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Living as if There is God

  • POPE BENEDICT XVI

In his writings while in prison, Bonhoeffer once remarked that even the Christian must live today quasi Deus non daretur — as if there were no God.


jesusdavHe must not involve God in the perplexities of his everyday life, but must assume responsibility himself for the course of that life.

Personally, I would prefer to state this thought in exactly the opposite way: in practice, even one for whom the existence of God, the world of faith, has grown dim, should live today quasi Deus essetas if God really exists.

He should live subject to the reality of truth, which is not our creation, but our mistress.  He should live under the standard of justice, which is not just a product of our own minds, but the norm by which we ourselves are measured.

He should live subject to the love that awaits us and that loves even us.  He should live under the challenge of eternity.

In fact, one who consciously lets himself be formed by this concept will see that it is the only way that the human race can be saved.

God — and he alone — is our salvation.  This unprecedented truth, which we so long regarded as a scarcely tenable theory, has become the most practical formula for our present history.

And one who — even if perhaps at first only hesitantly — entrusts himself to this difficult yet inescapable as if, who lives as if there were a God, will become ever more aware that this as if is the only reality.

He will perceive its justification, its inner strength.  And he will know profoundly and indelibly why Christianity is still necessary today as the genuinely good news by which we are redeemed.

This is Meaghen Gonzalez, Editor of CERC. I hope you appreciated this piece. We curate these articles especially for believers like you.

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Acknowledgement

BenedictPope Benedict XVI. "Living as if There is God." from Dogma and Preaching (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2011).

This excerpt appeared in Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI.

The Author

Benedict73smBenedict72Pope Benedict XVI is the author of Jesus of Nazareth, Vol II, Jesus of Nazareth, Vol I, Caritas in Veritate: Charity in Truth, Saved in Hope: Spe Salvi, God Is Love: Deus Caritas Est,The End of Time?: The Provocation of Talking about God, Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions, Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam, Salt of the Earth: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church at the End of the Millennium, God and the World: Believing and Living in Our Time, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall, The Spirit of the Liturgy, The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church, Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Introduction to Christianity, Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, Behold the Pierced One, and God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life.

Copyright © 2011 Ignatius Press