The Nature and Mission of Theology

by Pope Benedict XVI

Publisher:

Ignatius

, 1995

Overview

As Cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger wrote this book in response to the dialogue going on today concerning theology and the clarification of its methods, its mission, and its limits, which he thinks has become urgent. Ratzinger states: “To do theology—as the Magisterium understands theology—it is not sufficient merely to calculate how much religion can reasonably be expected of man and to utilize bits and pieces of the Christian tradition accordingly. Theology is born when the arbitrary judgment of reason encounters a limit, in that we discover something which we have not excogitated ourselves but which has been revealed to us. For this reason, not every religious theory has the right to label itself as Christian or Catholic theology simply because it wishes to do so; whoever would lay claim to this title is obligated to accept as meaningful the prior given which goes along with it.”

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Key Features

• Foreword by the author
• Bibliographical references

Contents

Top Highlights

“This implies that theology is based upon a new beginning in thought which is not the product of our own reflection but has its origin in the encounter with a Word which always precedes us.¹⁵ We call the act of accepting this new beginning ‘conversion’. Because there is no theology without faith, there can be no theology without conversion.” (Page 57)

“The freedom for the truth and the freedom of the truth cannot exist without the acknowledgment and worship of the divine.” (Page 41)

“a church without theology impoverishes and blinds, while a churchless theology melts away into caprice.” (Page 48)

“Yet love for Christ and of one’s neighbor for Christ’s sake can enjoy stability and consistency only if its deepest motivation is love for the truth. This adds a new aspect to the missionary element: real love of neighbor also desires to give him the deepest thing man needs, namely, knowledge and truth. In the first part we took as our starting point the problem of death considered as the philosophical thorn in the side of faith. We then discovered in the second part that the God question, together with its universal claim, is the place of philosophy in theology. We can now add a third element: love, the center of Christian reality on which ‘depend the law and the prophets’, is at the same time eros for truth, and only so does it remain sound as agape for God and man.” (Page 27)

“Faith and theology differ in the same way as text and interpretation. Unity rests in faith, while theology is the domain of plurality.” (Page 93)

Product Details

• Title: The Nature and Mission of Theology
• Author: Joseph Ratzinger
• Translator: Adrian Walker
• Publisher: Ignatius
• Publication Date: 1995
• Pages: 130

About Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI was the 265th pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the head of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. A native of Bavaria, Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship.