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The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger
Nichols OP, Aidan
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1988
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121 people want to read
About the author
Aidan Nichols
107 books48 followersJohn Christopher "Aidan" Nichols O.P., S.T.M. (born 17 September 1948) is an English academic and Catholic priest.
Nichols served as the first John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford for 2006 to 2008, the first lectureship of Catholic theology at that university since the Reformation. He is a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and is the Prior of St Michael the Archangel in Cambridge.
Nichols served as the first John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford for 2006 to 2008, the first lectureship of Catholic theology at that university since the Reformation. He is a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and is the Prior of St Michael the Archangel in Cambridge.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 24, 2018
I am not a Catholic or Ratzinger fan but I share his dislike of relativism. Of course, Christianity doesn’t praise relativism in general, but Ratzinger has been especially adamant against it unlike his successor Francis I. Francis I is universally praised by many liberals as the most progressive pope. Being progressive is nice, yet it doesn’t necessarily translate into being right. Ratzinger has a point when he emphasizes that relativism undermines the common Ground in society. His diagnosis is right.
On April 13, 2018, while I was reading this book, the US launched airstrikes against the Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad under the dubious accusations that he had used chemical weapons. It didn’t make sense, especially because he was winning the war and killing 40 civilians with chemical weapons was too stupid and ineffective. Radical Islamist rebels flaunted the victims by sharing their videos. There was not a single proof that Assad did it despite the ready availability of technology on rebels’ hands to document it.
Years ago, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was accused of having weapons of mass destruction, and the US invaded the country using that lie as a pretext and never found a single weapon of mass destruction. Similarly, the US took the action in Syria without waiting for the investigation to produce a preliminary report. The New York Times supported the airstrikes and didn’t mention that there was not a single solid proof against Assad. Even the comments by readers they cherry-pick supported the airstrikes. This is the insidious result of relativism. Everything can matter therefore you can obfuscate truths you don’t like. One of the most trusted news sources in the world easily censors a simple truth without repercussions. A lie is no less valuable than truth.
The Enlightenment sought truth in turbulent seas. It made mistakes, it blundered a lot, but it was earnest. It pursued truth. Today’s liberals stare at waves and think that’s all that matters. Therefore the papacy of Benedict XVI was a breath of fresh air. He stood against The New York Times and their ilk.
Nichols writes, “He [Ratzinger] finds the illuminating comparison he is seeking in the history of philosophy where such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, 'remain the originating figures of an enduring approach to the Ground of what is.'” A search for a common ground is important because “Pluralist democracy has not shown itself capable of uniting citizens in a deep-rooted adhesion to a common form of life. Economic crises bring it to a precipice, shifts in the life of the spirit threaten to remove the ground from beneath its feet.” (p. 187)
Pope Benedict XVI dared to do an extraordinary thing for our age. His quest was to weaken diseased relativism. That is why he always looked like an angry circus clown. Toward the end of the book, Nichols notes Kierkegaard's celebrated analogy for the Christian preacher, an apt description of Benedict XVI:
“A circus clown was desperately trying to deliver a deadly serious message. When he found that people took his warning about a forest fire as knock-about, he got even more worked up - which only made his hearers laugh the more until in the end their village and they themselves were engulfed in flames.”
On April 13, 2018, while I was reading this book, the US launched airstrikes against the Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad under the dubious accusations that he had used chemical weapons. It didn’t make sense, especially because he was winning the war and killing 40 civilians with chemical weapons was too stupid and ineffective. Radical Islamist rebels flaunted the victims by sharing their videos. There was not a single proof that Assad did it despite the ready availability of technology on rebels’ hands to document it.
Years ago, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was accused of having weapons of mass destruction, and the US invaded the country using that lie as a pretext and never found a single weapon of mass destruction. Similarly, the US took the action in Syria without waiting for the investigation to produce a preliminary report. The New York Times supported the airstrikes and didn’t mention that there was not a single solid proof against Assad. Even the comments by readers they cherry-pick supported the airstrikes. This is the insidious result of relativism. Everything can matter therefore you can obfuscate truths you don’t like. One of the most trusted news sources in the world easily censors a simple truth without repercussions. A lie is no less valuable than truth.
The Enlightenment sought truth in turbulent seas. It made mistakes, it blundered a lot, but it was earnest. It pursued truth. Today’s liberals stare at waves and think that’s all that matters. Therefore the papacy of Benedict XVI was a breath of fresh air. He stood against The New York Times and their ilk.
Nichols writes, “He [Ratzinger] finds the illuminating comparison he is seeking in the history of philosophy where such thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, 'remain the originating figures of an enduring approach to the Ground of what is.'” A search for a common ground is important because “Pluralist democracy has not shown itself capable of uniting citizens in a deep-rooted adhesion to a common form of life. Economic crises bring it to a precipice, shifts in the life of the spirit threaten to remove the ground from beneath its feet.” (p. 187)
Pope Benedict XVI dared to do an extraordinary thing for our age. His quest was to weaken diseased relativism. That is why he always looked like an angry circus clown. Toward the end of the book, Nichols notes Kierkegaard's celebrated analogy for the Christian preacher, an apt description of Benedict XVI:
“A circus clown was desperately trying to deliver a deadly serious message. When he found that people took his warning about a forest fire as knock-about, he got even more worked up - which only made his hearers laugh the more until in the end their village and they themselves were engulfed in flames.”
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August 2, 2011Great stuff...i wish our ecclesiology professor would have read this...or anything by BXVI for that matter...as well as the rest of our seminary faculty...
September 25, 2021
Aidan Nichols saved me a lot of time in understanding de Lubac and nouvelle theologie, and I think that this brief synthesis of Ratzinger's work (so far) has been a very fruitful and meaningful read.
February 15, 2023
Don't go by my judgement in giving "The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI" by Aidan Nichols, op, four stars. I'm a simple old lady, a lay person, with no theological background. With that in mind, there is no way that I understood all that Benedict XVI was teaching, or what Father Nichols was explaining. What I got, I enjoyed. I took my time and grasped the general account of Benedict's thinking. I now understand Benedict's times--his background and a sense of the historical formation that trained his feelings, understandings, and writings.
This is a book of Benedict XVI's writings. Father Nichols situates his thoughts with the historical times. I enjoyed Nichol's presentation of this historical pope. Anyone who wants to understand Benedict should read this book, like I did--carefully.
This is a book of Benedict XVI's writings. Father Nichols situates his thoughts with the historical times. I enjoyed Nichol's presentation of this historical pope. Anyone who wants to understand Benedict should read this book, like I did--carefully.
April 29, 2009
French translation be Père Eric Iborra
April 29, 2009
suggested by a student at école Cathédrale
very clear
very clear
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews