Theology by the Slice: "The Importance of Conversion in the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI"

Last Wednesday we had the pleasure of hearing a talk by Dr. William Schmitt on Pope Benedict XVI. Dr. Schmitt earned his Doctorate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute. He taught at the Casa Balthasar, a house in Rome for men discerning vocations and was the managing editor of the journal Communio: International Catholic Review from 1996 to 1998. He is now the headmaster of Trivium School in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Dr. Schmitt studied under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s patronage, and came to know him during his visits to the Casa Balthasar. Thus, his presentation to us was on the importance of conversion in the thought of Benedict XVI.

Dr. Schmitt began by outlining a definition of conversion. We tend to think of it more in the terms of switching from one religion to another, and not the same as growing in or losing one’s faith. Conversion can happen in a single moment (as it did for St. Paul) or it can take a lifetime (as it did for St. Augustine). However it happens, conversion gives new light to the convert’s life.

Because of his papal office, Pope Benedict XVI tended to be viewed more as an apologist for the faith than as a theologian. The pope, however, had been a university professor for much of his life. Thus, he ought to be seen in light of both his ministry and his scholarship. He is a man who ponders what he believes and sees theology as a vocation. The pope is especially interested in how the classical world and the people of the Old Testament came to interact with the Gospel their understanding of conversion. He is also sees the modern person as one transformed in conversion, and sees conversion as a door to a more profound understanding of the human person.

Conversion is a central theme to Benedict XVI, and one he often returned to. He thinks it the principle of the New Evangelization, and that the Second Vatican Council (at which he was an expert consultant) called on the whole Church to convert.

 Dr. Schmitt greatly admires Pope Benedict, not just as a great theologian but as a man who plays the piano and works hard, and as one free of any personal ambition. He once told Dr. Schmitt that he would have preferred to be a parish priest than a bishop. In his humility, the pope displayed his deep, internal disposition to God’s grace.

The Greek word that often appears in the New Testament for “convert” is metanoein (μετανοεῖν), one translation of which is “repent.” The word comes to mean not just a turning from one’s past life of sin toward God, but also a turning of one’s whole conduct. This Christian understanding, however, borrows heavily from classical, pagan notions of conversion. There were two Greek words for conversion: metanoia (μετάνοια), which means “change of heart,” and epistrophe (ἐπιστροφή), a Platonic term meaning “a turn to the form of the Good.”

Think of the allegory of the cave from Plato’s Republic: the philosopher turns the people imprisoned in the cave away from the false shadows and toward the light of the Good. He helps them begin the ascent to the truth.  This turn to goodness is the essence of conversion to Plato. For Pope Benedict, epistrohpe is a turning to our innermost depths and finding the divine in ourselves. That is, it is the discovery of the soul. This ancient idea comes to have an enormous influence on Christianity. 

In the modern world, however, we tend to think of repentance as something others need to do, not ourselves. We are scared of insulting others, and it seems as if the idea of repentance has become obsolete. We experience a dichotomy between the urgings of our innermost senses and the immediacy of our sense perceptions. Thus, we can fall into two extremes of either overemphasizing strict moralism or denying the existence of sin. In modernity, we tend toward the latter extreme. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche, the nineteenth century German philosopher and atheist) hated the idea of conversion and thought it foreign to Christianity. He finds the Gospel is lacking in calls to repentance and instead thinks it only proclaims tidings of joy. Dr. Schmitt commented that Nietzsche would have been horrified to see the “new men” who have tried to reconcile his “gospel” with the real one.

Conversion involves the entire person, both heart and mind, and is like a vow to follow the will of God. It happens when our lives are weighed and found wanting. For Pope Benedict, conversion is intimately tied to relationships. Aristotle thought that relations were accidental, random interactions with people nearby and not necessary to being human. For Pope Benedict, however, to be human is to have relationships. We see this in the person of Christ: the Son is the Son because of His relation to the Father, and vice versa; it is not an accidental relationship, but ineluctable to His person. Sin, as Origen of Alexandria noted, is divisive. This is the opposite of modernity’s disdain for relationships. Heaven is nothing but communion, with God and with our fellow humans.

 St. Augustine described conversions as homo incurvatus in se ipsum, “man turned in to his very self.” What we find in that very self is God, the Thou who reveals Himself and redeems us. From that proceeds the need to love the others who share in our divinely-oriented humanity. Conversion is also paradox in that it is a very real experience but also a continuous one. Due to this tension between its singularity and continuity, conversion has an element of uncertainty and mystery. Thus, we work out our salvation in fear and trembling, always trusting in God’s mercy. This constant turning, however, is central to Christianity.

Dr. Schmitt proposed a comment on this theology of conversion, in that Cardinal Ratzinger never seemed to get into the source of conversion. Conversion is in the call made by Christ, the living God, and in man’s response to that call. Dr. Schmitt felt that Cardinal Ratzinger did not emphasize this call (though he added that the answer may very well be swimming about in Cardinal Ratzinger’s vast sea of scholarship).

This turning is central to the economy of salvation. We might ask why Christ was baptized in the Jordan if he was without sin. Pope Benedict that Christ’s baptism was a foreshadowing of the cross where he was baptized. Christ offers up our sins to the Father; he turns and addresses Him. In this turn is the death and resurrection of Christ, wherein the entire world was reoriented toward God. This turn is in all the Sacraments, and is the foundational Christian act.

Dr. Schmitt concluded that, for Pope Benedict, conversion is a transformation of the entire person, but it must be done every day. Each day we need to reorient ourselves toward God, and find the strength to say no to ourselves.

As a final thought, he said that Pope Benedict XVI had an attitude of service animated by his humility, a humility which comes about only by constant conversion.

We thank Dr. Schmitt for all the time and effort he put into his presentation. We were honored to hear such an erudite talk from such a distinguished scholar and teacher.