Church Tradition and Its Biblical Foundations in the Teaching of Joseph Ratzinger /Benedict XVI. An Outline of Problems
Church Tradition and Its Biblical Foundations in the Teaching of Joseph Ratzinger /Benedict XVI. An Outline of Problems

Summary/Abstract: The Tradition of the Church has been a vital part of the Christian faith since the apostolicage. It has its tangible, historical basis in Scripture, but at the same time, it is a supernatural, livingand ever-present reality of the Church. Because of its relevance to Christian life, tradition is also a fre-quently debated theological topic in Catholic and Protestant theological circles. As a theologian, JosephRatzinger/Benedict XVI created and offered the Church his concept of the Tradition of the Church, andthat theological proposal is the subject of the present analyses. They aim to describe the sources, the es-sence and the constituent elements of the sacred Tradition of the Church in Ratzinger’s lectures withparticular reference to its biblical basis. A methodologically correct way of dealing with the issue at handis a historical and, at the same time, theological analysis, since the subject of the study is the Church asa supernatural reality of the community of believers past and present. This article first discusses JosephRatzinger’s publications on the Tradition of the Church, proceeding afterwards to present the essentialelements of his understanding of Tradition and, finally, describing its biblical foundations. For Joseph Rat-zinger/Benedict XVI, Tradition is the constant actualisation of Jesus’ presence in the Church, the memoryof him, but also the living experience of salvation.

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