The Heresies in Benedict XVI’s Book Introduction to Christianity

*This is from my continuing study of Benedict XVI’s books. For those who don’t know, Benedict XVI is Joseph Ratzinger.

Introduction to Christianity by “Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger (Ignatius Press, 2000)

Since there are so many heresies from Benedict XVI, I have limited myself to including only those heresies that are truly noteworthy.

HERESIES IN INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY:
- BENEDICT XVI DENIES THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY
- BENEDICT XVI CRITICIZES THE APOSTLES’ CREED
- BENEDICT XVI TELLS US THAT PAGAN MYTHS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD ARE TRUE

BENEDICT XVI DENIES THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2004, p. 349: “It now becomes clear that the real heart of faith in the resurrection does not consist at all in the idea of the restoration of bodies, to which we have reduced it in our thinking; such is the case even though this is the pictorial image used throughout the Bible.”

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, p. 353: “The foregoing reflections may have clarified to some extent what is involved in the biblical pronouncements about the resurrection: their essential content is not the conception of a restoration of bodies to souls after a long interval…”

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2004, pp. 357-358: “To recapitulate, Paul teaches, not the resurrection of physical bodies, but the resurrection of persons…”

The Resurrection of the Body is no small dogma. Besides being part of the Apostles’ Creed, this dogma has been defined more than almost any other dogma of the Faith. Here are just a few examples:

Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215, ex cathedra: “…all of whom will rise with their bodies which they now bear…” (Denz. 429)

Pope Gregory X, Second Council of Lyons, 1274, ex cathedra: “The same most holy Roman Church firmly believes and firmly declares that nevertheless on the day of judgment all men will be brought together with their bodies before the tribunal of Christ to render an account of their own deeds.” (Denz. 464)

Pope Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus, Jan. 29, 1336, ex cathedra: “Moreover, we declare that… all men with their bodies will make themselves ready to render an account of their own deeds before the tribunal of Christ…” (Denz. 531)

Benedict XVI denies this dogma in his book Introduction to Christianity (as we can see above) by teaching that St. Paul doesn’t teach the resurrection of physical bodies, and that the resurrection does not consist in the restoration of bodies. This is astounding heresy.

BENEDICT XVI CRITICIZES THE APOSTLES’ CREED

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2004, p. 326: “The early Christians, with their cry ‘Our Lord, come’, interpreted the second coming of Jesus as an event full of hope and joy… To the Christians of the Middle Ages, on the other hand, that moment appeared as the terrifying ‘day of wrath’ (Dies irae)… Perhaps it will have to be admitted that the tendency to such a false development, which only sees the dangers of responsibility and no longer the freedom of love, is already present in the [Apostles’] Creed, in which the idea of Christ’s second coming is reduced, at any rate verbally, to the idea of judgment: ‘He will come again to the judge the living and the dead.’”

He says that a false development may be present in an infallible and dogmatic Creed of the Catholic Church.

BENEDICT XVI TELLS US THAT PAGAN MYTHS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD ARE TRUE

“Cardinal” Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 2004, p. 254: “What is thus hinted at in the creation is fulfilled in man and finally in the man par excellence, Jesus Christ: by embracing the fate of the grain of wheat, by going through the process of being sacrificed, by letting himself be broken down and by losing himself, he opens up access to true life. The findings of the history of religion, which precisely at this point approach very close to the testimony of the Bible, would also justify one in saying that the world lives on sacrifice. Those great myths that assert that the cosmos was built up out of an original sacrifice and that the cosmos only goes on existing through self-sacrifice, that it is dependent on sacrifice, are here confirmed as true and valid.’”

There were many other statements in this book which no Catholic would ever make, but these were the heresies that I felt were noteworthy.

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