Quantity:

Express Checkout with PayPhrase

What's this? | Create PayPhrase

More Buying Choices

56 used & new from $3.52

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share with Friends

See all product images
See 1 customer image

Share your own customer images

Search inside this book

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Truth And Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions (Paperback)

~ (Author), Henry Taylor (Translator) "I wrote this piece in 1963, for the Festschrift published in 1964 on the occasion of Karl Rahner's sixtieth birthday; 1 it was then reprinted..." (more)
Key Phrases: religio vera, question about truth, cultural agent, Old Testament, Jesus Christ, New York (more...)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

List Price:	$17.95
Price:	$12.21 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save:	$5.74 (32%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Monday, November 16? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

25 new from $6.81 31 used from $3.52

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions

by Philip Novak

4.2 out of 5 stars (12) $11.86

Introduction To Christianity (Communio Books)

by Pope Benedict XVI

4.9 out of 5 stars (29) $13.64

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume 2 : The Everlasting Man, St. Francis of Assisi, St Thomas Aquinas

by G. K. Chesterton

5.0 out of 5 stars (4) $18.45

In the Beginning...: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall (Resourcement)

by Pope Benedict XVI

4.5 out of 5 stars (17) $9.36

Many Religions, One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World

by Pope Benedict XVI

4.3 out of 5 stars (12) $10.36

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Is truth knowable? If we know the truth, must we hide it in the name of tolerance? Cardinal Ratzinger engages the problem of truth, tolerance, religion and culture in the modern world. Describing the vast array of world religions, Ratzinger embraces the difficult challenge of meeting diverse understandings of spiritual truth while defending the Catholic teaching of salvation through Jesus Christ. "But what if it is true?" is the question that he poses to cultures that decry the Christian position on man's redemption. Upholding the notion of religious truth while asserting the right of religious freedom, Cardinal Ratzinger outlines the timeless teaching of the Magisterium in language that resonates with our embattled culture. A work of extreme sensitivity, understanding, and spiritual maturity, this book is an invaluable asset to those who struggle to hear the voice of truth in the modern religious world.

"Beyond all particular questions, the real problem lies in the question about truth. Can truth be recognized? Or, is the question about truth simply inappropriate in the realm of religion and belief? But what meaning does belief then have, what positive meaning does religion have, if it cannot be connected with truth?"

—Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger From the Preface

Product Details

Paperback: 284 pages
Publisher: Ignatius Press (October 31, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 158617035X
ISBN-13: 978-1586170356
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 1 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,968 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Pope Benedict XVI Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
I wrote this piece in 1963, for the Festschrift published in 1964 on the occasion of Karl Rahner's sixtieth birthday; 1 it was then reprinted in the volume published by my former students for my seventieth birthday, which offered a representative selection from my work.2 Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
religio vera, question about truth, cultural agent

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Testament, Jesus Christ, New York, New Age, Church Fathers, New Testament, Ten Commandments, Gregory the Great, Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Near East, Der Mensch, Einzigkeit Jesu Christi, Gott-Die Frage, Ignatius Press, Johannes Verlag, Orbis Books, San Francisco, Theologische Revue, Vom Geheimnis, Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, Die Methode, Die Religionen, Risen One, Romano Guardini

New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 36 books:

An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent by John Hick on page 121, and page 123
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis on page 184, and page 185
The Screwtape letters by C. S Lewis on page 184, and page 185
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis on page 184, and page 185
Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism by Jacques Dupuis on page 52, and page 73

See all 36 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Faith Seeking Understanding by Daniel L. Migliore

Discusses:

Ecclesia by Christopher O'Donnell

Discusses:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	87% buy the item featured on this page: Truth And Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions 4.6 out of 5 stars (16) $12.21
	5% buy Introduction To Christianity (Communio Books) 4.9 out of 5 stars (29) $13.64
	3% buy Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam 4.3 out of 5 stars (19) $11.92
	3% buy Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures 5.0 out of 5 stars (6) $10.17

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

catholic(15)

catholicism(11)

christianity(9)

ratzinger(7)

theology(7)

pope benedict xvi(6)

ratzinger benedict xvi(3)

comparative religion(2)

culture(2)

pope(2)

tolerance(2)

See all 21 tags...

