L'exégèse a une histoire récente qu'enrichissent les problématiques des sciences humaines ainsi que les réflexions théologiques. L'article expose les grandes lignes de cette évolution depuis l'encyclique Providentissimus Deus , qui reconnaît, bien que timidement encore, l'importance du point de vue historicocritique, jusqu'au document de la Commission biblique pontificale L'interprétation de la Bible dans l'Église , qui intègre l'herméneutique contemporaine attentive à la place du lecteur dans l'interprétation du texte offert à sa lecture. La constitution conciliaire Dei Verbum constitue un (...) moment décisif de cette évolution en définissant l'Écriture et la Tradition comme «un unique dépôt sacré de la Parole de Dieu confié à l'Église». (shrink)

This article, the fifth in our series on the genesis of Dei Verbum, presents the critical comments of P. Smulders on the work of the Mixed Commission on Revelation . During the final days of Vatican II's First Period, Smulders obtained a copy of the new prooemium on revelation itself presented to the Mixed Commission by Abp. G. Garrone, and in this Smulders saw the citation of the prologue of 1 John as a basic text on revelation, which he (...) had himself recommended before the Council opened. The Mixed Commission produced the Textus prior of 1963 on which Smulders drafted critical comments as a contribution to the evaluation of the text by the bishops of Indonesia. Smulders urged that a revision should remove from the text its scholastic terminology and suppress its apologetical defenses which were beneath the dignity of an ecumenical council. He observed that the text was incomplete on tradition, since while it did refrain from dogmatizing the greater content of apostolic tradition over Scripture it offered no positive account of the living tradition that preserves and communicates the apostolic Gospel in the church. The Textus prior is flawed in presenting revelation according to apologetics, by which God properly reveals himself in words to human beings, while the events in the history of salvation and the deeds of Christ function as arguments to ground the credibility of those who communicate verbal revelation. A revision should draw on biblical theology, to make the. (shrink)

Aos 50 anos da Dei Verbum retomam-se alguns textos da última década que atualizam esse documento, especialmente a exortação Verbum Domini de Bento XVI, o Documento de Aparecida, do CELAM, e a Evangelii Gaudium, do papa Francisco. Partindo da consideração da palavra dialogal como espaço para o deixar-ser do outro, sublinha-se o caráter humano-divino da palavra de Deus, criadora e humanada em Cristo. A Tradição viva da Igreja, em cujo seio se configura a Escritura cristã como regra primeira (...) da fé, guarda a memoria Christi, a Palavra presente na celebração e no anúncio, não só aos de fora, mas, com urgência atual, na formação permanente e na mistagogia dos que são considerados cristãos. Mas a memoria Christi se guarda e se interpreta, também, na práxis cristã vivida. Evoca-se esta complexa interação do humano e do divino, da memória e da presença, da palavra e da práxis da fé, com a intenção, sobretudo, de valorizar a palavra humana autêntica e dialogal, a serviço da humanação da Palavra de Deus, divinização da palavra humana. (shrink)

En el presente artículo se estudia cuál es, según Joseph Ratzinger, la especificidad de la exégesis histórico-crítica respecto de la exégesis dogmática. Desde mediados del siglo XX en el campo católico se está dando un debate muy intenso sobre este tema. Dicha discusión gira, en buena medida, en torno a Dei Verbum 12 y, más concretamente, sobre la naturaleza de las reglas hermenéuticas propuestas en los cuatro primeros párrafos. Ratzinger toma postura en el debate y considera que la exégesis (...) histórico-crítica y la exégesis dogmática son antagónicas tanto en lo que respecta a su objeto como en lo concerniente a su método. Esto no excluye la posibilidad de colaboración entre ambas formas de leer la Biblia. (shrink)

Poursuivant une précédente recherche sur les travaux de P. Smulders , L'A. présente les résultats d'une étude sur la genèse du «Dei Verbum», examinant les acticités théologiques de Pieter Smulders au cours de la première période du deuxième Concile du Vatican, où il travailla comme expert théologique au service de la Conférence épiscopale d'Indonésie. Il élabore une analyse critique du projet «De fontibus revelationis» élaboré par Smulders à l'usage des évêques.

Cet article relate le commencement des apports du jésuite Pieter Frans Smulders avant la première période du Concile Vatican II. Ce commencement s'est produit de la mi-août à début septembre 1962, avec l'analyse incisive par Smulders des sept schémas conciliaires initiaux comme faisant partie d'une consultation avant Concile au bénéfice de l'Archevêque Giuseppe Beltrami, Nonce apostolique des Pays-Bas. Cette analyse apparaît en annexe.

