"... that has the ring of lived truth."
Mike Poterma of NRO writes those words of praise about Joseph Ratzinger's 
Faith and the Future, a collection of five talks given by Father (and professor) Joseph Ratzinger in 1969 and 1970, recently published in a hardcover volume by Ignatius Press:
Potrema concludes: "The current pope has a reputation as a rather shy, bookish fellow — but this slight yet impressive volume shows a man very much concerned with the real world, and Man’s situation in it." In fact, this volume is just further evidence that Ratzinger—contrary to many of the silly, misinformed, and even disingenuous things said about him—has long engaged seriously and vigorously with modern philosophies, thought, and perspectives.
Here are some excerpts from the book:
Today
at the most sensitive points of society, that is in literature and its
portrayal of man, we are beginning to find an unexpected verification
of the gruesome visions of Dostoyevsky of a world without God, and of
how that world turns into a madman's dream.
The man who wants to
limit himself to what is knowable in exact terms is caught up in the
crisis of reality: he beholds the withdrawal of truth. Within himself
he hears the cry of faith, which the spirit of the hour has not been
able to stifle, but has only made all the more dramatic. There is a cry
for liberation from the prison of positivism, as there is, too, for
liberation from a form of faith that has allowed itself to become a
burden instead of the vehicle of freedom.
This brings us at last
to the point at which the question can be put: How is such a faith to
be created? First let us remark: faith is not a diluted form of natural
science, an ancient or medieval preparatory stage that must vanish when
the real thing turns up, but is something essentially different.
It
is not provisional knowledge, although we do use the word in this sense
also when we say, for example, "I believe that is so." In such a case
"believing" means "being of the opinion." But when we say, "I believe
you," the word acquires quite another meaning. It means the same as, "I
trust you," or even as much as, "I rely upon you."
The you, in
which I put reliance, provides me with a certainty that is different
from but no less than the certainty that comes from calculation and
experiment. And it is thus that the word is used in the Christian
Credo. The basic form of Christian faith is not: I believe something,
but I believe you. Faith is a disclosure of reality that is
granted only to him who trusts, loves, and acts as a human being; and
as such it is not a derivative of knowledge, but is sui generis, like knowledge, although it is indeed more basic and more central to our authentically human nature than knowledge is.
'This insight has important consequences; and these can be liberating,
if taken seriously. For this means that faith is not primarily a
colossal edifice of numerous supernatural facts, standing like a
curious second order of knowledge alongside the realm of science, but
an assent to God who gives us hope and confidence.
A bit about the book:
But the problem of the future assails not only the believer. In the ever more rapidly advancing process of historical evolution, man is confronted with enormous opportunities, but also with colossal perils. For him, the future is not only hope, but sorrow—a nightmare, indeed. He cannot avoid asking what part faith can play in building tomorrow's world.
Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, approaches this problem of universal concern from a variety of angles, bringing his deep personal faith and theological brilliance to bear on these serious questions.
Learn more about some other newly released books by Joseph Ratzinger.
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