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   THEOLOGY MUST BE NOURISHED BY DIALOGUE WITH THE LOGOS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 3 DEC 2010 (VIS) - At midday today Benedict XVI received members   
   of the International Theological Commission, who have just completed their   
   plenary assembly.   
      
   "Your reflection on the Christian vision of God", the Pope told them, "can be a   
   precious contribution to the life of the faithful, as well as to our dialogue   
   with believers of other religions and with non-believers".   
      
   In "theo-logy", the Holy Father explained, "we seek, through the 'logos', to   
   communicate what 'we have seen and heard'. ... We can think about God and   
   communicate what we think because He has gifted us with reason in harmony with   
   His own nature. ... Indeed, knowing God in His true nature is also the sure way   
   to ensure peace. A God Who was not perceived as a source of forgiveness could   
   not be a light along the path of peace".   
      
   "No theological system can subsist if it is not permeated by the love of its   
   divine 'Subject', if it is not nourished by dialogue (that is, by acceptance in   
   the theologian's mind and heart) with the divine 'Logos', Creator and   
   Redeemer". In this context the Pope explained that theology "must remain   
   faithful to the nature of ecclesial faith: centred on God, rooted in prayer,   
   and in communion with the other disciples of the Lord as guaranteed by   
   communion with Peter's Successor and the entire college of bishops".   
      
   Benedict XVI then highlighted how "the theologian never starts from naught,   
   rather he considers the Fathers and theologians of Christian tradition to be   
   his masters. Rooted in Sacred Scripture, read with the Fathers and the Doctors,   
   theology can be a school of sanctity, as shown by Blessed John Henry Newman.   
   Discovering the permanent value of the wealth handed down from the past is an   
   important contribution that theologians make to the field of the sciences".   
      
   "The social commitment of Christians necessarily derives from the manifestation   
   of divine love. Contemplating the revealed God and practicing charity towards   
   others cannot be separated, though experienced under different charisms. In a   
   world which often appreciates many of Christianity's gifts (such as the idea of   
   democratic equality, which comes from evangelical monotheism) without   
   understanding the roots of its ideals, it is particularly important to show   
   that the fruit dies if the roots of the tree are cut. There is, in fact, no   
   justice without truth, and justice cannot fully develop if is horizon is   
   limited by the material world. For us as Christians, social solidarity always   
   has an eternal perspective".   
      
   Benedict XVI concluded by highlighting how "theologians cannot work in   
   solitude; they need the ministry of the pastors of the Church, just as the   
   Magisterium has need of theologians who carry out their service to the full,   
   with all the asceticism this implies".   
   AC/VIS 20101203 (470)   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)