Can you understand Pope Benedict's writing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter goodcatholic
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
G

goodcatholic

Guest
I’ve given it a few goes (Pope Benedict -Essential Writings)and I must say he is heavy going. He strikes me as an intellectual heavyweight. So I guess I’m punching above my weight to try and understand him.
I know he has a big disdain for relativism. But trying to wade through his point of view is like going back to University, only harder. 🙂
Could you recommend any of his writing that is more accessible? I really want to understand this guy better. I suspect one reason Pope Francis is more popular is because he is easier to understand. I mean I like both Popes. I think if one has a better understanding of Pope Benedict, one can really understand the conservative view of the Church as a whole. The Catholic Church can come across as a real stick in the mud. Obstinate. Stubborn. But if we can really understand what they are trying to get across, how much they care about the truth, we can be more receptive.
 
JP2 may be a good intersection of the two- accessible, yet scholarly…
In God’s Hands, a printed version of his diary going back to the days before he was a cardinal, is an amazing look into his theology and devotion.

One of the big differences between B and F is their education, and as a result, their theological and pastoral styles.
 
Last edited:
Maximilian75 said:
One of the big differences between B and F is their education, and as a result, their theological and pastoral styles.
Click to expand...
I mean Francis is no lightweight, intellectually either.(Jesuits are renowned?) Just his communication style is more personable.
 
The only thing I’ve read of Benedict is his The Spirit of the Liturgy. It is dense but I’ve found that this book is the perfect combination of intellectualism and clarity. It is by no means an easy read but it is clear (if that makes any sense).

One gets a better appreciation of the liturgy thanks to the book. And some little known facts as well.
 
I’ve read a few things from before and after he became pope. I find that his writing became more accessible after becoming pope. Probably because of the bigger audience.

I recommend his Jesus of Nazareth series.
 
I’ve come to read Pope Benedict’s writings easier than in the past.

Don’t ask me why, other than I just wasn’t ready for his works.

Currently, I’m reading the 2nd Volume of Jesus of Nazareth, as part of my Lent readings.

This is my 2nd time reading this work, and enjoy it very much.

Jim
 
No of course +Francis is no idiot, but +Benedict is in a class of his own as a scholar and theologian. He also is fluent in like 8 or 9 languages…
 
twf said:
Benedict is in a class of his own as a scholar
Click to expand...
That’s the problem.
I wonder if I made myself hard to understand, would people respect me more? (no disrespect to Pope Benedict of course)
 
Pope Benedict and St. JPII are very profound thinkers. IMO, Francis not so much. St. JPII’s specialty was philosophy and Pope Benedict’s is theology. I find St. JPII too difficult to understand.

Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth books Vols. 1 and 2 are excellent and very understandable. I’ve read both of them twice and am looking forward to reading them again. His book about the Liturgy is very popular and so are the books of his interviews. His earlier Introduction to Christianity is dense and difficult but if you read it slowly and meditatively, it’s very rewarding.
 
Thanks. You are the third person to recommend these volumes. I will surely follow up.
 
Perhaps start with his Jesus of Nazareth trilogy fist, and after gaining a flavor, spread out to other works…i find him brilliant but easy to digest.
 
Recently I have read some of Joseph Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict’s) writings and I agree it is tough going. I thought I was pretty smart, having a good grasp of the Catechism and various letters from the Vatican, things like that, but now I have been humbled.

Around Christmas, I read God Is Near Us, a collection of his homilies about the Eucharist, the Incarnation, the Body of Christ, and the Resurrection. While reading it, I find it rather inspiring, but an hour later, I am lucky if I remember 5 percent of it.

I took a break from that to read Fr. James Martin’s book, Jesus – A Pilgrimage. I have only just started it, but I can tell you that Martin’s informal, anecdotal style is a bit of a switch, kind of hard for me to handle immediately following Ratzinger.

This Lent I am hoping to read Ratzinger/Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth, Part 2: Holy Week. That will be my first entry into his Jesus of Nazareth works.
 
Last edited:
goodcatholic said:
I’ve given it a few goes (Pope Benedict -Essential Writings)and I must say he is heavy going. He strikes me as an intellectual heavyweight.
Click to expand...
He is one of the greatest theological minds of the Church from the time of the Council – when he was the peritus of Cardinal Frings to the present moment.

He is no less formidable when he speaks. You can raise a topic with him and he will pause just a few instants and then proceed to answer you in paragraphs that he has delineated in his mind. It is quite a remarkable thing to experience, even if you are yourself a theologian.
 
I find Benedict much easier to read and comprehend than JPII. Very Germanic logic and clarity. I would start with Deus Caritas Est.
 
I think you’re right. Pope Benedict is a heavy weight and is quite humble in his writing, but his writing does consistently and courageously point to the idea that God is knowable but He is “really really big!”. He gives his all to tell us that whatever our understanding of God is it’s puny BUT but that it’s absolutely good and necessary that we continue to try to understand Him. It’s NOT a waste of time. It’s in this struggle that each of us will come to know both God and ourselves to the full limit of our capability.

Pope Francis is focused on explaining why humans are so weak and bad, and are saved only terminally by God. He’s not a big believer in the operation of grace in the here and now. People really can’t change even with God’s grace. It may happen but it’s really not worth counting on.
 
Last edited:
Edward_H said:
consistently and courageously point to the idea that God is knowable but He is “really really big!”. He gives his all to tell us that whatever our understanding of God is it’s puny BUT but that it’s absolutely good and necessary that we continue to try to understand Him. It’s NOT a waste of time. It’s in this struggle that each of us will come to know both God and ourselves to the full limit of our capability.
Click to expand...
That is one of the most profound posts I’ve read in a while. Thank you so much.
 
If you liked that look into “Liturgy and Personality” by von Hildebrand. It’s a good pairing.
 
The difficulty is that they stand on the shoulders of others as a sort of assumed context or shorthand.

Hence, just by the choice of a certain word or a certain phrase an educated reader knows they are referring to boiler-plate views by Aristotle or Aquinas or Augustine or a favourite view of Plato or Socrates for instance.

So if you have not been educated in these other guys and their systems all that is lost on you and all you have to go on is “shorthand” words and phrases which in themselves are pretty meaningless for a newbie.

I remember once reading Pope Benedict on his works on conscience. He mentioned the word anamnesis, almost as an afterthought. Bingo I suddenly understood his whole article and what his guiding intuition was.

Anamnesis is not simply a part of the Mass. It represents an obscure but favourite saying of Socrates which I knew from my philosophy days - all knowledge is but a remembering.

This is how great minds work.
Its not simply smarts, its encylopaedic referencing/indexing as they write.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top