Spe Salvi

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Spe salvi
Latin : Saved in Hope
Encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI
Coat of Arms of Benedictus XVI.svg
Date 30 November 2007
Argument Hope and Salvation
Pages 77
Encyclical number 2 of 3 of the pontificate
Text
Part of a series on the
Theology of
Pope Benedict XVI
Joseph Ratzinger.jpg
Benedict XVI: "The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life." BentoXVI-16-10052007.jpg
Benedict XVI: "The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life."

Spe Salvi (English: "Saved in Hope"), referencing the Latin phrase from Romans 8:24 , Spe salvi facti sumus ("in hope we were saved"), is the second encyclical letter by Pope Benedict XVI promulgated on November 30, 2007, and is about the theological virtue of hope. Benedict has systematically touched upon the three theological virtues: love in 2005 Deus caritas est ("God is Love"), hope in this encyclical, and faith in 2013 Lumen fidei ("The Light of Faith"), written with Pope Francis. [1]

Latin Indo-European language of the Italic family

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.

Epistle to the Romans book of the Bible

The Epistle to the Romans or Letter to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the longest of the Pauline epistles.

An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from Late Latin encyclios.

Contents

The encyclical contains over 18,900 words, divided into fifty paragraphs, and organized into an introduction and eight chapters.

Title

As is customary for papal encylicals, the Latin title of Spe Salvi comes from its incipit , which quotes St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: "For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for?" [Rom 8:24] In the introduction of the encyclical, Benedict sets the tone of his text by asking about the relationship between hope and redemption.

Incipit first few words of the opening line of a poem, song, or book, often used in lieu of a title

The incipit of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word incipit comes from Latin and means "it begins". Its counterpart taken from the ending of the text is the explicit.

Paul the Apostle Early Christian apostle and missionary

Paul the Apostle, commonly known as Saint Paul and also known by his Jewish name Saul of Tarsus, was an apostle who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. Paul is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age and in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences.

Summary

Benedict sees "a distinguishing mark of Christians the fact that they have a future: it is not that they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their life will not end in emptiness." [2] According to Richard Neuhaus, Benedict argues "...that hope is faith disposed toward the future, and making all the difference in the present." [3]

Content

Benedict traces relationship between the Christian concept of hope and redemption. The first six chapters are theological in nature, but often use historical examples to highlight applications to daily life. Benedict starts by quoting St. Paul's reminder to the early Church community that before converting to Christianity, they were "without hope and without God in the world" (Epistle to the Ephesians 2:12 ). Benedict relates the story of Josephine Bakhita as an example of the contrast between a prior, pagan way of life and the new "hopeful" Christian life. Josephine, an African saint who lived her early life as a slave, converted to Catholicism after finding "the great hope" which had "redeemed" her. She spent the rest of her life as a nun, preaching throughout Italy and was canonized in 2000. [4]

Salvation being saved or protected from harm

Salvation is being saved or protected from harm or being saved or delivered from a dire situation. In religion, salvation is saving of the soul from sin and its consequences.

Epistle to the Ephesians book of the Bible

The Epistle to the Ephesians, also called the Letter to the Ephesians and often shortened to Ephesians, is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, written in Paul's name by a later author strongly influenced by Paul's thought, probably "by a loyal disciple to sum up Paul’s teaching and to apply it to a new situation fifteen to twenty-five years after the Apostle’s death.

Josephine Bakhita Italian saint and former slave

Josephine Margaret Bakhita,, was a Sudanese-Italian Canossian religious sister active in Italy for 45 years, after having been a slave in Sudan. In 2000 she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church.

Paragraphs four, five, and six describe a series of contrasts that serve to clearly define Christ's role as revolutionary in the Roman empire and its implications for Christians. Benedict draws clear distinction between the failed socio-political revolutions or liberations of Spartacus, Barabbas, and Bar-Kochba with "the new (non-political) hope" of Jesus. He concludes that Jesus brought "an encounter with the Lord of all lords, an encounter with the living God and thus an encounter with a hope stronger than the sufferings of slavery, a hope which transformed life and the world from within", something that these revolutionaries could not. These paragraphs recall Benedict's persistent rejection of Marxism and Liberation Theology throughout his teachings and specifically in Deus caritas est. [5]

Spartacus Thracian gladiator

Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator who, along with the Gauls Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable. However, all sources agree that he was a former gladiator and an accomplished military leader.

Barabbas Biblical person

Barabbas is a figure mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, in which he is an insurrectionary held by the Roman governor at the same time as Jesus, and whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, while keeping Jesus as a prisoner.

Marxism economic and sociopolitical worldview based on the works of Karl Marx

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and takes a dialectical view of social transformation. It originates from the works of 19th-century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Benedict then draws on early Christian sarcophagi representations of Jesus as philosopher and shepherd to illustrate that Christian hope extends beyond this life on earth. The Good Shepherd, who has himself passed through death, guides his followers beyond it, so that death itself is not something to be feared. [6]

Good Shepherd epithet of Jesus, from the parable: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling […], seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth” (Jn 10:11–12)

The Good Shepherd is an image used in the pericope of John 10:1-21, in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23. The Good Shepherd is also discussed in the other gospels, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the First Epistle of Peter and the Book of Revelation.

In paragraph seven, he proceeds to link hope and redemption to the theological virtue of faith by analyzing the Greek and Latin translation of: Est autem fides sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium. ("[F]aith is the “substance” of things hoped for; the proof of things not seen.")

"Eternal life – what is it?"

Benedict deals with the topic of eternal life, explaining that it is not a mere prolongation of existence but the blissful completion of life. He points out that in the baptismal rite the parents presenting the child ask for faith because faith brings eternal life.

Perhaps many people reject the faith today simply because they do not find the prospect of eternal life attractive. What they desire is not eternal life at all, but this present life, for which faith in eternal life seems something of an impediment. To continue living for ever —endlessly—appears more like a curse than a gift. Death, admittedly, one would wish to postpone for as long as possible. But to live always, without end—this, all things considered, can only be monotonous and ultimately unbearable. [7]

He then references St. Ambrose's funeral oration for his brother Satyrus:“Death was not part of nature; it became part of nature. God did not decree death from the beginning; he prescribed it as a remedy. Human life, because of sin ... began to experience the burden of wretchedness in unremitting labour and unbearable sorrow. There had to be a limit to its evils; ...Without the assistance of grace, immortality is more of a burden than a blessing”. [8]

In the next chapter, "Is Christian hope individualistic?", he mentions theologians like Henri de Lubac and such mystics as Augustine of Hippo, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Benedict of Nursia. In the chapter "The transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age", Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx appear with respect to the relationship between faith and reason.

In the chapter "The true shape of Christian hope" Benedict cites Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx and Theodor W. Adorno, while in "Settings for learning and practising hope" he mentions with reference to, among others, Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan, the philosopher Max Horkheimer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Plato. The encyclical closes with the chapter "Mary, Star of Hope".

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References

  1. ↑ Speciale, Alessandro (4 July 2013). "The light of faith: origin, history and horizon of the christianism". La Stampa . Turin. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Pope Benedict XVI. Spe Salvi, §2, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, November 30, 2007
  3. ↑ Neuhaus, Richard John. "Saved in Hope: Benedict’s Second Encyclical", First Things, February 2008
  4. ↑ Spe Salvi, §3
  5. ↑ Paragraphs 26-27
  6. ↑ Corkery S. J., James. "On Christian Hope: The New Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI", Thinking Faith, January 18, 2008
  7. ↑ Spe Salvi, §10
  8. ↑ St. Ambrose. "De excessu fratris sui Satyri", II, 47: CSEL 73, 274
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