The unity of the nations : a vision of the church fathers / Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) ; translated by Boniface Ramsey.

Author
Benedict XVI, Pope, 1927-2022 [Browse]
Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, [2015]
Description
xii, 122 pages ; 18 cm

Availability

Available Online

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks BR115.P7 R42613 2015 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    "What did ancient Christians and pagans believe makes the unity of the nations? Just as he began serving as a major adviser at the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) studied this question in lectures delivered at Austria's University of Salzburg. These lectures, originally published in German, are now made available in English in this volume. Ratzinger explores the writings of early Church fathers, including Origen and Augustine, as well as that of other authors from the ancient world such as Plato. He argues that Christian belief took up political ideas from pagan Rome but revolutionized them by insisting that it was not the empire, but the presence of God through the Church, that is the true "cosmopolis" that can unify divided humanity. This book showcases the development of Ratzingher's theology, including themes that have informed his life's work, such as how God's transcendence and the doctrine of creation inform a Christian worldview, and the central role of the Incarnation in understanding how the Church relates to the world."--Publisher's description.
    Notes
    Translated from the German.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
    Language note
    Translated from the German.
    Contents
    • Foreword to the German edition / Mona Müry-Leitner
    • The intellectual and spiritual background of the question
    • The heritage of antiquity
    • The biblical background
    • The conflict with gnosticism
    • The fathers' vision of the unity of the peoples
    • The Christian gnosis of Origen
    • The meaning of national identity in Origen
    • The place of the church
    • Augustine's debate with Rome's political theology
    • The rejection of Rome's political theology
    • The starting point for the Augustinian theology of the political
    • The theological use of the Old Testament and of Roman history
    • The place of the church in history.
    ISBN
    • 9780813227238 ((pbk. ; : alk. paper))
    • 0813227232 ((pbk. ; : alk. paper))
    LCCN
    2014043405
    OCLC
    900032793
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