The tension between the God of faith and the God of philosophers in light of the contributions of Joseph Ratzinger's thought
Keywords:
God. Faith. Philosophers. Ratzinger.Abstract
There is an evident tension between the God of faith and the God of philosophers, i.e., between the God who appears in religious narratives and experiences and the more abstract God who appears in philosophical reflections. The first one seems to be dynamic and strongly relational, while the other seems to be distant and closed in on itself. Although this tension is not new to Christianity, that is where Joseph Ratzinger focuses his attention. Thus, we will see how Ratzinger greatly contributes to understanding this debate and how his solution involves the radical proposal to revise philosophy itself. With that said, we will go through a long philosophical, historical, and theological itinerary, through which Ratzinger also passes, in order to understand the genesis of that tension, how it presented itself in Israel and among the early Christians, and how it unfolded throughout the history of Christianity, until we reach Ratzinger's solution to the issue.
References
AGOSTINHO. A Trindade. São Paulo: Paulus, 1995.
AQUINO, T. de. De ente et essentia. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1995.
AQUINO, T. de. Suma Teológica. São Paulo: Loyola, 2001.
ARATO. Fenômenos. Cadernos de Tradução, Porto Alegre, v. 38, jan./2016, p. 13-54.
Bíblia de Jerusalém. São Paulo: Editora Paulus, 2023.
BURNET, J. A Aurora da Filosofia Grega. Rio de Janeiro: Contraponto, 2007.
CORNFORD, F. M. Principium sapientiae: the origins of Greek philosophical thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1952.
CULLETON, A. S. O conceito de pessoa em Ricardo de São Vitor. Problemata, João Pessoa, v. 2, n. 1, jun./2011, p. 11-26.
ELIADE, M. Mito e realidade. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2016.
GUARDINI, R. Pascal for our time. New York: Herder and Herder, 1966.
HADOT, P. O que é a filosofia antiga? São Paulo: Loyola, 1999.
JUSTIN. The first apology. In: FALLS, T. B. (Comp.). Ther Fathers of the Church. Washington: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2008. p. 23-114.
LINDENBERG, D. C. O destino da ciência na cristandade patrística e medieval. In: HARRISON, P. (Org.). Ciência e religião. São Paula: Ideias & Letras, 2014. p. 37-58.
RATZINGER, J. Concerning the notion of person in theology. Communio: International Catholic Review, Washington, v. 17, 1990, p. 439-454.
RATZINGER, J. Introdução ao cristianismo. São Paulo: Herder, 1970.
RATZINGER, J. O Deus da fé e o Deus dos filósofos. Rio Bonito: Benedictus, 2023.
RATZINGER, J. What is christianity? São Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2023.
WALSH, M. (Ed.). Butler's Lives of the Saints. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Kairós: Revista Acadêmica da Prainha
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
According to the Creative Commons International 4.0 License, it is possible to:
1) Distribute the published material in any format, as long as the publication and referencing credits are duly given to Revista Kairós.
2) The copyright on the articles, reviews and translations published are from Revista Kairós, as well as the rights of first publication.
3) Authors who want to publish their manuscripts published in Kairós in other media (book chapters, for example), must duly refer to the first publication in Revista Kairós.
4) Authors have full right to publish their manuscripts published in Revista Kairós on their personal pages, and it is recommended to mention the journal.
To check the provisions of the Creative Commons 4.0 License, access here.