The theology of Pope Benedict XVI, as promulgated during his pontificate, consists mainly of three encyclical letters on love (2005), hope (2007), and "charity in truth" (2009), as well as apostolic documents and various speeches and interviews. Pope Benedict XVI's theology underwent developments over the years, many of which were characterized by his leadership position in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is entrusted with preserving the Catholic faith in its entirety.
His theology originated in the view that God speaks to us through the Church today and not just through the Bible. The Bible does not teach natural science but rather it is a testimonial to God's revelation.
Theology
Benedict spoke as a theologian and as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith long before he became Pope. It is in his three encyclicals and other papal letters that we see his evolving theology combined with his authority as Pope.
God is Love
In his first Encyclical as Pope, Deus caritas est, Benedict XVI describes God as love, and talks about the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others through acts of charity.
His letter has two parts. A theological speculative part, in which he describes "the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love". The second part deals with practical aspects, and calls the world to new energy and commitment in its response to God's love.
Benedict writes about love of God, and considers this important and significant, because we live in a time in which "the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence":
Benedict develops a positive view of sex and eros in this first encyclical, which would do away with the Victorian view of the human body. Love between man and woman is a gift of God, which should not be exploited:
<blockquote>Nowadays Christianity of the past is often criticized as having been opposed to the body; and it is quite true that tendencies of this sort have always existed. ... but ... eros, reduced to pure "sex", has become a commodity, a mere "thing" to be bought and sold, or rather, man himself becomes a commodity. This is hardly man's great "yes" to the body. On the contrary, he now considers his body and his sexuality as the purely material part of himself, to be used and exploited at will.'</blockquote>
In the encyclical Benedict avoids condemnations which characterized his writing as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and also corrects a view of sex as purely for procreation.
Faith-based hope
thumb|250px
In his second encyclical, Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI explains the concept of faith-based hope in the New Testament and the early Church. He suggests a redirection of often short-sighted hopes. Real hope must be based on faith in God who is love. Christ, the most manifest expression of God's love, dies on the cross not to end slavery, miseries or other temporal problems.
Benedict argues in his letter against two mistaken notions of hope: 1.) Christians who may have focused their hopes too much on their own eternal salvation, and 2.) those who have placed their hope exclusively on science, rationality, freedom and justice for all, thus excluding any notion of God and eternity. Christians find lasting hope by finding their loving God, and this has real consequences for everyday life. In his commentary on slavery, Benedict takes the attitude of Christians in the Roman Empire:
Benedict refers to St. Paul who wrote from prison "Paul is sending the slave back to the master from whom he had fled, not ordering but asking: 'I appeal to you for my child ... whose father I have become in my imprisonment ... I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart ... perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother'" (Philem 10–16). He refers then to the Letter to the Hebrews, which says that Christians here on earth do not have a permanent homeland, but seek one which lies in the future (cf. Heb 11:13–16; Phil 3:20).
To Benedict, this does not mean for one moment that they lived only for the future: present society is recognized by Christians as an exile; they belong to a new society which is the goal of their common pilgrimage and which is anticipated in the course of that pilgrimage. A Christian has a present and future, because of the hope for Jesus Christ, which is life changing. All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action. This hope gives a realistic perspective to understanding suffering and helping others: We can try to limit suffering, to fight against it, but we cannot eliminate it. It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater.
Benedict believes that not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering are we healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.
The Eucharist and the Church
In a special letter on the Eucharist and the Church, Benedict describes the Eucharist as the causal principle of the Church.
A contemplative gaze "upon him whom they have pierced" (Jn 19:37) leads us to reflect on the causal connection between Christ's sacrifice, the Eucharist, and the Church. The Church "draws her life from the Eucharist" (31). Since the Eucharist makes present Christ's redeeming sacrifice, we must start by acknowledging that "there is a causal influence of the Eucharist at the Church's very origins." The Eucharist is Christ who gives himself to us and continually builds us up as his body. Hence, in the striking interplay between the Eucharist which builds up the Church, and the Church herself which "makes" the Eucharist, the primary causality is expressed in the first formula: the Church is able to celebrate Christ present in the Eucharist precisely because Christ first gave himself to her in the sacrifice of the Cross. The Church's ability to "make" the Eucharist is completely rooted in Christ's self-gift to her.
What does this mean? According to Benedict, the Eucharist, which is union with Christ, has a profound impact on our social relations. Because "union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own."
Theology, science and the dialogue with other cultures
In an address to the faculty at the University of Regensburg, Germany, Benedict discussed the preconditions for an effective dialogue with Islam and other cultures. This requires a review of theology and science. The Pope considers the modern concept of science too narrow in the long run, because it allows the determination of "certainty" only from the interplay of mathematical and empirical elements. "Anything that would claim to be science must be measured against this criterion. Hence the human sciences, such as history, psychology, sociology and philosophy, attempt to conform themselves to this canon of science."
This limited view of scientific method excludes the question of God, making it appear an unscientific or pre-scientific question. For philosophy and, albeit in a different way, for theology, listening to the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular, is a source of knowledge, and to ignore it would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding.