
The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI
An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger
- 448 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
This important and illuminating book focuses on Ratzinger's status as one of the preeminent Catholic theologians of the 20th century. Aidan Nichols provides a full-scale investigation of his theology as it develops from the 1950s onward. The book presents a chronological account of the development of Ratzinger's writing which reflects a wide range of historical and theoretical interests such as: Augustine's ecclesiology, early Franciscanism and the idea of salvation history, Christian brotherhood, the unfolding of the Second Vatican Council, the Apostles' Creed, explorations of the concept of the Church, preaching, liturgy and Church music, eschatology, the foundations of dogmatic and moral theology, and the problem of pluralism. This third edition, as well as providing a two-chapter-long biography of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, and amplifying the account already given of his later pre-papal writings, describes the new thinking that belongs to the years of Benedict's pontificate. That comprises his trilogy of books on Jesus of Nazareth, his quartet of encyclicals, and the set of major speeches he gave at global venues, chiefly on the contribution of faith to culture and civil society. An expanded Conclusion, weighing the lasting significance of his work, leads into a presentation of the themes of his posthumous essay collection - the 'curtain-call' he entitled 'What is Christianity?'
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Information
Table of contents
- Half Title
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the Third Edition
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the Reprint of the First Edition
- Foreword
- Chapter 1: The Bavarian background
- Chapter 2: The life: Cisalpine
- Chapter 3: The life: Ultramontane
- Chapter 4: Augustine and the church
- Chapter 5: Bonaventure and saving history
- Chapter 6: Christian brotherhood
- Chapter 7: The event of the Council
- Chapter 8: Reflections on the creed
- Chapter 9: More ecclesiological essays
- Chapter 10: The eschatology theme
- Chapter 11: The Preacher
- Chapter 12: The Liturgist
- Chapter 13: Back to foundations
- Chapter 14: The prefect
- Chapter 15: The candidate
- Chapter 16: Benedict’s Jesus
- Chapter 17: The pope of the virtues
- Chapter 18: Theologian of the polis
- Conclusion
- Postscript: Benedict’s posthumous tome
- Bibliography
- Index