Spe salvi — new encyclical

[Thomas]

Hello all —

Friday saw the release of the second encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI. The first, Deus catitas est was on caritas, the Christian notion of love. This second is on hope, the second of the triumvirate of theological virtues (faith, hope and love).

The media, interested only is creating dissent and dispute, has been remarkably quiet with regard to these Pontifical documents, especially from a pope imputed to be, among other things, a neo-nazi and an inquisitional 'rotweiller'.

Meanwhile, in more scholarly circles, there is much discussion and delight about the Christian Platonism that underlies the philosophical thinking of Pope Benedict, something known from his days as Cardinal Ratzinger.

I have posted some paragraphs that refer to specific philosophical issues.

And of course, I commend the encyclical as a whole.

"Spe salvi" Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI on Christian Hope

Thomas

 

[bob x]

Is there some reason you couldn't put it all on one thread?
I hope you are not going to spam the thread with a one-paragraph thread on every subject in the encyclical.

 

[flowperson]

Thomas...From what I've read I believe that The Holy Father is a very wise man, albeit a little too conservative for my tastes. But then that is the nature of our realities. Thanks for posting this information.

Happy season's greetings and a Merry Christmas to you and yours...

Flow....

 

[Thomas]

Hi Flow —
Thanks, and may the light that enlightens flood envelope the being of you and yours.
(That's a very quick and clunky effort at a non-denominational blessing!)

Hi Bob x —
No, you can rest assured that's not my habit. As the encyclical is so rich, I thought I'd pull out a couple of salient topics, for those interested in philosophical discussion. To tackle the whole thing in one bite is just too much and leads to too-dispersed a discussion.

Thomas

 

[lunamoth]

Hi Thomas,

Thank you for sharing the excerpts...I read them with interest and respect. Faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Have a blessed Advent season.

Laurie

 

[Francis king]

i am in too much of a daft mood at present to read it properly, so hope ppl relpy to this thread over the next few days so I can then peruse it later on...

cheers thomas...