framework generally from the construction of the ancient Apostles Creed - his first section begins with the 'I believe...' and continues to look at the implications of what faith and belief are in terms of philosophy and biblical witness. Ratzinger is educated in the dominant traditions of philosophy from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Germany was the centre of such scholarship. Echoes of or reactions to thinkers such as Heidegger, Nietzsche, Husserl and others will be found here, as well as later thinkers in the post-modern area of critical analysis. However, Ratzinger returns to the creedal foundation of doctrine, and the biblical underpinnings of the creeds as being more important than these philosophical developments (but never abandons the conversation with them). He proposes tentative defintions of faith and belief (one might hear the echo of Paul Tillich here, at least in general form if not in content), and looks at the foundations of dogma in the creeds. His sections are on Doctrine of God, Christology, and Ecclesiology and Pneumatology; it is significant that he does not use these theological terms, but rather the more accessible God, Jesus Christ, The Church and the Spirit. The faith is meant to be accessible and comprehensible. Ratzinger then goes line by line through the creeds as his headings, and proceeds to theologically analyse each assertion made. These are done in what might be termed a conservative fashion, and certainly some of Ratzinger's conclusions are on the conservative side, but once again there is an idea that conversation continues, and that there is room for interpretation in the creeds in substance and in application. Ratzinger uses a story derivative of Kierkegaard and 'The Secular City' by Harvey Cox to warn against the idea of placing too restrictive a classification on someone, theologians included, that might make it difficult to continue to be open to what is happening in the development of the relationship. Ratzinger speaks of the natural occurence of uncertainty, and how this kind of doubt and searching is in fact an aid to the theological enterprise. Ratzinger's erudition is evident here, with stories from the history of philosophy and literature, current events and recent artistic creations, stories from Jewish and Christian sources as well as inspirations from outside these religious traditions. This book can give a good insight into the general framework in which Ratzinger, as the new pope, tends to think and write about Christianity. It is probably essential reading for any who want a greater insight in the mind of the man now Pope Benedict XVI.