Meaning of Christian Brotherhood
Overview
Written over three decades ago, Cardinal Ratzinger’s profound treatise on the true meaning of Christian brotherhood is perhaps even more timely and important now as a clear statement on the biblical grounds for cooperation among believing Christians. In treating Christian brotherhood from the perspective of salvation history, Ratzinger opens up the meaning of both the Old and New Testament in this most essential area. After establishing the distinctively Christian sense of brotherhood (vis-á-vis Judaism, Hellenism, Stoicism, the Enlightenment, and Marxism), he shows how fraternal charity can only be perfected through God’s fatherhood, Christ’s divine sonship, and our brotherhood in Christ.
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Save more when you purchase this book as part of the Select Works of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI (21 vols.).
Key Features
- Offers a clear statement on the biblical grounds for cooperation among believing Christians
- Treats Christian brotherhood from the perspective of salvation history
- Establishes the Christian sense of brotherhood
Contents
- The Idea of Brotherhood Before and Outside Christianity
- The Development of the Idea of Brotherhood in Early Christianity
- The Basis of Christian Brotherhood: Faith
- The Removal of Barriers Within the Brotherhood of Christians
- The Limits of the Brotherly Community
- True Universalism
Top Highlights
“‘To become a Christian means to become incorporated in the Son, in Christ, so that we become ‘sons in the Son’” (Page xiv)
“Brotherhood with Christ is founded here not, as before, on the freely chosen community of will and conviction, but on the community of lowliness and suffering.” (Page 28)
“Brother’, for Paul, is the natural name of one’s Christian fellow believer, and we find it in a great many texts.” (Page 31)
“In place of the national barrier we now have the spiritual barrier between faith and unbelief” (Page 33)
“brotherhood did not depend merely on common racial descent, but on common election by God” (Page 7)
Praise for the Print Edition
The timely republication of this work opens up vistas that have been obscured recently by controversy and confusion. Cardinal Ratzinger’s treatment of election and rejection is like reading the surprising solution of a mystery story. This work is even more meaningful now when disunity leads to deep conflict within the Church.
—Benedict J. Groeschel, founder, The Office for Spiritual Development, Archdiocese of New York
Highly commended as a synthesis of ecumenism. It explains the author’s lifelong emphasis on what unites the followers of Christ, rather than what divides them as ‘separated brethren.’ With no compromise of Catholic principles, it explains how ‘the two communities—Catholic and Protestant’ are to ‘regard each other as sisters in the Lord . . . and individual Christians on both sides as brothers to each other.’
—John Hardon, author, The Catholic Catechism
Having read this book many times, I have found it to be invaluable in understanding the message of Scripture, the significance of the Catholic Church and Ratzinger’s theology. He has captured the very heart and soul of Scripture.
—Scott Hahn, author, Catholic for a Reason
Product Details
- Title: Meaning of Christian Brotherhood
- Author: Joseph Ratzinger
- Publisher: Ignatius Press
- Publication Date: 1993
- Pages: 115
- Christian Group: Catholic
- Resource Type: Monographs
- Topic: Ecclesiology
