Introduction to Christianity
Joseph Ratzinger, eventually, Pope Benedict XVI, in the beginning of Introduction to Christianity gives a strong defense of the conception of God as laid out in the Old Testament.1 He primarily does this by accepting the terms laid out by the Historical Critical Scholars, who seem to tilt the playing field in their direction. Despite this, he still manages to prove the conception of God in the Old Testament is compatible with the notion of God in Christianity.
The name of God given at the Burning Bush is “Yahweh”, which seems to translate as “He Who Is”. Despite the disputed nature of the etymology of the name, Ratzinger shows, using two arguments that is can be understood in a more broadly philosophical way, which gives way to the understanding of a personal God of love. By comparing the religious context in which Israel grew out of, we can see that this declaration of God of his name clearly distinguishes him from the polytheism and atheism prevalent at that time. Ultimately, there are three options, polytheism, atheism, and monotheism, and Ratzinger lays out how all of these rely on some sort of monotheism which underlies the worldview of the first two options.
Secondly, he makes an argument based off of the names given to God in the context of the rest of the Bible. Those names which are used give the impression of a God who is intimately familiar with, and interested in, the workings of the life of the people of Israel. There is in the monotheism present in the Old Testament a constant “declaration of war” on the threefold worship of bread, of love, and of idolization of power. The God of Isreal is just that, the God of the Fathers, and not a God of one place. As a numen personale, instead of a numen locale, God goes with the Israelites and cares for them, even when they abandon him.
This Biblical understanding of God shows that we can only come to know God’s name because He reveals it to us, which, according to scholars, stands in contrast to the God of the philosophers who is “not-to-be-defined.” But in the name of Yahweh, as it is incorporated into Jewish names in the Babylonian Captivity, we see that He is “my” God, and in this way, there is a fit of the etymology with the episode of the Burning Bush. Both names of God, Elohim and Yahweh both stand in sharp contrast with the gods of idolatry, baal and moloch, which both signify a master-slave relationship. God, while being absolute spirit, is the mighty, wise God who both stands above all things in power while at the same time is “near-at-hand ” and most intimately personal. Jesus is the culmination of bringing God to us, at the Last Supper, he gives us his name which is not so much an ontological description, but a giving over of ownership. By having a name, we can “get a hold of” God who reveals Himself. Vero’s concept of religion breaks a society in to three kinds: physical, political, and mythical. The Logos of Christ stands above and beyond the Mythos of the pagans and philosophers. God is then not a god of mathematics, but a God of agape, who, in love, transforms the god of the philosophers into the God of relation and communion of persons. In the Creed, Christianity incorporates all of the various aspects of God under His revealed Name.
Footnotes
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This is a good topic, which is why it gets a footnote! ↩