Joseph Ratzinger and la nouvelle théologie

The general view of Benedict XVI's development as a theologian is that he started out with a very liberal philosophy but had a "Saul on the Road to Damascus" conversion in the 1960's when he experienced the student revolt while teaching at the University of Tuebingen. Ever since being confronted with the "relativistic" libertine Marxism of the era, Joseph Ratzinger became an arch-conservative, and the perfect doctrinal watchdog for the Pope John Paul II.  But Francis Schüssler Fiorenza has an interesting piece in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin that refutes this conventional wisdom. FIorenza was a student of Ratzinger's in 1963 in Münster, and sees a perfect continuity from the theology of the young professor to his pronouncements in the Vatican.  Fiorenza locates the intellectual roots of Ratzinger in the French movement known as la nouvelle théologie:

Understanding the theological vision of the relationship between nature and grace as well as Christianity and culture that was central to la nouvelle théologie is crucial for understanding what Ratzinger's goals and direction as pope will be. In one of his earliest writings on the topic of nature and grace, Ratzinger argues that the focus upon grace perfecting nature should not overlook the cross of Christ and should not neglect that grace also challenges and stands in critique of nature. Ratzinger makes this explicit in his understanding of the relation between Christian faith and culture. In his view Christian faith is not something that exists simply as a set of propositional doctrines; nor does it exist as sheer abstract religion. Instead, religion and culture are concretely intertwined and cannot be separated. Therefore, one cannot simply think of Christianity independent of culture. Instead, one has to ask: How is the Christian community a distinctive Christian culture? Because the Christian faith entails a stance about the meaning of human nature and the affirmation of certain values, it entails a culture of meaning and values. Christianity exists as a social and cultural community called the people of God. Such a community is its own distinctive culture whose beliefs and values stand in tension with other cultures.

From what little I know of la nouvelle théologie, it was hardly a monolithic movement, but rather wove together various strands of theological thinking in France in the 1950's.  What united the diverse views was a conviction that the Church had to speak to the present day situation, but the key to theology's relevance to the present was a "creative recovery" of its past.  Therefore, central to the thinkers of la nouvelle théologie - and Ratzinger - was ressourcementóa: a rediscovery of the wellsprings of the Christian tradition.  For Ratzinger, this meant a direct retrieval of the Augustinian tradition.  More on Ratzinger as theologian here.

Comments

[ludwig]

Very interesting stuff, as always. Speaking as a Germanist, it will be fun to see the plethora of books in the coming years that will try to interpret Ratzinger's books and/or chart out his intellectual history. The process should generate new interest in postwar German history. Doubtless, there will be attempts to locate Ratzinger as specifically Bavarian while he will also be interpreted within Europe-wide clerical trends.

I like the widely posted pic of Ratzinger and Habermas speaking together...
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermas

Between two crusty looking old men, Habermas is the crustiest.

[David]

I would have loved to have been a "fly on the wall" to overhear the conversation between Habermas and Ratzinger. Actually, for a neo-Enlightment thinker, Habermas has been pretty open to religious faith.