Second volume of 'Jesus of Nazareth' expected next spring (liberal USCCB bias warning!)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's second volume on the life of Jesus is likely to be completed sometime next spring, a Vatican spokesman said.

The book is expected to cover Christ's childhood, passion, death and resurrection. The first volume, the best-selling "Jesus of Nazareth," was published in 2007.

The spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told Catholic News Service Sept. 13 that next spring was a "realistic" target date for completion. He added that readying the manuscript for publication and translating it into other languages could add to the timeline, however.

The pope has been working on the volume over the last two years, especially during his summer vacations. When he broke his right wrist at the start of his vacation in July, he was said to have been particularly disappointed because it meant he couldn't write for several weeks.

The 448-page first volume, "Jesus of Nazareth," covered the life of Christ from the time of his baptism in the Jordan River to the transfiguration before his disciples. In it, Pope Benedict said Christ must be understood as the Son of God on a divine mission, not as a mere moralist or social reformer.

The book said that while Christ did not bring a blueprint for social progress, he did bring a new vision based on love that challenges the evils of today's world -- from the brutality of totalitarian regimes to the "cruelty of capitalism."

Note the last paragraph. Here is the actual context of what was said in the book (pp 97-98):

Nietzsche sees the vision of the Sermon on the Mount as a religion of resentment, as the envy of the cowardly and incompetent, who are unequal to life's demands and try to avenge themselves by blessing their failure and cursing the strong, the successful, and the happy. Jesus' wide perspective is countered with a narrow this-worldliness -- with the will to get the most out of the world and what life has to offer now, to seek heaven here, and to be uninhibited by any scruples while doing so.

Much of this has found its way into the modern mindset and to a large extent shapes how our contemporaries feel about life. Thus, the Sermon on the Mount poses the question of the fundamental Christian option, and, as children of our time, we feel an inner resistance to it -- even though we are still touched by Jesus' praise of the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, the pure. Knowing now from experience how brutally totalitarian regimes have trampled upon human beings and despised, enslaved, and struck down the weak, we have also gained a new appreciation of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; we have rediscovered the soul of those who mourn and their right to be comforted. As we witness the abuse of economic power, as we witness the cruelties of a capitalism that degrades man to the level of merchandise, we have also realized the perils of wealth, and we have gained a new appreciation of what Jesus meant when he warned of riches, of the man-destroying divinity Mammon, which grips large parts of the world in a cruel stranglehold. Yes indeed, the Beatitudes stand opposed to our spontaneous sense of existence, our hunger and thirst for life. They demand "conversion" -- that we inwardly turn around to go in the opposite direction from the one we would spontaneously like to go in. But this U-turn brings what is pure and noble to the fore and gives a proper ordering to our lives.

So, does anybody think that the USCCB position, the book said that while Christ did not bring a blueprint for social progress, he did bring a new vision based on love that challenges the evils of today's world -- from the brutality of totalitarian regimes to the "cruelty of capitalism", is an accurate representation of what Ratzinger actually wrote?

Or is that just a stupid question...

As we witness the abuse of economic power, as we witness the cruelties of a capitalism that degrades man to the level of merchandise, we have also realized the perils of wealth, and we have gained a new appreciation of what Jesus meant when he warned of riches

Given what Ratzinger wrote above there can be no doubt that he's a socialist. What a pity. Capitalism does NOT degrades man. Capitalism is only a system. What degrades man is SIN. You certainly can find degradation in ANY system of government. Does anyone believe Communism is more equitable? Funny Ratzinger didn't say a thing about that!

People have such a lack of understanding of what the scriptures actually say. Lydia through her capitalist instincts was a primary financier of the church's expansion to the west. And there are many in scripture who grew wealthy through God's blessing. Wealth was always looked upon until very recently as a providence of God. It is not a sin nor is capitalism degrading. People have a goofy notion that it's bad. Well, perhaps the Vatican should unload it's loot.

If Ratzinger is looking for a New Testament verse on capitalism, try Paul's advice, "If a man doesn't work let him not eat".

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