A fascinating and insightful volume collecting together the key writings of Joseph Ratzinger, some of them yet untranslated, from his youthful and more progressive writings, to his 'transition period' following his disillusionment with the aftermath of Vatican II, to his time as Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith down to 2005. The emphasis will be upon Joseph Ratzinger as 'private theologian', his many writings released in a personal capacity for such will chart the formation of and comment upon the official statements and texts released under his name in a more informative fashion than the simple inclusion of the formulaic 'official texts' themselves.
Following a section providing insight into the fundamental and systematic theological background and development of Joseph Ratzinger's thought, further thematic sections will also be included, for example, Joseph Ratzinger's writings on Ecclesiology, on Theology and the Role of Theologians, on the Eucharist, on Religious Pluralism, on Sacramental Theology, Ecumenism, on Truth, on the Contemporary Historical Era, on Magisterium and on Faith Morals etc.
The volume will open with an introductory essay charting the life and career, the achievements of and the controversies surrounding the new pope. Each reading will be prefaced by a brief introduction to its context and themes and will be followed by recommended further reading on its respective subject matter.
Joseph Ratzinger was Professor of theology at Munich and Regensburg before becoming head of the Congreation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Roman Catholic Church. He was elected Pope taking the name Benedict XVI in 2005.
Lieven Boeve is Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. As of August 1, 2014, he has been appointed the Director-General of the general office of Catholic Education in Flanders (Fundamental Theology). His research concerns theological epistemology, philosophical theology, truth in faith and theology, tradition development and hermeneutics. From 2005 till 2009 he served as president of the European Society for Catholic Theology.
He is the author of Interrupting Tradition. An Essay on Christian Faith in a Postmodern Context (2003), God Interrupts History. Theology in a Time of Upheaval (2007), Lyotard and Theology (2014) and Theology at the Crossroads of University, Church and Society (2016). He has co-edited various volumes, of which the most recent are: Questioning the Human: Toward a Theological Anthropology for the Twenty-First Century (2014) and The Normativity of History. Theological Truth and Tradition in the Tension between Church History and Systematic Theology (2016).
On September 17, 2015, the European Society for Catholic Theology awarded him the biennial prize for the best theological book of the past two years, for his monograph Lyotard and Theology.
'Gerard Mannion is the Amaturo Professor in Catholic Studies at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, where he is also a Senior Research Fellow of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He serves as chair of the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network (www.ei-research.net) and is editor of the Bloomsbury Series, Ecclesiological Investigations'
