VATICAN: Pope Benedict publishes study of Jesus Christ, his first book as Pontiff

A 450-page study of Jesus Christ by the Pope has been unveiled by the Vatican, his first book to published since he became Pontiff. Pope Benedict's first book to be published since he became Pontiff, presenting his views of Jesus Christ, was unveiled at the Vatican on Friday (April 13). The 450-page work, a theological study, was begun about two years before his election and finished last September. "Jesus of Nazareth," is a highly complex theological treatise in which the Pope dissects and analyses passages of scripture passages like the university professor he once was. Today's Christians should re-discover the "real" Jesus of the gospels, Pope Benedict writes in a way that indirectly debunks popular speculative versions of Jesus's life such as "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. The weighty book is sprinkled with hundreds of biblical references, quotations and references to people as disparate as Karl Marx and Mother Teresa, Socrates, Confucius, Dante and Nietzsche. In presenting the book to the media, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna was more direct in his criticism of recent interpretations of Jesus's life. "The innumerable fanciful images of Jesus as a revolutionary, as a timid social reformer, as the secret lover of Mary Magdalene, can be put to rest in the ossuary of history," Schonborn told a news conference, adding that the book was based on "the solid, historical credibility of the gospels". it is mostly an academic work blended with personal touches but reading it demands at least a basic grounding in Judeo-Christian beliefs and bible studies. The book will be in stores in Europe on Monday (April 16), when Pope Benedict will celebrate his 80th birthday.

ITN Source | April 14, 2007

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