In the Beginning...': A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall (Ressourcement: Retrieval and Renewal in Catholic Thought (RRRCT)) - Softcover

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal; Ramsey, Boniface

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802841066 ISBN 13: 9780802841063

Publisher: Eerdmans, 1995

Synopsis

In four superb homilies and a concluding essay, Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, provides a clear and inspiring exploration of the Genesis creation narratives.

While the stories of the world’s creation and the fall of humankind have often been subjected to reductionism of one sort or another ― literalists treat the Bible as a science textbook whereas rationalists divorce God from creation ― Ratzinger presents a rich, balanced Catholic understanding of these early biblical writings and attests to their enduring vitality.

Beginning each homily with a text selected from the first three chapters of Genesis, Ratzinger discusses, in turn, God the creator, the meaning of the biblical creation accounts, the creation of human beings, and sin and salvation; in the appendix he unpacks the beneficial consequences of faith in creation.

Expertly translated from German, these reflections set out a reasonable and biblical approach to creation. ‘In the Beginning . . .’ also serves as an excellent homiletic resource for priests and pastors.

About this title

About the Author

Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022), born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, served as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from April 2005 through February 2013. Before his papacy, he was Dean of the College of Cardinals, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and President of the International Theological Commission. An outstanding theologian and teacher, he was one of the founders, along with Hans Urs von Balthasar and Henri de Lubac, of the international Catholic journal Communio. He also enjoyed a distinguished teaching career at such universities as Tübingen and Regensburg in his home country of Germany.

From the Back Cover

While the stories of the vcreation of the world and of the fall of humankind have often given rise to conflict - fundamentalists twist the Bible into science and history while rationalists approach this issue by "divorcing God from creation" - Cardinal Ratzinger presents the Catholic middle ground between extremist positions in explaining the vitality of these early Old Testament writings.

Reviews

As the Vatican's Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger is responsible for public orthodoxy in Catholic faith and morals. The first four of his five sermons included here, which have been published in English (Our Sunday Visitor, 1986), originated as 1981 Lenten homilies given in Munich's cathedral to counter a modern abandonment of creation doctrine based on scripture. A fifth homily by a different translator augments this edition. Ratzinger's sermons treat God the creator, biblical creation accounts, creation of human beings, sin and salvation, and the consequences of faith on creation. The readable but challenging meditations attempt a balance between extremes of fundamentalism and rationalism and emphasize a unity between the Old and New Testaments. Notes are generally from German sources. Recommended for Catholic collections.
Anna Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802841066
• ISBN 13: 9780802841063
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112