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What It Means to Be a Christian
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, writes eloquently and persuasively about how one can live as a serious Christian in today's secular world. He talks in depth about the true meaning of faith, hope, and love--the love of God and the love of neighbor. He also discusses at length the crucial importance of a lived faith, for the believer himself as well as being a witness for our age, and striving to bring faith in line with the present age that has veered off into rampant secularism and materialism. He passionately encourages the reader to practice a deep, abiding Christian faith that seeks to be at the service of humanity.
As Joseph Ratzinger mentions in the preface, "the book presents in written form three sermons that the author preached in the Cathedral at Muenster to a congregation from the Catholic Student Chaplaincy, December 13-15, 1964."
In other words, these are essays derived from sermons preached to college students toward the end of Vatican II. They are remarkable, among other reasons, for their insights into the ongoing Christian struggle to understand and realize in action "what it means to be a Christian".
Contents
First "Are We Saved? Or, Job Talks with God" Christianity as Advent The Unfulfilled Promise Are We Saved? The Hidden GodSecond "Faith as Service" The Salvation of Christians and the Salvation of the World God Becomes Man, Man Becomes Christlike The Meaning of Salvation HistoryThird "Above Love" Love is Enough Why Do We Need Faith? The Law of Superabundance Faith, Hope, and Love
"In our generation the Christian Faith finds itself in a much deeper crisis than at any other time in the past. In this situation it is no solution to shut our eyes in fear in the face of pressing problems, or to simply pass over them. If faith is to survive this age, then it must be lived, and above all, lived in this age. And this is possible only if a manifestation of faith is shown to have value for our present day, by growing to knowledge and fulfillment."-Pope Benedict XVI, From the Introduction
Learn more about Pope Benedict! Visit the
As Joseph Ratzinger mentions in the preface, "the book presents in written form three sermons that the author preached in the Cathedral at Muenster to a congregation from the Catholic Student Chaplaincy, December 13-15, 1964."
In other words, these are essays derived from sermons preached to college students toward the end of Vatican II. They are remarkable, among other reasons, for their insights into the ongoing Christian struggle to understand and realize in action "what it means to be a Christian".
Contents
First "Are We Saved? Or, Job Talks with God" Christianity as Advent The Unfulfilled Promise Are We Saved? The Hidden GodSecond "Faith as Service" The Salvation of Christians and the Salvation of the World God Becomes Man, Man Becomes Christlike The Meaning of Salvation HistoryThird "Above Love" Love is Enough Why Do We Need Faith? The Law of Superabundance Faith, Hope, and Love
"In our generation the Christian Faith finds itself in a much deeper crisis than at any other time in the past. In this situation it is no solution to shut our eyes in fear in the face of pressing problems, or to simply pass over them. If faith is to survive this age, then it must be lived, and above all, lived in this age. And this is possible only if a manifestation of faith is shown to have value for our present day, by growing to knowledge and fulfillment."-Pope Benedict XVI, From the Introduction
Learn more about Pope Benedict! Visit the
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2006
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215 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 22, 2025
This is an incredible book. A series of three sermons that then-Father Joseph Ratzinger gave in 1964, these talks still have a freshness and vitality. It is as if they were written today. As he always does Ratzinger answers the questions of the modern heart, while rooting himself in Tradition and Scripture. Some of the passages in this book are mind-blowing. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It would be a great read this Lent or next Advent (the talks were given in Advent but are applicable to Christian life in general). This would be a great book for someone skeptical about Ratzinger or who has the view of Ratzinger formed by the media.
May 2, 2023
Simple, but deep meaning writings. I particularly love the quote, “Being Christian means having love; it means achieving the Copernican revolution in our existence, by which we cease to make ourselves the center of the universe, with everyone else revolving around us.” Wow… ‘copernican revolution’ that’s a great symbolic phrase 🤯
January 3, 2014
Ratzinger's marvelous synthesis of faith, hope and love will stay with me.
April 22, 2015
it's a book perfect for Advent but I just read it (in Easter) a beautiful book written by our Pope Emeritus. Shall reread this book in Advent.
April 23, 2019
A trio of Advent homilies from 1964 by Father Joseph Ratzinger, who would go on to become His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. He makes some very good points that may have been influenced by the then recent work of Vatican II. I wish some of his later writings were as accessible and easy to understand as these homilies. He makes the point that we are always in Advent Season now; because, we are always looking forward to Jesus. He also points out that our purpose as a Christian is not merely for our own benefit but for the benefit of all, including those who are not Christians.
April 18, 2021
Brilliant, heart-of-the-matter reflections from early B16.
October 5, 2021
An interesting series of sermons during advent. Billed as more than it was though on Amazon so in that sense a bit of a disappointment.
February 17, 2023
Very quick read, with a compelling theme and message.
January 5, 2024
I think this reset my brain in a wonderful way. Great insights into the foundations of Christian life.
May 26, 2024
A really good, brief summary of the very basics.
December 26, 2025
Super quick and great read!
December 1, 2008
I'll probably have to re-read this book before I can give what I would consider an adequate review. And yet, I got so much out of the first reading that I wanted to jot some of it down.
This is a lovely, quick read (though very deep) that draws and challenges you out of yourself to see where you're supposed to be in relation to God and to others. It's a series of three sermons that were given by then Cardinal Ratzinger during Advent and are appropriate reading for that season.
