Subject Area
Theology
Description
This thesis demonstrates that Pope Benedict XVI has benefited considerably from his 1957 study of St. Bonaventure’s pastoral response to thirteenth-century Franciscan “Spiritualists” and their disruptive acceptance of an imminent or realized eschatology. Joseph Ratzinger noted that Bonaventure’s response included a corrective theology of history that, along with a dialectical engagement of new ways of thought, provided Christianity with a vital understanding of the relation between human history and revelation. The present work examines how these Bonaventurian influences allowed Ratzinger/Benedict XVI to develop from core Christian theological proclamations—particularly the Cross and that God, as Trinity, is relationship and love—a particular emphasis on the activity of Christian love. This emphasis derived from the observation that the Franciscan General, like Augustine, “knew” that for Christianity to remain authentic, members of the Body of Christ are obliged to sacrificially “love in the present.” This thesis demonstrates how this loving in the present becomes a central hermeneutic throughout the theological and pastoral career of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, especially in his work on eschatology, biblical exegesis, and within his pontifical writings and actions.
Publisher
Providence College
Date
Spring 2011
Type
Thesis
Format
Text
Language
English
