Introduction to Christianity

Introduction to Christianity is a book of Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI. ) Emerged from a study - generale - course from his time as a professor at the University of Tübingen in the summer semester 1967. Summary, from the formulas of the Apostles' Creed, the sum of Christian theology emerged. The work is in the inner center of faith in Jesus Christ, describes the most important content, structure, origin and significance of theological, philosophical, and historical perspective.

The book lays the foundations for a new kind of theological exegesis of the Bible, based on the co-authored by Joseph Ratzinger document Dei Verbum of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and two very different ways of hermeneutics, the interpretation of the faith and the historical-critical interpretation, together. This biblical exegesis is fully deployed in its 2007 and published in 2011 as Pope Jesus book, whose roots some thoughts in Introduction to Christianity.

Foreword

In his preface, Ratzinger presents a reflection on the theological movement in recent decades. He compares the belief of some theologians that the New also has to be something better always with the Children's and Household Tales by Hans in luck. How poor Hans, which stops at the end of the tale instead of the original gold nugget a grinding stone in the hand, and the poor Christian has be led by an interpretation to another interpretation, in order to obtain a supposed liberation of all superfluous rites and cult at the end.

Content

The book is divided into four main parts:

Introduction; God; Jesus Christ and " The Spirit and the Church."

It represents the intention of the book to the fore, to understand their faith in God again without having to interpret it awkward or ummünzen which often ends in a talk that covered only with difficulty a complete spiritual emptiness.

To this end, the author characterizes the Christian faith of various aspects ago multi-faceted:

In the book comes - as in many other writings of Ratzinger - often the philosopher Martin Heidegger to speak.