Here are a few quick quotes to give you a taste of what I mean:
"When we reflect on such things, we shall simply no longer be able to divide history into ages of salvation and of iniquity. If we then extend our vision and look at what Christians (that is, those people we call 'redeemed') achieved in the world by way of iniquity and devastation, in our own century and the previous centuries, then we will be equally incapable of dividing the peoples of the world into those who are saved and those who are not. If we are honest, we will no longer be able to paint things black and white, dividing up both history and maps into zones of salvation and iniquity. History as a whole, and mankind as a whole, will appear to us rather as a mass of gray, in which time and again there appear flickers of that goodness which can never quite be extinguished, in which, time and again, men set out toward something better, but in which also, time and again , collapses occur into all the horrors of evil.
Yet when we reflect like this, it becomes plain that Advent is not (as might perhaps have been said in earlier ages) a sacred game of the liturgy, in which, so to speak, it leads us once more along the paths of the past, gives us once more a vivid picture of the way things once were, so that we may all the more joyfully and happily enjoy today's salvation. We should have to admit, rather, that Advent is not just a matter of remembrance and playing at what is past - Advent is our present, our reality: the Church is not just playing at something here; rather, she is referring us to something that also represents the reality of our Christian life. It is through the meaning of the season of Advent in the Church's y ear that she revives our awareness of this. She should make us face these facts, and make us admit the extend of being unredeemed, which is not something that lay over the world at one time, and perhaps somewhere still does, but is a fact in our own lives and in the midst of the Church."
And one more passage...
"Being a Christian means having love; it means achieving the Copernican revolution in our existence, by which we cease to make ourselves the center of the universe, with everyone else revolving around us.
If we look at ourselves honestly and seriously, then there is not just something liberating in this marvelously simple message. There is also something most disturbing. For who among us can say he has never passed by anyone who was hungry or thirsty or who needed us in any way? Who among us can say that he truly, in all simplicity, carries out the service of being kind to others? Who among us would not have to admit that even in the acts of kindness he practices toward others, there is still an element of selfishness, something of self-satisfaction and looking back at ourselves? Who among us would not have to admit that he is more or less living in the pre-Copernican illusion and looking at other people, seeing them as real, only in their relationship to our own selves? Thus, the sublime and liberating message of love, as being the sole and sufficient content of Christianity, can also become something very demanding.
It is at this point that faith begins. For what faith basically means is just that this shortfall that we all have in our love is made up by the surplus of Jesus Christ's love, acting on our behalf. He simply tells us that God himself has poured out among us a superabundance of his love and has thus made good in advance all our deficiency. Ultimately, faith means nothing other than admitting that we have this kind of shortfall; tit means opening our hand and accepting a gift."
Beautiful!
This is a lovely, quick read (though very deep) that draws and challenges you out of yourself to see where you're supposed to be in relation to God and to others. It's a series of three sermons that were given by then Cardinal Ratzinger during Advent and are appropriate reading for that season.
Here are a few quick quotes to give you a taste of what I mean:
"When we reflect on such things, we shall simply no longer be able to divide history into ages of salvation and of iniquity. If we then extend our vision and look at what Christians (that is, those people we call 'redeemed') achieved in the world by way of iniquity and devastation, in our own century and the previous centuries, then we will be equally incapable of dividing the peoples of the world into those who are saved and those who are not. If we are honest, we will no longer be able to paint things black and white, dividing up both history and maps into zones of salvation and iniquity. History as a whole, and mankind as a whole, will appear to us rather as a mass of gray, in which time and again there appear flickers of that goodness which can never quite be extinguished, in which, time and again, men set out toward something better, but in which also, time and again , collapses occur into all the horrors of evil.
Yet when we reflect like this, it becomes plain that Advent is not (as might perhaps have been said in earlier ages) a sacred game of the liturgy, in which, so to speak, it leads us once more along the paths of the past, gives us once more a vivid picture of the way things once were, so that we may all the more joyfully and happily enjoy today's salvation. We should have to admit, rather, that Advent is not just a matter of remembrance and playing at what is past - Advent is our present, our reality: the Church is not just playing at something here; rather, she is referring us to something that also represents the reality of our Christian life. It is through the meaning of the season of Advent in the Church's y ear that she revives our awareness of this. She should make us face these facts, and make us admit the extend of being unredeemed, which is not something that lay over the world at one time, and perhaps somewhere still does, but is a fact in our own lives and in the midst of the Church."
And one more passage...
"Being a Christian means having love; it means achieving the Copernican revolution in our existence, by which we cease to make ourselves the center of the universe, with everyone else revolving around us.
If we look at ourselves honestly and seriously, then there is not just something liberating in this marvelously simple message. There is also something most disturbing. For who among us can say he has never passed by anyone who was hungry or thirsty or who needed us in any way? Who among us can say that he truly, in all simplicity, carries out the service of being kind to others? Who among us would not have to admit that even in the acts of kindness he practices toward others, there is still an element of selfishness, something of self-satisfaction and looking back at ourselves? Who among us would not have to admit that he is more or less living in the pre-Copernican illusion and looking at other people, seeing them as real, only in their relationship to our own selves? Thus, the sublime and liberating message of love, as being the sole and sufficient content of Christianity, can also become something very demanding.
It is at this point that faith begins. For what faith basically means is just that this shortfall that we all have in our love is made up by the surplus of Jesus Christ's love, acting on our behalf. He simply tells us that God himself has poured out among us a superabundance of his love and has thus made good in advance all our deficiency. Ultimately, faith means nothing other than admitting that we have this kind of shortfall; tit means opening our hand and accepting a gift."
Beautiful!
January 10, 2012
Excellent!
This small book is a collection of Advent sermons.
This small book is a collection of Advent sermons.
November 10, 2013
A short, brilliant place to start reading Ratzinger. Everything that is joyous and insightful about his writing is showcased in this slim and deep read.
August 28, 2012
The last chapters on love and faith are worth meditating over and over again.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews