Abstract
Introduction to Christianity was published in 1968, at the height of the wave of revolutionary fervour sweeping through many European universities, including Tübingen, where its author was then teaching. Based on a series of open lectures Ratzinger had given for students from all subjects, it was widely read and quickly translated into other languages, including English, remaining in print with a new edition at the beginning of the millennium. Its success helped to establish Ratzinger as a leading exponent of Roman Catholic theology who embraced the fresh perspectives of the Second Vatican Council while also firmly resisting certain post-conciliar currents seeking far-reaching ecclesial change and solidarity with movements of political and social liberation.
This collection of essays originated in a conference held at the University of Notre Dame in 2018 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. Its 16 chapters address different facets of Ratzinger’s work in a well-structured way. Most are written by Roman Catholic theologians based in the USA (just over half from Notre Dame itself), with one from Australia and two from Germany, including the opening essay by the Bishop of Regensburg. No author identifies as a non-Roman Catholic, and authors from other Christian communions are rarely mentioned, although Ratzinger’s ‘special kinship’ with Rowan Williams is noted at one point (p. 201). Some chapters conclude with lengthy bibliographies and feature untranslated citations in a few footnotes to mark scholarly heft; others more obviously seek to emulate the relative accessibility of the text under consideration.
One of the challenges for the contributors is that, while Introduction to Christianity touches on a host of critical themes in Ratzinger’s theological output over the next five decades, more fully developed treatments of those themes are often to be found in his subsequent writings, including those he composed as Pope Benedict XVI. The abiding ‘energy’ (p. 68) of the text stems in part from the sense it gives that the author is engaged in a creative theological process, as he seeks to address with genuine empathy the questions and concerns of a student audience disenchanted with Christianity. How far, then, to use Introduction to Christianity as a point of departure for attending to the subsequent trajectory of Ratzinger’s theological work? And how far to focus in on its distinctive texture, perhaps bringing the particular writer we find there into dialogue with other voices?
The authors assembled here take different approaches on this point. Anthony C. Sciglitano, Clemens Sedmak and Jennifer Newsome Martin draw Ratzinger’s text into contemporary conversations, involving philosophers, social scientists and artists as well as theologians. Timothy P. O’Malley’s offering on liturgical metaphysics looks to the richer pickings to be found elsewhere in Ratzinger’s writings on this subject. Robert P. Imbelli’s chapter on Christology strikes an attractive balance, exploring the networks of theological influence within which Ratzinger’s thinking developed before and after 1968, while keeping the Introduction to Christianity central to its treatment.
Perhaps missing from this comprehensive volume is an evaluation of the success of the book that it celebrates precisely as an ‘introduction to Christianity’. How has reading it contributed to the changing of minds and hearts, not just among those already well disposed towards Christian faith, but also for the indifferent and disdainful, whom Ratzinger was hoping to engage? And what might be learned from that story?