Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny, 2023, R. 31, Nr 2

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A Call to Authentic Discipleship: Pope Benedict XVI., Kierkegaard and Entweltlichung
Gaál, Emery de (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
The article pursues the aim of demonstrating that both Pope Benedict XVI and Søren Kierkegaard call for genuine Christian discipleship. They apprehend in Christianity ever anew the danger of a bourgeois accommodation of the Christian gospel to the prevalent Zeitgeist. In the first part of this article the author presented the views of Kierkegaard, for whom threat comes from the state-established Danish Lutheran Church. The second part of the article discusses the viewpoint of Joseph Ratzinger. In his opinion, the threat may also come from a close relationship between Christianity and the state. The real danger in the 20th century was graver than that in 19th century Denmark. It comes from secularised Christology, from emphasis being put on the humanity of Jesus which ignores His divine personhood and nature. The last part of the article draws attention to the essential differences between the approaches adopted by both thinkers and the solutions proposed by them, which, however, only accentuated the greatness of these intellectuals. In his own words, Kierkegaard will always remain “a little pinch of cinnamon.” In contrast to the Danish radical Christian, by writing seminal texts from within the wisdom of the ever self-same Catholic Church, Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, especially on account of his Jesus of Nazareth trilogy, inaugurates à la longue an epochal Christocentric shift. Assuredly, posterity will honour him with the title “Doctor of the Church.”
Augustine and “the Pure in Heart” in Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth
Wright, William M. IV (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
This essay examines Benedict XVI’s treatment in his Jesus of Nazareth trilogy of the purification of the heart as leading to a manner of seeing and knowing of God, a treatment which follows an Augustinian interpretation of the beatitude: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt 5:8). Benedict’s account is much indebted to Augustine’s theological epistemology, the main elements of which he outlines in his early writings. After setting forth the main elements of Ratzinger’s analysis of Augustine’s theological epistemology, the essay examines the three places in Jesus of Nazareth where Benedict discusses purification of the heart in Augustinian terms and in relation to Matt 5:8: his interpretations of the “pure in heart” beatitude, the Footwashing, and the Father-Son saying in Matt 11:25–27. With Augustine, Benedict speaks of the purification of the heart as God’s action which he works in people by the gifts of faith and love. Benedict emphasizes the place of the believers’ spiritual communion with Jesus in this graced process of purification.
Il mistero della Trinità secondo Joseph Ratzinger/ Benedetto XVI
Kowalczyk, Dariusz (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s reflection on the Holy Trinity does not contain any ideas or expressions that could possibly take on a theological “career,” such as Karl Rahner’s fundamental axiom. Nevertheless, Ratzinger’s Trinitarian theology, with the points of reference he made and accents he suggested, forms an original synthesis. In the first section the author of this article accentuates that Ratzinger in his reflection on God often refers to the divine name revealed in the history of salvation. It is precisely the “name,” a synonym of a personal relation, that distinguishes faith in God from a philosophy of God. Ultimately, God revealed His name in three names: He Who Is—Father, Son, and the Spirit. The second section explains that Ratzinger considers the formula “una essentia tres personae” a paradox that expresses the unity of the absolute and the relative, the unity and the diversity. Thus, the truth of the Trinity reveals God, but also the whole of creation, which is a unity in diversity. The Trinitarian heresies grew precisely from the desire to eliminate a paradox that seemed to be a contradiction. However, the paradox present in theology is also present in the sciences, which is further clarified in section three. By way of an example one may point out the wave-like and corpuscular structure of reality that physics examines. In the last section the author insists that the whole of revelation is summed up in the words: “God is love,” which means that “God is not a solitude but a perfect community,” a Trinitarian community. Ratzinger points out that the New Testament does not speak of God as God “in himself,” but of God in a kenotic relation to someone: “God and Father of Jesus.” Even the Holy Spirit, who does not show us his face but hides himself under images of a dove, fire, wind is always the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. Thus, God is eternally the Trinitarian “being-with” and “being-for,” which is an invitation and a challenge for every Christian and for the Church.
Joseph Ratzinger: Evangelical Ecumenist or How to Argue. With a Traditional Protestant Over the Immaculate Conception
Perry, Tim (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
This paper presents a trend among some traditional Protestant theologians to regard Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI as a sympathetic fellow-traveller and ecumenical dialogue partner, focusing on his implementation of the texts of the Second Vatican Council throughout his career, his unique approach to ecumenical dialogue, and his biblical focus when defending the Immaculate Conception in Daughter Zion. His robust Catholic commitment coupled with his thoughtful canonical exegesis makes him a valuable dialogue partner with those Protestants who have similar ecclesial and theological commitments on the other side of the Reformation.
