I hate to be a naysayer because I am a big fan of the present pope's work, including and even especially of this, his second encyclical.
One point disturbs me, however, and I'm beginning to think that I must be missing something because no one is mentioning it:
Benedect XVI says that we "may suppose" most people are neither fit for Heaven (directly) nor for Hell, but, rather, that they may be supposed to go to Purgatory. (In context, it seems pretty clear he's referring to **all people**, not just people headed for Heaven.) In other words, he's telling us we "may suppose" Hell is a relatively rare phenomomenon.
Now, I realize and appreciate that the Church has no teaching apropos of the statitics of those who are damned.
*Nevertheless*, the Church has always shown a traditional reserve in this regard, being VERY CAREFUL not to imply anything about the proportionality of the saved to the lost -- **especially** in the light of the weighty opinion of countless Fathers, Doctors and saints throughout the centuries that the number of the damned is, unfortunately, rather large.
Now, I'm quite familiar with the fact that the more recent popes have apparently held a more "optismistic" outlook in terms of the salvation of individual men, but this is the first time of which I am aware that such an outlook has been explicitly advocated in as weighty a document as a papal encyclical!
If this is so, what gives? Is this, perhaps, a misimpression created by the English translation?
Any help/insight would be appreciated!
God bless,
Martin
Martin -- thanks for your comment. I finished reading the encyclical in the late hours of the night, and while it did not occur to me at the time, upon second reading of this particular section I happen to share your curiousity (and perhaps concern).
According to Benedict, "the way we live our lives is not immaterial, but our defilement does not stain us for ever IF we have at least continued to reach out towards Christ, towards truth and towards love" -- as I read it, salvation is contingent on that "if", and if anything in Benedict's teachings we have a very clear idea of the demands that love entails.
Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to revisit some earlier writings and research for a future post -- Ratzinger / Benedict's views of eschatology and hell in particular, not to mention the controversy with Balthasar.
In the meantime I am eager for others' input on this or any other aspect of the encyclical.
Like you I had difficulty in determining what exactly to comment on, one could easily highlight 80% of the document without much effort.
THe first thing that struck me is the appeal to Eastern Orthodoxy. Publishing dates are not without there significance and the selection of "30 November, the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle" I think does carry import for hope in reunion.
I can't recall the citing from Far Eastern Catholic (para. 32 & 37)for an encyclical. ANyone know if that's a first?
I loved the way he phrased Luther's understanding of "substance" in para. 7. And Luthers subjective assumptions about Hope in Hebrews 11. It's not wrong it's incomplete, which has led to wrong conclusions. I wonder if that will be addressed in any future discussion with that communion.
Two quick impressions. First, it seems to me the encyclical is a shot across the bow of whiny Christianity. It is, after all, addressed only to us and not to "all people of good will." I love the part where he says the power to let another person matter to us, to sacrifice for what is right, etc. comes from knowing I am loved and no matter what happens, I am awaited by the one who loves me. It's a challenge to us to live like that --like people who are awaited, and who therefore cannot be held captive to human respect (which is what political correctness is, right?)or even threats to our belongings or persons.
So often it seems to me that contemporary Christianity lacks courage and joyful pluck. There's an awful lot of the same kind of whining about stress and resentment of the vicissitudes of every day life that you find everywhere else ( in myself included; I'm not meaning to whack at others, just saying what I find lacking in the witness Christians give the world). The Pope's main message seems to be if we aren't going to live from real Hope rather than material hopes, there's no "hope" for the renewal of culture. Nothing less than saints will do!
The second thing I've been musing about is this: does hope exist as a virtue prior to Christianity? I don't think you'll find it in Plato or Aristotle. The virtuous man in antiquity's "hopes" were just his desires or wishes. Hope doesn't become a virtue until Christ, right? (I think that's right.) Antiquity can be said to have all the other virtues (at least in their natural, non-infused form) except hope. Isn't that interesting?
Martin
A delayed reply, but some clue as to Benedict's thoughts: Hell is real, says pope Spero Forum February 8, 2008:
Pope Benedict XVI gave assurances that Hell exists and is not empty, while addressing a group of priests. Nothing new here, since in 2007 he had mentioned the existence of the Inferno as a physical place, evenwhile his predecessor John Paul II had rejected the idea.
The pope, while meeting with priests of Rome to note the beginning of Lent, sent a message to the faithful: "Hell exists", and salvation is not certain and will not come to all. It was for this reason that he wanted to point out the possibility of Hell as a physical reality, according to Italian daily La Repubblica.
"Hell, of which little is spoken nowadays, exists and is eternal", said the pontiff in April 2007. This is an idea that appears to run contrary to that proposed by the preceding leader of the Church, as well as now-deceased Swiss theologian Hans Urs Von Baltasar. John Paul II addressed the traditional idea of Hell in the summer of 1999 when he treated on the themes of Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, and Satan, in four audiences.
Said the Polish pope, "heaven is not a physical place in the clouds". Hell is then not "a place", but "the situation of someone who has distanced himself from God". Purgatory, for John Paul II, is a provisional condition of "purification" and not found on a map. And as for Satan, "he is defeated: Jesus has liberated us from our fear of him".
One of the priests at the meeting in Rome asked whether the Church should again take up a debate about sin, Hell, and life after death. Pope Benedict XVI made it clear that salvation is not guaranteed. "No all of us will present ourselves equally at the banquet in Paradise", and many will have to be purified before "facing the Final Judgement".
What Pope Benedict says about hell, is consistent with Saint´s experiencies such as Faustina Kowalska´s and Juan Bosco´s.
Also its consistent with private revelations.
One mystic from Bolivia says in her supposed dictations from Christ, that little is said nowdays about heaven, purgatory and hell, even when those places are real.
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