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

146 of 162 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is truth and why does it matter?, January 31, 2005

By	Glutton for books - See all my reviews

I bought "Truth and Tolerance Christian Belief and World Religions," because I thought that since it was written by Cardinal Ratzinger, who is Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in Rome, that it would be an articulation of the Catholic Church's position in regards to the relevancy of other religions for helping people along the path of salvation. If that is what you are looking for, don't buy this book, because it does not focus on this type of doctrine and will not help you. Franicis Sullivan's book "Salvation Outside the Church," is probably still the best book on that subject, even though it is mor than ten years old and many papers have been presented by the Vatican since its publication. This book instead explores the role of what an individual's concept of truth should play in society.

By "truth," Ratzinger refers to the values that an individual holds as reference when making decisions. He states that "heaven begins on Earth." And he does not confine the people who are able to realize "truth" to Christians, nor even only believers in any sort of Divinity; agnostics and atheists are capable of this discernment to a degree too.

Being Christian, he believes that Christianity embodies truth in the fullest sense; that God is love and we are all called to know God as love and to spread His love. But he admits that no approach is perfect, since only God is capable of perfect knowledge of truth and love, and people are unable to understand God perfeclty. He concedes that Christianity has been susceptible to "diseases" in the past, such as the mentality that allowed to Crusaders to shed so much blood in Jerusalem.

The book is not an easy read. It is very philosophical and written in a style that is a cross between a philosophical text book and legal writing. The first section of the book briefly outlines and seeks to categorize different approaches of faith. The majority of the essays are from lectures that he has given, and the thoughts are not outlined as clearly as they are in most works presented as papers.

First, he outlines three ways of moving beyond myths, which have been observed in human history as schools of faith: mysticism, monotheistic revolution, and enlightenment.

Monotheism is further divided into three models: spiritual monism of India, universal Christianity, and Islam. I am not quite sure why or if he decided that Islam's approach is separate from Judaism, in the model. Judaism's place is not well articulated. Islam is introduced as having a different concept than universal Christianity because Islam believes itself to be the final revelation "beyond Judaism and Christianity;" and that there is one God. But Christianity believes in a Trinity. According to this logic, I would think Judaism would be closer to Islam. Perhaps, it is the finiteness of the plan that leaves Islam unto itself. The model is not mentioned again, ad this was the biggest lack of clarity I found in the book. It did not impact my comprehension of the rest of the book, because the book is a collection of related topics, rather than a study based on incrementally important chapters.

Next, he discusses a little bit about approaches universal Christianity used as frameworks for validating (or invalidating) the elements of truth that are inherent in religions. These include: inclusivist, exclusivist, and pluralism approaches.

He spends much time defining the terms he talks about, which makes the book dry, but for the persevering reader, deeper insight is introduced for concepts such as truth, democracy, freedom, and responsibility; words that have become over used and empty by society at large, in the second part of the book.

An individual or society's collection of religious beliefs are referenced in the word "truth." He posits that people who have more freedom, have more responsibility to make decisions with reference to truth in their life, in order to make the world a better place. He does not believe that it is possible to create a utopia, but that we actively seek to make the world better in relative to its current state.

The book occasionally mentions Christian teaching, but not any more often than it pulls from examples of Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, as well as from philosphers such as Platao, Socrates, Aristotle, Hegel, Kant, Marx, and many others. He empasizes the importance of not only reading "empty philosphy," but to study the issues that matter in life: such as concepts of truth that explore the meaning of life and that help us to better discern the consequences of our decisons. Rather than promote any one perspective of values, Ratzinger uses the book to exhort the reader to acknowledge whatever values s/he has that are true and to implement them in society to improve the world, with as much freedom as our lives give us the ability to do.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

81 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The philosophy of the new pope, April 20, 2005

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book by Cardinal Ratzinger, the new pope Benedict XVI, is an exploration of the philosophy of religion. As such, it is an important guide to the philosophical underpinnings of the theological statements made by Ratzinger while he was Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (one of the 'high offices' of the cardinals in the Vatican), and the kinds of philosophical guidelines he is likely to follow in the future.

He explores the construct of religion and religious truth from an historical perspective, drawing from three primary strands - ancient mysticism, the development of monotheism, and the Enlightenment. What we in the West live in today is a post-Enlightenment world, with monotheistic tendency in religion, with continuing strands of mysticism that often impact society in unpredictable and uncomfortable ways.

With regard to monotheism, he explores through different religious traditions the way in which this concept can be played out in culture. In terms of the Enlightenment, he explores philosophical antecedents in Plato and Aristotle carrying forward through the Phenomenologists of the early twentieth century. This is where Ratzinger's academic strength lies - in philosophy and theology.

Ratzinger also looks at the different ways in which Christian perspectives of the idea of philosophical and theological truth are seen in other religions, including perspectives can lead to the idea of the anonymous Christian (a Rahner-ian concept, often termed inclusive or pluralistic, depending upon the details), as well as an exclusivity standpoint - this is not where Ratzinger ultimately comes down in terms of philosophy.

This book is derived from lectures and sermons, it is clear. There are times when it seems to be survey, and times when it seems to be more argumentative/persuasive. Because it is an academic text, it provides a broader range than a papal encyclical might, but it is still a good resource for exploring the insights of the man now Pope Benedict XVI.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on Theology and truth of Christianity!, June 20, 2005

By	Richard C. Woodhouse "woodhouse43" (Bradford, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I wanted to write a short review of this very good book by the new Pope. I am a Protestant Christian, but I have benefitted much from some Catholic Scholars. Ratzinger, being one of them. I think his book on Escatology, written in the late 70's, is one of the best on the subject. This book is top notch as well. He is a very pursuasive thinker, in my opinion, and his grasp of the Philosophy of Religion, is better than most. The book is pretty academic at times, but I found that I could not put it down. He knows what the heart of the Christian Revelation is, and is confident it the truth of it. I recommend the book. I think he will be a good pope. Thats my prayer anyways. Rick Woodhouse Bradford PA USA

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 16 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Evangelical Leader Returns to Catholicism
May 5, 2007-- The president of the Evangelical Theological Society, Francis J. Beckwith, announced that he has returned to the Catholic Church.
From the Wash. Read more

Published on August 3, 2007 by Mamluk Man

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Our Times.
In an age of multiculturalism and moral relativity and diversities of religions, this book analyses the place of truth and Christianity in the world in our confused times. Read more

Published on June 11, 2007 by Woodland Poet

5.0 out of 5 stars A Nice Presentation of The Ratzinger's (Benedict XVI) Actual Opinion!
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) published the `controversial' document, "Dominus Iesus: On The Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the... Read more

Published on May 24, 2007 by D. Horan

5.0 out of 5 stars Ratzinger Shines on a Popular Modern Theological Topic
The matters covered in this book are sundry by its very nature. For that reason, I will not attempt to completely outline the work. Read more

Published on July 6, 2006 by Matthew K. Minerd

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this 'German Shepherd'
This book should be read by anyone who wonders why the Church insists that truth is not relative... Ratzinger [now Benedict XVI] makes a strong case for the following:
1... Read more

Published on April 6, 2006 by geridoc

5.0 out of 5 stars doing his job
Lucky for us that the lord has kept perfect vision to himself.
Seeing truly clearly is his alone. Read more

Published on March 1, 2006 by family man

5.0 out of 5 stars "What is truth?"
When Cardinal Ratzinger was elected Pope, many people - Catholics and non-Catholics alike - struggled for an understanding of the man. Read more

Published on December 3, 2005 by Steven K. Szmutko

4.0 out of 5 stars An in depth look at the Pope's views and logic
I will not take up your time to repeat what has been written by others, but to agree that this book is not a leisure-time project. Read more

Published on October 17, 2005 by tjpawleys

5.0 out of 5 stars Foreshadows Pope B16's teachings on Truth
This is an exceptional and exceptionally clear work that covers a complex and sensitive topic: The Truth of Christianity. Read more

Published on August 30, 2005 by S. C. Phelan

2.0 out of 5 stars Intresting but not an easy book to understand
After reading this book, its obvious the Pope is very intelligent, has deep thoughts about religions place in the modern world, and has a huge vocabulary. Read more

Published on August 28, 2005 by David M

› See all 16 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
religion To date no one has produced any evidence that proves God does not exist.	4656	4 seconds ago
christianity Sin of Sins (The Remix)	4779	6 seconds ago
christianity Can you please tell me why Homosexuality is accepted with our society? I need to understand it more clearly... (NO HARM INTENDED)	1116	15 seconds ago
religion Why is it that religious zealots who protest abortion are also the first to want to give the needle in executions?	162	3 minutes ago
catholic Are there Catholic Accounts of Near Death Experiences?	17	1 hour ago
textbook textbook scam	68	2 hours ago
religious studies Cleric - the ultimate non-job in the world?	12	14 hours ago