Placing Joseph Ratzinger within the “Synthetic” Tradition of the Theological Anthropology of the Heart
McGregor, Peter John (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
This article begins with a chronological outline of the two main “traditions” of understanding the heart: the “analytic” tradition which treats the heart as a particular faculty of the human person, and the “synthetic” tradition which treats it as in some way transcending a particular faculty. Then, it looks at the contemporary search for a theological anthropology of the heart. Following this, it examines Joseph Ratzinger’s theological anthropology of the heart. More specifically, it looks at this understanding as found in his commentary on Gaudium et Spes, his assessment of the patristic understanding of the heart, and as revealed in his Jesus of Nazareth and Mary: The Church at the Source. Then, it investigates his symbolic theology of the Father’s heart, followed by how both the human heart and the Father’s heart are revealed in the heart of Jesus. It concludes with a few thoughts on how a synthetic theological anthropology of the heart might assist us in healing our contemporary anthropological disintegration.
The Renewed Christocentric Synthesis in Joseph Ratzinger’s. Logos-centric Symphony
Millare, Roland (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
This article aims to present Joseph Razinger’s Christocentric approach to the question of the relation between faith and reason. Modernity introduces the separation between faith and reason, which results in the limitation of reason and the subordination of logos to ethos. This disunity, however, between faith and reason and the primacy of the ethos over logos affects the nature and mission of theology. In contrast to the loss of the integrative harmony between faith and reason, Joseph Ratzinger argues for the distinction and unity between faith and reason built upon the primacy of logos and a Christocentric approach. The author also intends to prove that although Ratzinger describes his theology as “fragmentary” and “incomplete,” he has gifted the Church with a renewed theological symphony that flourishes only in conjunction with the gift of faith working in concert with reason. In Ratzinger’s view only faith can enable reason to overcome the self-imposed limitation developed by modern thinkers such as Immanuel Kant. Finally, the article will demonstrate that the crowning achievement of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI’s theology is the recognition of the primacy of love as embodied by the saints who are witnesses of the transformative power of knowing and loving Jesus, the Incarnate Logos.
Theology of the Word of God in the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini by Benedict XVI
Królikowski, Janusz (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
The theology of the word of God is one of the leitmotifs of Joseph Ratzinger’s entire theology, and in a way its culmination is the apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, which, although being the result of a collegial reflection on the word of God undertaken during the Synod of Bishops, also bears the unmistakable mark of Benedict XVI’s personal theological search and conviction. In this article, the author highlights the most crucial aspects, mainly of a dogmatic nature, of this problem read in the light of the exhortation Verbum Domini. In its first part, he explains the essence and specificity of the fact that „God speaks to man.” Rooted in God’s action on behalf of man, His word has a sacramental character. Complementing this sacramental dimension of God’s word is its close relationship with the action of the Holy Spirit, which influences the word’s transmission, writing and interpretation. In the next section of the article, the author discusses the transmission of the word of God. He also defines the action of the Holy Spirit in relation to the word of God. The third part of the paper deals with the response that might be given to God. The nature of the word of God demands, first of all, faith as a condition and way of understanding and living it both individually and communally. The analysis of individual points of the exhortation in relation to post-conciliar theology has made it possible to show the fundamental importance of the word of God in the life of every believer as well as the community of the Church.
Voice of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI in Defence of the Eucharist as a Propitiatory Sacrifice in the Context of the Catholic-Protestant Controversy
Froniewski, Jacek (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2023)
The article was inspired by the text Significatio della Comunione contained in Benedict XVI’s posthumously published book Che cos’è il cristianesimo. Quasi un testamento spirituale, which caused a considerable stir in ecumenical circles and was usually interpreted as an expression of the senior pope’s opinion about the impossibility of intercommunion with Protestants. The author tries to read the meaning of this text in a different way, considering it as Benedict XVI’s last voice in the theological discourse, giving inspiration for further research. The article consists of two main parts. The first part presents the theological background of the issue of the Mass as a propitiatory sacrifice in three dimensions relevant here: the biblical and theological basis, the essence of the Catholic-Protestant controversy in this regard, and the rapprochement on the path of contemporary ecumenical dialogue. The second section is a chronological overview of Ratzinger’s theological contribution to the resolution of this controversy from the 1960s to the end of his pontificate. Here we see that this theologian’s work is not only in the line of the theological avant-garde breaking the stereotypes of the thinking of the time of the Reformation split, but also has an original contribution to the search for a path toward Eucharistic communion. The peculiarity of Ratzinger’s theology here is, above all, a unique theological innovation drawing from fidelity to Tradition – there is no search for irenic shortcuts towards unity, but rather a diligent search for truth in the sources of Revelation, as summarized in the text mentioned at the beginning, published after his death.

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