Behold the Pierced One [Paperback]

Benedict XVI (Author), Joseph Harrison (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1986

Proceeding from the prayerful dialogue between Jesus and His Eternal Father, Ratzinger shows how one can only approach the mystery of the Heart of Christ through the imitation of his prayer.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (December 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898700876
• ISBN-13: 978-0898700879
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A former publishing executive, John F. Thornton is a literary agent and co-editor of Tongues of Angels, Tongues of Men: A Book of Sermons. He lives in New York City. Susan B. Varenne holds an M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is a New York City teacher and a freelance writer specializing in religion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blew My Mind, March 14, 2000

By 

Lawrence Effler Jr (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behold the Pierced One (Paperback)

I took this book on retreat with me and it blew my mind. My perspective on my faith increased many fold. However, this book is not for everyone. This is not a light, warm and fuzzy spiritually book. This is a book for scholars. Cardinal Ratzinger goes into some deep theology, but if you can hang in there with him, you'll get a much greater understanding of concepts such as original sin, the Eucharist, Jesus' prayer life, the Easter Mystery, etc. If you're ready to do the work for the spiritual ride of your life, buy it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful arsenal of insights, September 11, 2009

By 

CDS "C" (Boston,MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behold the Pierced One (Paperback)

A portion of this book was suggested as supplementary reading for a course I'm taking on Christology. However, when I finished reading the assigned section, I wasn't able to put the book down until I finished the entire thing. Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is an extremely gifted author, and this book is one of his best. In it he presents the person of Christ, not the watered down Christ of some biblical scholars, but Christ in His divinity and His majesty, Christ as the Church understands Him, Christ as He is. Gathered into this are the concept of man's relationship with God, and man's ultimate end. Along with the main There is a devotion on the Sacred Heart, and a beautiful section on communio which further fleshes these themes out. The book is completed by three powerful homilies given by Cardinal Ratzinger, which again recapitulate many of the themes previously covered. As the previous review noted, there are some challenging concepts and deep insights here, but if you take the time to understand them, the reward is rich indeed.