How may an inquiring person fittingly look upon the Bible? In what manner can a person's attention to the Bible assist them to knowledge? For a Catholic Christian analysis, what ideas are suitable about the place of the Bible in relations between God and humans, and in appropriation by a person today of whatever divine disclosure or revelation is at hand? This article outlines reflections on these matters. Links are apparent with key points in Vatican II’s Dei Verbum.The first (...) of four sections concerns a fundamentalist outlook. Section II has to do with certain limited but significant ways in which a person may look on the Bible: ways similar to ways in which a person may look on other texts.Section III pauses on inquiries into ‘deep, inner’ matters of life where the person inquiring does not proceed from a perspective of Catholic Christian faith.Section IV surveys a broad range of thoughts that may aptly be endorsed from within a perspective of Catholic Christian faith. The thoughts concern the nature of the situation by which a Catholic Christian person today can advance in knowledge of God: in appropriation of divine disclosure. Ways in which a person may look on the Bible that go beyond those exhibited earlier are now made explicit. (shrink)

The relationship between Sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition is one of the areas that Pope John Paul II indicated in the encyclical Ut unum sint as being in need of fuller study in the ecumenical dialogue. The studies carried out during Vatican II with the aid and reflection of theologians and the preparation of alternative proposals, both official and unofficial, helped to change the whole approach, thus paving the way for the doctrinal Constitution on Divine Revelation. An essential component of (...) this approach is the introduction to the first chapter on Revelation. It introduced a qualitative rather than quantitative approach to the relationship between Scripture and Tradition. Moreover, when these are both linked to the one and only source, Revelation, Tradition is mostly presented as a vibrant and dynamic process guided by the Spirit, necessary for the conservation of the Gospel. This vision, in consonance with the reflection that was being made on the theme by the ecumenical movement during the years of the Council, has contributed to an opening up of dialogue that aims for consensus in areas that have divided Christian Churches for so long. (shrink)

Postulating that Pope Francis continues the unfinished agenda of the Second Vatican Council, the authors propose, through bibliographical analysis, a re-reading of three important texts, showing their relationship with the pontificate of Francis, from the perspective of the conciliar reception: the document still little considered of the Pact of the Catacombs is rescued but inseparable from the council and its reception, especially in our continent, revealing a path of conversion and commitment of the Church of the poor and for the (...) poor; next, some aspects of the two dogmatic constitutions of the council are analyzed, Dei Verbum and Lumen Gentium, important matrices for the current pontificate, in its dynamics of reform, aggiornamento, and renewal. In the end, concrete resins in Francis' words, gestures and attitudes can be seen in the texts thematic axes: the principle of pastorality, the centrality of the Gospel, and the displacement of a Church in the process of exit from itself, aspects required that documents end up revealing are agendas still open in the 21st century. (shrink)

Abstrak: Kekerasan dalam Alkitab boleh dikatakan merupakan sebuah topik alkitabiah yang unik dan abadi, baik dari sudut pandang akademis maupun spiritual. Orang tidak hanya perlu memahaminya untuk orang lain, tetapi juga untuk diri sendiri. Sejak Marcion di abad pertama sampai saat ini, meskipun sudah amat banyak tulisan dihasilkan, tidak pernah ada suatu solusi yang memuaskan semua pihak. Tulisan ini menawarkan sudut pandang yang jarang disentuh, yaitu sudut pandang Gereja Katolik. Membaca Alkitab sebagai orang Katolik berarti membaca dengan memperhatikan juga ajaran-ajaran (...) Gereja tentang (pokok-pokok tertentu dari) Alkitab sebagaimana terungkap dalam dokumen-dokumen resmi Gereja. Ajaran Gereja khususnya Dei Verbum artikel 11 dan 12 memuat paling tidak pemahaman akan tiga hal yang dapat membuka kemungkinan untuk memahami persoalan ini secara lebih utuh. Pokok-pokok yang dimaksud adalah soal inspirasi, paham tentang Alkitab, dan kesatuan seluruh Alkitab sebagai kunci penafsiran Alkitab dalam Gereja. Pembacaan Alkitab secara menyeluruh menunjukkan bahwa klim kekerasan dalam Alkitab adalah sebuah klim sepihak yang tidak memperhatikan keseluruhan Alkitab sebagaimana dipahami dan di terima Gereja sebagai buku iman. Kata-kata Kunci: Kekerasan dalam Alkitab, Ajaran Gereja, Dei Verbum, inspirasi, paham tentang Alkitab, kesatuan seluruh Alkitab, jenis sastra. Abstract: Violence in the Bible could be considered a unique eternal theme in the Bible, be it from academic or spiritual perspective. One needs to understand it not only for helping others, but also for himself. Since Marcion in the first century up to our time, there has been no solution which is acceptable and could satisfy everybody, notwithstanding the abundance literature on this topic. To read the Bible as Catholic means to read it employing the Church’s teachings on the Bible which are found in the official Church documents as the hermeneutical key. The teaching of the Church especially Dei Verbum 11 and 12 offers an understanding on three important points that could be useful for comprehending the topic in a more comprehensive way. Those three points are the notion of biblical inspiration, the Catholic understanding of the Bible and the unity of the Bible. They could be the key to a correct interpretation of the Bible within the Church. The holistic reading of the Bible shows that the claim of biblical violence is actually a one-sided claim that does not pay fair attention to the unity of the Bible as a whole as it is understood and accepted by the Church as the book of faith. Keywords: Violence in the Bible, Church’s official teaching, Dei Verbum, divine inspiration, notion of the Bible, the unity of the Bible, literary genre. (shrink)

