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 Book cover | |
| Author | Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) |
|---|---|
| Original title | Einführung in das Christentum |
| Translator | J. R. Foster |
| Cover artist | Riz Boncan Marsella |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | Christology Theology |
| Publisher | Ignatius Press |
Publication date | 1968 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 300 |
| ISBN | 978-1-58617-029-5 |
| LCCN 2004-103523 | |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Theology of Pope Benedict XVI |
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Introduction to Christianity (German:Einführung in das Christentum) is a 1968 book written byJoseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Considered one of his most important and widely read books, it presents a "narrative Christology" that demonstrates the place for faith is in the Church. The book offers a "remarkable elucidation of the Apostle's Creed" and gives an "excellent, modern interpretation of the foundations of Christianity".[1]
Originally published in German in 1968 under the titleEinführung in das Christentum, Ratzinger restates theApostles' Creed and the meaning of this foundational text in language that has a greater contemporary resonance than the Creed itself.[N 1] Like the Apostles' Creed, the book presents the doctrines pertaining to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in sequence.[2]
The book lays the foundations for a new kind of theologicalexegesis of theBible, based on the documentDei verbum of theSecond Vatican Council (1962-1965), co-authored by Joseph Ratzinger, which combines two quite different ways ofhermeneutics, the interpretation of faith and historical-critical interpretation. This exegesis of the Bible is fully developed in his bookJesus of Nazareth, published in two volumes as Pope in 2007 and 2011, some of whose ideas are rooted inIntroduction to Christianity.
The English edition ofIntroduction to Christianity was revised in 2000 by Ignatius Press with a new preface by Joseph Ratzinger. A second revised edition was released in 2004 by Ignatius Press.
The book started in 1968 with a print run of 4500 copies, and by 1969 45,000 copies had been sold.[3]
The Protestant theologianHelmut Gollwitzer wrote in his preface to the German paperback edition ofIntroduction to Christianity: "Ratzinger's book is a document of the stormy ecumenical breaking down of old barriers. ... The reader, wherever he may stand himself, is made to understand how Christian faith presents itself under the spiritual conditions of our time, what faith is in the biblical sense."[4]
Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022
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