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Title: The Regensburg Lecture
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Manufacturer: St. Augustines Press
List Price: $20.00
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| The Regensburg Lecture by St. Augustines Press A Primary Reference | Hold all the instant biographies and analyses of Pope Benedict, however useful in whole or (mostly) part. Hold the plethora of books and writings by him (many scholarly, some indifferently translated). This is a primary reference on his fundamental thought in the context of what may remain his most important public statement. That statement regarding the dialogue between Christianity and Islam is appended here in a finally sound translation. And despite the relative speed with which Fr. Schall has released this commentary, it is a first rate job which thoroughly explicates the Regensburg address and will likely constitute an important source on it for a long time.
Benedict opened this talk in an academic setting with reference to a similar dialogue, between a Byzantine and a Muslim, centuries ago. It posed a question, and not an unfamiliar one, to the Muslim world from the Christian concerning religion and violence--not necessarily an answer. It moves quickly to an exploration of concepts of the Godhead and rationality, Muslim and Christian, which apparently only the pope, out of all the Western world, is these days willing to publicly address. That this talk was mis-translated and lambasted among venues such as the BBC and the American chattering classes is perhaps a more astonishing and baleful sign of the times than that of certain Muslim militants who reacted violently in the days following the speech. Can the heirs of "the Enlightenment" any longer even tolerate the mere posing and exploration of large questions in an academic setting, supposedly one of the Enlightenment's most important institutions? The English speaking mass media (which Christians Catholic or non-Catholic should not mistake for the legitimate heir of anything) has answered no. Thus the Regensburg lecture has already, among other effects, oddly posed questions concerning societal order to the present West at least as pressing as they do to the Muslim world. That political correctness spells the end of liberty, in the classic American sense, has never been more dramatically demonstrated.
Fr. Schall quickly moves into a full exploration of all resonances of the Regensburg address, particularly as they relate to what is popularly called "terrorism" and its consequences for what remains of the Western political order. For the posing of the ancient question about an arbitrary diety, as opposed to a God self-limiting in His loving rationality, is double-edged. Fr. Schall brings in Benedict's concerns with the dissolution of European and Western culture generally, a de-hellenization which, undermining the church's embracing of classical era rational thought and natural law, leaves the West at present particularly vulnerable. This is finally seen to occur as much because of the West's own, mysterious inner breakdown as due to any outside threat.
This book is an indispensible guide which takes up Benedict's challenge at Regensburg--namely to articulate an ageed protocal at the highest levels of both Western culture and the Muslim world, so as walk both slowly backwards from an abyss. | | The Regensburg Lecture by St. Augustines Press A Wake Up Call for the World's Thinkers... | This book was my first introduction to Fr. Schall and I must say I was very impressed. This book is a great resource for those who have either read the Pope's Regensburg speech or have not read it yet, seeing as the first appendix contains the Pope's speech at Regensburg in its entirety.
Fr. Schall really unlocks the genius of the Pope's address and really gets to the reality of what the Pope was saying and at the same time shows the incredible neglect by the media in the recent past in it's treatment of what the Pope "said".
This book is a must and a challenge for anyone in higher education who thinks that the Roman Catholic Church and her teachings about reality, God, and man are outdated. Fr. Schall demonstrates with certain clarity that Pope Benedict XVI clearly understands the current cultural problems and makes them clear in this work, namely the abandonment of the objective rational world in religion and politics. Also given in this wonderful work is the foundational answer to getting our culture back on track in order to realize the true good for you and all peoples.
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