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Principles of Catholic Theology: Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology

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A fine piece of work describing the Church's efforts to create a clear line of truth between the extremes of traditionalists and reformers. There is something here to irritate any school; Ratzinger is not the firm one-sided hand he has been portrayed as in the popular press. Read it and elevate your learning and faith.

This collection of essays covers the formal principles of the Christian faith (its structure and content), the proper relationship between Scripture and tradition, faith and history, the Church and the churches, the Church and the world, and most fundamentally, God and the world. In so doing, Ratzinger provides a model for pursuing the theological science. Although I am not a Roman Catholic, I found his insights into the Christian faith to be profound, his questions to the Protestant tradition to be piercing, and his emphasis on truth to be refreshing.

If you want to understand Ratzinger's presuppositions and way of thinking, this is the book. For Ratzinger, it is impossible to understand the Christian faith without understanding its communal context. The one who confesses Christ only does so in community--the "I" of the creeds is really the expression of the corporate nature of the Church. The Christian joins this community through baptism, the explication of which marks the highpoint of these essays. "Being baptized means entering into a communion of name with him who is the Name and thus becoming, more truly than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the attribute of God. From this perspective it is now obvious that baptism is the inception of resurrection, inclusion in the name of God and, by the same token, in the indestructible aliveness of God (31-32)." Here, as in other works, Ratzinger labors to demonstrate that God is truth and that truth is life, a life which is only available in the community of the Church and the joyful continuing conversion of penance in her.

The section on Scripture and tradition is not quite as articulate as his essay in "Revelation and Tradition", but still introduces the reader to his position. His thoughts on faith and history provide a cogent attempt to hold together history and truth in a way that theology has often failed to do. The section on ecumenism succeeds particularly well in raising the question of the identity of the partners in ecumenical discussion. Whereas the Roman Catholics have official ecclesial dogmas, it is not clear whether Protestants bring church dogma or their individual theologies to the table.

Ratzinger's treatments of Christian education, experience and wisdom were insightful, but not groundbreaking, as was his evaluation of Vatican II. All in all, "insightful but not groundbreaking" accurately describes the work as a whole, a statement I think Ratzinger would take as a compliment as he does not labor to discover "new" knowledge of God, but to interpret the truth for today's world: "To seek it without distraction and to dare to accept, with joyful heart and without diminution, the foolishness of truth--this, I think, is the task for today and for tomorrow: the true nucleus of the Church's service to the world, her answer to "the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time" (393, quoting the first words of "Gaudium et spes").

This volume should grace the shelf of every serious student of theology especially if you really want to understand the historical contexts from which it arose as well as an honest evaluation of it.

This work deals with infant baptism, Vatican II and the priesthood, and the ecumenical mission of the Church In foundational ways in order to give the lay student ability to weigh popular catholic apologists and decide for themselves.

The distinguished cardinal certainly puts forth in this tome an exhibit of his broad search of theology and his immersion in the academia of his faith at the highest levels.

What struck me significantly in the read was the obvious priority given to philosophical analysis. Ratzinger even acknowledges this in the included address given in honor of Cardinal Volk: "If theology has to do primarily with God, if its ultimate and proper theme is not salvation history or Church or community but simply God,then it must think in philosophical terms."

Although philosophy to be sure has its place in the world of theology (apologetics and evangelism) it certainly is not to be central to theological formulation. Church history is replete with the trainwrecks of faith that have flowed out of theologians majoring in philosophy.

The section where he debates the apolostolic church was one in this work which was rare in that it focused primarily on Scripture arguments rather than philosophical spins.

He certainly demonstrates an active and precise mind and writing style. At times it is difficult to follow, given our differences in theological circles. However, it must be said that his critiques of Luther are partial illumination of what the Reformer said, e.g. on church and where it could be found. He does not clearly state Luther's central tenet that church is where the pure gospel is preached and the Sacraments administered according to the gospel.

His constant insistence upon tradition and succession becomes mute when only the persistent philosophical bents are offered as primary assurance.