Dogma and Preaching

by Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph

• ISBN13: 9781586173272
• ISBN10: 1586173278
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-20
• Publisher: Ignatius Press

Summary

This volume is an unabridged edition of Dogma and Preaching, a work that appeared in a much-reduced form in English, in 1985. The new book contains twice as much material as first English edition.Dogma, for many people, is a bad word. For the well-informed believer, it shouldn't be. Dogmas are truths revealed by God, which should enlighten the minds, guide the choices, and gladden the hearts of Jesus' disciples, including pastors, deacons, and lay teachers. But, as Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), notes in the foreword to this book, The path from dogma to proclamation or preaching has become very troublesome. Finding ways to relate the content of the Church's dogmas to everyday life can be challenging for today's preachers and teachers. Some people find the task so daunting that they leave dogma out. As a result, they wind up presenting something other than the Church's faith and speak in their own name, offering perhaps unwittingly merely their own, subjective ideas, rather than the Word of God. In Dogma and Preaching, the theologian and priest Joseph Ratzinger provides (1) a theory of preaching for today; (2) application of this theory to some themes for preaching drawn from the Church's dogmas; (3) meditations and sermons based on the liturgical year and the communion of saints; and (4) some thoughts regarding the decade after the Second Vatican and Christianity's seeming irrelevance. Ratzinger insists that sound preaching should rest on three pillars--Dogma, Scripture, and the Church Today, the contemporary situation in which the Church finds herself. He shows that the proper understanding of the Church, her dogmas, the nature of faith, and the contemporary world allow the proclaimer-believer to remain faithful to the Church's mission and life-changing message.

Author Biography

Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was a theological expert at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), a university professor, the Archbishop of Munich-Freising, and the prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, before becoming Pope in 2005. His writings include Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, Light of the World, Introduction to Christianity, Truth and Tolerance, and The Spirit of the Liturgy. He is one of the most widely read spiritual writers in the world.

Table of Contents

Toward a Theory of Preaching
Church as the Place of Preaching	p. 15
Standards for Preaching the Gospel Today	p. 26
Christocentrism in Preaching?	p. 40
Theology and Preaching in the Dutch Catechism	p. 59
Some Major Themes of Preaching
God
Contemporary Man Facing the Question of God	p. 77
Preaching God Today	p. 88
Praying in Our Time	p. 104
Christ
Theses for Christology	p. 117
What Does Jesus Christ Mean to Me?	p. 121
Following Christ	p. 125
Creation-Grace-World
Belief in Creation and the Theory of Evolution	p. 131
Gratia Praesupponit Naturam: Grace Presupposes Nature	p. 143
The Christian and the Modern World	p. 162
On the Understanding of "Person" in Theology	p. 181
Farewell to the Devil?	p. 197
Church
On the Spirit of Brotherhood	p. 207
The Anthropological Basis of Brotherly Love	p. 210
Church as the Locus of Service to the Faith	p. 222
Bishop and Church	p. 228
On the Meaning of Church Architecture	p. 233
Eschatology
On the Theology of Death	p. 243
What Comes after Death?	p. 255
Resurrection and Life Everlasting	p. 260
Meditations and Sermons
The Liturgical Year
The Genealogy of Jesus	p. 275
Lent	p. 280
Good Friday	p. 287
The Mystery of the Easter Vigil	p. 295
Resurrection as Mission	p. 301
Easter Today	p. 305
The Ascension of Christ	p. 311
Mind, Spirit, and Love: A Meditation on Pentecost	p. 316
The Meaning of Advent	p. 321
Three Meditations on Christmas	p. 330
Do We Have Reason to Celebrate?	p. 345
Meditation for New Year's Eve	p. 346
The Communion of Saints
The Visitation	p. 353
The Assumption of Mary	p. 357
Sermon for the Feast of Saint Augustine	p. 362
Meditation on the Day of a First Mass	p. 369
Epilogue
Ten Years after the Beginning of the Council-Where Do We Stand?	p. 377
What Good Is Christianity Now?	p. 385
Sources	p. 391
Index of Names	p. 395
Index of Biblical References	p. 399
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