Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Overview
Ratzinger, one of the key persons responsible for the compilation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, offers new insights on the catechetical character and Biblical foundation of the worldwide bestselling Catechism that has had such a positive response from ordinary Catholics across the globe. But he acknowledges that the response of many theologians and “professional religionists” has been negative toward the Catechism.
He says that if theologians don’t want to be “shut out” of this worldwide development of sensus fidei and lose touch with the common Catholic, they will have to engage the Catechism positively. The main purpose of this book is to offer an invitation to this changed approach to the Catechism. He wants people to see, as he shows here, how the Catechism is an excellent teaching tool that responds to man’s deepest questions about the meaning of life, how to live a good life, and how to attain happiness in this life and in eternal life. He shows how the Catechism affirms that man’s happiness is love, and that the essence of true love has been manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.
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Key Features
- Offers new insights on the character and Biblical foundation of the Catechism
- Argues that theologians need to engage the Catechism positively
- Offers an invitation to a new approach to the Catechism
Contents
- What Can We Expect from a Catechism of the Catholic Church?
- On the Meaning of Faith
- Evangelization, Catechesis and Catechism
- Jesus of Nazareth, Israel and Christianity: Their Relation and Their Mission according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Concluding Remarks on the Common Task of Christians and Jews for the World
Top Highlights
“Faith is an orientation of our existence as a whole” (Page 25)
“No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life.” (Page 26)
“faith is an obedience ‘from the heart to the form of doctrine into which you were handed over’ (Rom 6:17” (Pages 29–30)
“Faith cannot be presupposed; it must be proposed. This is the purpose of the Catechism. It aims to propose the faith in its fullness and wealth, but also in its unity and simplicity.” (Page 24)
“The word of faith first enters the mind, but it cannot stay there: thought must always become word and deed again” (Page 31)
Praise for the Print Edition
This modern Father of the Church offers us a rare insight into how the Catechism was written and, therefore, how it ought to be interpreted. It is eminently readable while never sacrificing precision of thought or language.
—Peter M. J. Stravinskas, editor of The Catholic Answer
Product Details
- Title: Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Author: Joseph Ratzinger
- Translator: Adrian Walker
- Publisher: Ignatius Press
- Publication Date: 1997
- Pages: 101
- Christian Group: Catholic
- Resource Type: Monographs
- Topic: Creedsd, Councils, Confessions, and Catechisms
About Joseph Ratzinger
Joseph Ratzinger is one of the most revered Catholic prelates, scholars, theologians, teachers, and authors of our time. He has spoken on many crucial subjects, including sexual consumerism, roles of men and women today, marriage, the priesthood, and the future of the world. On June 29, 1951, Joseph Ratzinger was ordained to the priesthood in the Cathedral of Freising on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. He also received his doctorate in theology in 1953 from the University of Munich. Starting in 1959, Ratzinger taught theology at the University of Bonn.
After many years of teaching at several German universities, Ratzinger was appointed by Pope Paul VI as Archbishop of Munich and Freising in March 1977, and was elevated to cardinal in June 1977. In November 1981, Ratzinger was summoned by Pope John Paul II to Rome, where he was named Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and President of the International Theological Commission.
On April 19, 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to be the 265th pope. He took the name Benedict XVI, after St. Benedict of Nursia. As pope, he received worldwide respect and was a spiritual influence to Christians and non-Christians alike. In 2013, he resigned the papacy, becoming the first pope to do so in since the fifteenth century. He retired to a monastery in the Vatican Gardens, where he continues to study and write.