Christianity and the Crisis of Culture

by Pope Benedict XVI

Book Overview

Written by Joseph Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures looks at the growing conflict of cultures evident in the Western world. The West faces a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586171429
• ISBN13: 9781586171421
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Ignatius Press
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Quite important in these days of relativism

A must read if you are interested in the recent and ongoing decline of western civilization. The causative factors are clearly delineated from many points of view, but always from the starting point of the pope's awesome faith and love for God and His Creation. -Jeremy

Adressing the current situations with a keen and clear understanding

In this book Cardinal Ratzinger studies the tension that arises when a split occurs between the state and religion. He tackles modern secularist notions, discusses abortion, and also addresses the notion that if not atheism, then perhaps agnosticism is the best position that man can hope for. The discussion he provides is well thought out and easy to grasp. You may not agree with everything he says, but the beauty and brilliance of the arguments put forth are undeniable.

Succinct

Non-Catholics and those of nominal faith might be more comfortable reading "Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam" by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Marcello Pera first. The analysis is much the same but correctives, in the form of a return to a pan-European shared faith (by Pena--the head of the Italian Senate) and/or individual action (Benedict)will find a wider audience. Either book is a must read for anyone commenting upon or interested in the current geopolitical scene. At the end of the 19th century, Dostoyevsky in "Notes from the Underground" and Pope Leo XIII in "On Socialism" (Quod Apostolici Muneris) warned where conflicts within Western Civilization were headed. 1917 and the horrors of communist and fascist totalitarianism were not adverted. Pera and Benedict are raising the same warning flags today. Is the problem as critical as they believe? Can a tragedy be averted? No one knows of course. But that there is a problem is irrefutable and these two book should not be ignored. Recently purchased "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" by Mark Steyn. Rated it three stars and that was being charitable as Steyn not only provides little hope but the witty prose his newspaper columns are, rightly, admired for is flat and tendentious when spead out over 256 pages. Benedict and Pera, in contrast, explain why the west is unable to condemn evil and what can be done to ameloriate that failing.

An essential read for understanding the crisis that we are in

Pope Benedict has been a keen and precise critic of the cultural clashes that have been shaking the West over the last half a century. He doesn't kowtow to the latest politically correct fad, nor does he mince words to state the truth. In this book he clearly outlines the what the greatest threats are to the Christian culture and the civilization which is based upon it. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand better the position of the Catholic Church in the ongoing global culture wars.

An essential read

Along with such classics as 'clash of civilizations' and 'rage and the pride' this book is a must read for anyone interested in the least bit in preserving their culture and faith in the face of the assault on the west by various non-western and supra-western cultures. For those who are pro partial-birth abortions, probably this book will be offensive because the Pope takes the Catholic church's view that abortion is immoral. The central theme of this book is that the West is threatened by the new immorality of western moral relativism and that it is additioanlly partially threatened by the non-western immigrants who invade the west, however the greater danger is internal, the abandonment of religion and faith, and the denial of the fact that Christian roots are indigenous to Europe. Many wont be able to stumach this book, and even some protestants will find the catholic overtones problematic. However it is an essential and important work. Seth J. Frantzman