Fides et Ratio
Fides et Ratio
“Right Reason” and Europe in Contemporary Catholic Thought (Benedict XVI)
This chapter examines Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's position regarding the relationship between faith and reason. In particular, it considers how Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) thinks of the contemporary situation, including the political identity of the West, in oppositional terms. It also discusses Pope Benedict XVI's claim that the Western tradition is imbued with rationality and threatened by “outside” forces, along with his thesis on the importance of the “Hellenization” of Judaism as the founding condition, or “event,” of Christianity; how this “event” brings with it a version of the history of Christianity and Europe as a history of logos; and the political conclusions that the pope has drawn for contemporary Europe. Finally, the chapter explores Benedict XVI's argument that the present “crisis” of European culture—the consequence of the loss of logocentric identity—can be solved by returning to a broader, unified concept of logos.
Keywords: logos, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, faith, reason, Pope Benedict XVI, Western tradition, Hellenization, Judaism, Christianity, Europe
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