Gift to the Church and World

1. "Joseph Ratzinger's demanding and original Introduction to Christianity deserves a set of interlocutors able to rise to its own high level. It has found them in the studies collected here, ranging as they do from close-up snapshots of the work in its place and time to confrontations with a choice of theologians, culture-critics, filmmakers, and visual artists closer either to now or to home." - Aidan Nichols, OP, author of The Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger. 2. "This collection provides sixteen precious vignettes into Ratzinger's celebrated classic Introduction to Christianity. These eminently scholarly perspectives celebrate a book that presents in 1968 divine-human relationality as the concrete Vatican II watershed. The authors convincingly argue that this christocentric shift grounds the believer in the life and charity of the Blessed Trinity, which in turn permits genuine interhuman charity to flourish. This volume is indispensable for understanding deeper Ratzinger. Most welcome and highly recommended!" - Emery de Gaál, Chairperson of Dogmatic Theology at Mundelein Seminary 3. "This book identifies a classic that has never received the notice it's due. Ratzinger's Introduction is so much more than a book; it's a pedagogy, a way of teaching. This fact shines through every contribution here, but especially in the pages that compare Ratzinger's masterpiece with C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. Ratzinger did not simply introduce people to Christianity; he invited them into communion, where the mysteries lead to a living faith. Gift is the rare book that acknowledges the deeply mystical element in the theological task and a person's intellectual life." - Scott Hahn, founder and president of the St. Paul Center of Biblical Theology 4. "Is there a theology worthy of the name that does not introduce its readers to the One who 'introduces' the Father through the Spirit? If in this sense all true theology is an introduction to Christianity, then Joseph Ratzinger's corpus - of which his Introduction to Christianity is an exemplification - focuses always on introducing us to the person of Jesus Christ in the face of the difficulties that threaten to block him from our mind and heart. Thus Ratzinger's Introduction has an enduring place in teaching modern theologians how and why to do theology. With its deft elucidations of Ratzinger's approach, the present volume should lay the foundations not only for the future of Ratzingerian studies but for the future of Catholic theology as a discipline." - Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary