Joseph Ratzinger and historicism

from critique to the elaboration of an anthropological purification

Abstract

For a long time, research on the theology of history by Joseph Ratzinger has focused on the soteriological implications of history, namely, history as the history of salvation. However, although some studies acknowledge a certain importance of historicism in his theological reflection, it has been little observed that the Bavarian theologian not only criticizes this paradigm but also adopts it, proposing its purification. Therefore, this work seeks to propose a synthesis between Joseph Ratzinger's theological reflection and the Historicist paradigm. The results of the analysis of the author's texts indicate that historicism was received, criticized, and assimilated in his formation and intellectual production through the problem of the rupture between history and nature, thus situating itself within the context of the crisis of historicism. In this way, by exploring the presence and importance of such a paradigm in Ratzinger's work, we point out that, by integrating historicist elements into his biblical anthropology, Ratzinger elaborates a response that understands relativism as a constitutive part of personal existence, conceiving man as a being of relativity.

Keywords: Joseph Ratzinger; Historicism; History; Nature; Person.