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This needs to be dealt with to set the record straight. Some people will defend statements made by Pope Benedict XVI when he was simply the lowly Cardinal Josef Ratzinger.
Face it! Our beloved pope, like the Apostle Peter in his broken humanity, made statements that, frankly, are antithetical to the Gospel as proclaimed by the “Christ of the scriptures.”
Here are some troubling quotes from then, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) which traditionalists choose to defend.
“I have nothing against people who, though they never enter a church during the year, go to Christmas Mass, or go on the occasion of some other celebration, because this is also a way of coming close to the light. Therefore, there must be different forms of involvement and participation.”
Source:Zenit News interview, Oct. 1, 2001
Response from someone defending Ratzinger:
“This quote cannot be used to condone heresy in the Church. This quote shows that people have differing depth of faith in God and faithfulness to the Mass, but that does not mean they do not accept all that the Church teaches even though their attendance may be minimal.”
“Paul [St. Paul] teaches not the resurrection of physical bodies but of persons…”
Source: Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, (republished in 1990 with Ratzinger’s approval), p. 277
Response from someone defending Ratzinger:
“Yes St Paul does teach this, he says nothing of flesh will enter the Kingdom of heaven and yes this is true. But there is the mystical element of the Body Of Christ and the human spirit united with this, the ‘person’ in unison with the persons of the Truine God. How this ‘body’ will be no-one knows but God. At the final Judgement the new earth and the new heaven will be made and at this point the physical body of the human creature will be considered by God. I do not know what that ‘body’ will be and neither do you, nor does our Pope Benedict XVI.”
Problem:
Quote #1 contradicts the entire message of the Gospel as portrayed by the faith communities of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus is not looking for lukewarmness, and NEVER does he approve of it or pass it off. Instead, we see Jesus calling people to a radical, counter-cultural commitment to faith…so much so that they are willing to abandon family, friends, possessions for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Ratzinger’s method only condones complacency and the lack of real commitment.
Quote #2 is short sighted and shows that Ratzinger did not have the entire collection of writings attributed to Paul in mind when he made such a blasphemous statement. Paul said that if the “dead are not truly raised, then our faith is in vain. (1 Cor. 15:14)” Paul’s self-identified Jewishness precludes such a conclusion as that which was proclaimed by Ratzinger. The notion that Christianity grew out of a Jewish belief in a spiritual resurrection that evolved into a belief in a bodily resurrection as Christianity became more influenced by Hellenism is a very unlikely prospect. Additionally, the language Paul uses to describe the resurrection–most notably “soma”–emphasizes the physical nature of the resurrected person. Finally, Paul’s belief that Christians immediately went to be with Jesus upon their death, but still awaited a “resurrection” demonstrates that the resurrection being discussed was a physical one.
Conclusion: If Ratzinger was wrong on these theological points, how can he, a mere mortal man, be trusted to be correct in all other areas of theological significance. Catholics have got to stop placing there trust in mere men and begin to place their unwaivering trust in the Christ of the scriptures.
Face it! Our beloved pope, like the Apostle Peter in his broken humanity, made statements that, frankly, are antithetical to the Gospel as proclaimed by the “Christ of the scriptures.”
Here are some troubling quotes from then, Cardinal Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) which traditionalists choose to defend.
“I have nothing against people who, though they never enter a church during the year, go to Christmas Mass, or go on the occasion of some other celebration, because this is also a way of coming close to the light. Therefore, there must be different forms of involvement and participation.”
Source:Zenit News interview, Oct. 1, 2001
Response from someone defending Ratzinger:
“This quote cannot be used to condone heresy in the Church. This quote shows that people have differing depth of faith in God and faithfulness to the Mass, but that does not mean they do not accept all that the Church teaches even though their attendance may be minimal.”
“Paul [St. Paul] teaches not the resurrection of physical bodies but of persons…”
Source: Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, (republished in 1990 with Ratzinger’s approval), p. 277
Response from someone defending Ratzinger:
“Yes St Paul does teach this, he says nothing of flesh will enter the Kingdom of heaven and yes this is true. But there is the mystical element of the Body Of Christ and the human spirit united with this, the ‘person’ in unison with the persons of the Truine God. How this ‘body’ will be no-one knows but God. At the final Judgement the new earth and the new heaven will be made and at this point the physical body of the human creature will be considered by God. I do not know what that ‘body’ will be and neither do you, nor does our Pope Benedict XVI.”
Problem:
Quote #1 contradicts the entire message of the Gospel as portrayed by the faith communities of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus is not looking for lukewarmness, and NEVER does he approve of it or pass it off. Instead, we see Jesus calling people to a radical, counter-cultural commitment to faith…so much so that they are willing to abandon family, friends, possessions for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Ratzinger’s method only condones complacency and the lack of real commitment.
Quote #2 is short sighted and shows that Ratzinger did not have the entire collection of writings attributed to Paul in mind when he made such a blasphemous statement. Paul said that if the “dead are not truly raised, then our faith is in vain. (1 Cor. 15:14)” Paul’s self-identified Jewishness precludes such a conclusion as that which was proclaimed by Ratzinger. The notion that Christianity grew out of a Jewish belief in a spiritual resurrection that evolved into a belief in a bodily resurrection as Christianity became more influenced by Hellenism is a very unlikely prospect. Additionally, the language Paul uses to describe the resurrection–most notably “soma”–emphasizes the physical nature of the resurrected person. Finally, Paul’s belief that Christians immediately went to be with Jesus upon their death, but still awaited a “resurrection” demonstrates that the resurrection being discussed was a physical one.
Conclusion: If Ratzinger was wrong on these theological points, how can he, a mere mortal man, be trusted to be correct in all other areas of theological significance. Catholics have got to stop placing there trust in mere men and begin to place their unwaivering trust in the Christ of the scriptures.
