POPE. BOOK. PEACEMAKING. BRIDGES.

POPE.  BOOK.  PEACEMAKING.  BRIDGES.

Press release № 126 E

1. I have been presented with a gift from Rome – the last book of the Pope Emeritus (Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI “Jesus of Nazareth. The Infancy Narratives”. Translated in English by Philip J. Whitmore. Ed. “Image”, New York, USA. 2012. 132 pp., ill. Translation copyright 2012 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana). The book carries the clear intention of the pontiff to build the peacemaking bridges to different religious, ideological and theological groups. Some bridges have been constructed, indeed. But the main one has not been built. And the bleeding necessity to have such a bridge has not even been mentioned!

2. The Pope is building the bridge to the antique literature, mythology, philosophy and vaticanations. He is quoting the Fourth Eclogue of Virgil (p. 54 of the named book, etc.) with the exegesis of it, as the prophecy of Christ’s nativity. Pope also cites different inscriptions of Augustus and makes the exegesis of the structure of different Augustus shrines and rituals (especially connected with the day of Augustus birthday – 23 September).

3. The second bridge to be constructed by the Pontiff is the one to the non-Biblical semitic theology and oracles. E. g., he quotes the Judaist Talmudic Haggadah (p. 109) and the extra-Biblical oracle inscriptions of Balaam, son of Beor (p. 91, 131).

4. A very significant bridge has been built by the Pontiff to the Protestants. He is citing Karl Barth (p. 56), thus connecting the readers with the “confessing church”, with Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his martyrhood, with the Biblical-based anti-fascism and anti-national-socialism.

(NB: my dearly beloved brother pastor Gerhard Leiser says, that Bonhoeffer’s and Barth’s “confessing church” is “the best Lutheranity”).

The Pope also tries to have bridge to the Quakers, citing Mt., 21:10 as “the whole city was quaking “ (p. 103).

And the Protestants are ready to cooperate with the Pope’s peacemaking intention (“Peacemakers. Rome. Taize.”, isaurian.blogspot.com, 09.01.2013). 

5. The next bridge is the one to the triune Chinese religion: Confucianism-Taoism-Buddhism. The Pope cites for this purpose the “Chinese chronological tables” (p. 99).

6. A very interesting is the bridge, constructed by the Pontiff, to the philosophy of structuralism, which is considered by some thinkers to be the most splendid fruit of the XX century human thought, while by the others – to be the most scandalous one.

The Pope quotes (pp. 24, 25, 28, 129) the book of Rene Laurentin (“Structure et Theologie de Luc”, I – II, Gabalda, Paris. 1964). After this structuralist the Pontiff writes about the identity of the structures of “God dwelling in the ark of the Covenant as dwelling in “Israel’s womb” (Ex., 33:3; 34:9); and of Zephania prophecy (Zeph., 3:15, 17) “the Lord is in your midst”, understood as “He is in your womb”; and of Gabriel’s message to Mary: “you will conceive in your womb” (Lk., 1:31).

The Pope also cites (pp. 119,132) such an “ecclesially minded exegete”, as Ernst Nellessen (the book “Das Kind and seine Mutter. Struktur und Verkundigung des 2. Kapitels im Matthausevangelium”, Stuttgarter Bibelstudien, vol. 39, Kathaolisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart. 1969).

The influence of Claude Levi-Strauss and his structural anthropology ideas is obviously felt in all these passages.

7. But where is the bridge to the Moslems? It is not present in the Pope’s book. This is a huge lacuna in the peacemaking process. And the abyss is being made even deeper with the silent reminiscence of the scandal, produced with Benedict’s mentioning in one of his previous speeches of the Byzantine emperor Manuel writings about Islam and about, as Manuel wrote, the “hammered together” (sphyropaektos, holosphyros, holosphyraelatos) “God of Mohammed”.

8. No peacemaking is possible today without the bridge to the Moslems. Indeed, neither antique vaticanations, nor Moab and Midian oracles, neither St. Bartholomew’s massacre, nor Chinese shamanism, nor structural philosophy are the threats to the global peace now. The real threat to it is the discovered by me “World Interislamic War” (watch “War and Peace”, isaurian.blogspot.com, 07.09.2013).

And the only bridge to reach the combatants here and to have the peacemaking process is to use the created by me methods (watch “Peacemaker”, isaurian.blogspot.com, 25.09.2012).

9. “Ego sum vitis vos palmites “ (Vulgata, Io, 15:5).

“Vinea fuit Pacifico” (V, Cant., 8:11).

“Beati pacifici” (V, Mt., 5:9).

“Pax vobis” (V, Io, 20:19).

“Peace unto you” (KJV, Jhn., 20:19).

Professor        N.  E.  Alyoshin

(Nicholas Eugene Alyoshin

№ 108, Dlinnaya st., Krasnodar, 350000, Russia

e-mail: isaurian@gmail.com

blog: isaurian.blogspot.com)