Jesus of Nazareth, vol. 2 is filled with provocative thought on taking Christ seriously in the modern world, with the modern mind, perhaps especially for the Jew, for those Jews of our day who are sincerely searching for the truth. It seems to me that the Holy Father's purpose with this work is to take the perspective, perhaps especially, of his Jewish readers, and to honestly answer their legitimate questions, so that they may believe, so that we may all believe more, in the one true God.
He is focusing on, and being especially sensitive to, the legitimate sensibilities of the Jewish people. In the introduction (p. xvi) he explicitly states that this is not just another presentation of the life of Christ.
He says that he is attempting to do what Saint Thomas Aquinas did in his treatise on the mysteries of the life of Jesus in the Summa Theologiae (S. Th. III, qq. 27-59), in a different historical and spiritual context, and therefore with a different inner objective which determines the structure of the text in essential ways: viz., trying to appeal to the modern disbelief. Pope Benedict uses the Enlightenment mentality with the Historical Critical Method to prove the truth of God, Jesus Christ, the Gospels and salvation. Saint Thomas Aquinas appropriated aristotelianism and answered the Islamic interpretations of Christ and of Aristotle. Pope Benedict is appropriating all of the post-enlightenment scientific rigor while answering the present day interpretations of Christ, which are most characteristically beset with woeful ignorance. So, in the process, he is educating the Jews on the deep and unadulterated meaning of Judaism, which many have perhaps forgotten. A Jew who does not know what the scripture says about Judaism cannot know anything about the coming of the Messiah, and, therefore, of the truth of God.
One of the Pope's numerous insights, which, since I read it a couple of days ago, has given me renewed evangelical enthusism and a largely different perspective, is his definition of eternal life. "'Eternal life' is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death. This is the point: to seize "life" here and now, real life that can no longer be destroyed by anything or anyone...[A] distinguishing feature of the disciple of Jesus is the fact that he 'lives': beyond the mere fact of existing, he has found and embraced the real life that everyone is seeking. On the basis of such texts, the early Christians called themselves simply 'the living' (hoi zontes). They had found what all are seeking--life itself, full and, hence, indestructible life." p. 83
That idea is also present throughout the Old Testament. For example, the last verses of the book of Tobias (Douay Version) says: "[Tobias--the younger] saw his children's children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. And all his kindred, and all his generations continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land."
Life on earth should not, shall not, be drudgery for those who live the new life of God, viz. the life of Christ. Everything is a joy when you live for Him, even death! That is eternal life, that my life should depend on nothing except on the love of the one true God, my communion with Him in all things, starting in this life!!!...and, later, passing joyfully to the life hereafter, at His good will.
He is focusing on, and being especially sensitive to, the legitimate sensibilities of the Jewish people. In the introduction (p. xvi) he explicitly states that this is not just another presentation of the life of Christ.
He says that he is attempting to do what Saint Thomas Aquinas did in his treatise on the mysteries of the life of Jesus in the Summa Theologiae (S. Th. III, qq. 27-59), in a different historical and spiritual context, and therefore with a different inner objective which determines the structure of the text in essential ways: viz., trying to appeal to the modern disbelief. Pope Benedict uses the Enlightenment mentality with the Historical Critical Method to prove the truth of God, Jesus Christ, the Gospels and salvation. Saint Thomas Aquinas appropriated aristotelianism and answered the Islamic interpretations of Christ and of Aristotle. Pope Benedict is appropriating all of the post-enlightenment scientific rigor while answering the present day interpretations of Christ, which are most characteristically beset with woeful ignorance. So, in the process, he is educating the Jews on the deep and unadulterated meaning of Judaism, which many have perhaps forgotten. A Jew who does not know what the scripture says about Judaism cannot know anything about the coming of the Messiah, and, therefore, of the truth of God.
One of the Pope's numerous insights, which, since I read it a couple of days ago, has given me renewed evangelical enthusism and a largely different perspective, is his definition of eternal life. "'Eternal life' is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death. This is the point: to seize "life" here and now, real life that can no longer be destroyed by anything or anyone...[A] distinguishing feature of the disciple of Jesus is the fact that he 'lives': beyond the mere fact of existing, he has found and embraced the real life that everyone is seeking. On the basis of such texts, the early Christians called themselves simply 'the living' (hoi zontes). They had found what all are seeking--life itself, full and, hence, indestructible life." p. 83
That idea is also present throughout the Old Testament. For example, the last verses of the book of Tobias (Douay Version) says: "[Tobias--the younger] saw his children's children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. And all his kindred, and all his generations continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land."
Life on earth should not, shall not, be drudgery for those who live the new life of God, viz. the life of Christ. Everything is a joy when you live for Him, even death! That is eternal life, that my life should depend on nothing except on the love of the one true God, my communion with Him in all things, starting in this life!!!...and, later, passing joyfully to the life hereafter, at His good will.