[ita] Henri de Lubac, che ha dedicato alla Sacra Scrittura la poderosa “ Esegesi medioevale”, ho sottolineato l'importanza della costituzione conciliare “Dei Verbum” che recupera l'idea originaria della Rivelazione come rivelazione non di tanti “articoli di fede”, atomicamente concepiti, ma dell'unica Persona del Verbo incarnato. Per cui credere non è aderire a tante verità frammentate, ma aderire alla Presenza di Cristo, il Verbo fattosi carne. [en] Henri de Lubac, who dedicated the "Medieval exegesis" to sacred writing, underlined the importance (...) of the conciliatory constitution "Dei Verbum", which rediscovers the original idea of revelation as revelation not of several "articles of faith", atomically conceived, but of the living Person of the Incarnate Verb. Believing does not mean adhering to many fragmented truths, but in the presence of Christ. (shrink)

This article aims to present a reflection on the Conference of the Bishops of Latin America in Rio de Janeiro in 1955. Lived in previous ecclesial context of the Second Vatican Council II, this conference reveals, in many ways, another ecclesiology. This study, so specifically, points out its relationship with Sacred Scripture. It is proposed to analyze the quotes that the Final Document of this Assembly makes the use of the Bible for animation of church’s life. In the same way, (...) it also wants to present that in the first Conference of the Bishops of Latin America had already been released some assumptions that favored a creative reception of the conciliar indications specifically the document Dei Verbum. (shrink)

Number 13 of Dei verbum, by means of the analogy of the incarnation and the perspective of the συγκαταβασιζ, invites us to look at the vast theological and historical-salvific background against which the Word of God, expressed in human language, is outlined. The present article, first, attends to the text of Dei Verbum 13 and its treatment in various commentaries on the dogmatic constitution as well as in official texts . Next, it focuses on the συγκαταβασιζ, in its (...) relation to oικoνoμíα and θεωρια, that is, to the modality of the divine salvific intervention in history and the contemplation of God which is granted to those who receive the manifestation of the condescension of the Saviour, attested to by Scripture. Third, the article develops the theme of συγκαταβασιζ in its profound relation to God's coming to men, from a Trinitarian point of view, in the light of the Verbum abbreviatum and the verbum scriptum, in the perspective of the action of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the faithful. The conclusions draw attention to the light that a person sees when, in the experience of his finitude, he listens to the Verbum abbreviatum which, in its συγκαταβασιζ, has become one with humanity. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:156 BOOK REVIEWS of theological method in Aquinas (p. 193; see also pp. 57 and 173). But this is not sufficient. Farthing should have acknowledged that Biel's recurrent critique of the supposed ' positive ' use of reason in Aquinas is beside the point and that, by thinking that Thomas is trying to ' demonstrate ' the faith, Biel has carelessly dismissed much that is interesting and valuable in (...) Aquinas. By bringing Biel's error to the fore, Farthing would have made clear to the reader that in this crucial respect, the dialogue between these two thinkers has completely broken down. University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana JOSEPH WAWRYKOW The Reshaping of Catholicism: Current Challenges in the Theology of Church. By AVERY DULLES. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. Pp. 276. $19.95 (doth). Each of Dulles's twelve articles commends itself no less as a chapter in this collection than when it first appeared separately between 1984 and the end of 1987. In ensemble, " they give," Dulles remarks in his Preface, " a fair sampling of the issues the Catholic Church has had to face in the two decades since the Council." Whatever the leading Catholic ecclesiologist in America has to say about specific problems in Church renewal deserves careful attention. A positive general evaluation of the book is all hut a foregone conclusion. Still, a review can perform that opening survey of contents that will lend precision to a reader's anticipation of what the author has singled out as the current challenges. Four chapters take up the task of interpreting the texts of Vatican II, not as a species of source-criticism but in light of post-conciliar difficulties. Chapters 2 ("The Basic Teaching of Vatican II "), 5 ("Vatican II and the Recovery of Tradition"), and 8 ("Vatican II and the Purpose of the Church") emerge from a situation of divided opinion. They also apply the Council's teaching as a solution. Chapter 7 ("The Church and Communications") likewise engages conciliar texts, along a more speculative line. Chapter 1 ("American Impressions of the Council") joins with 2 in opening the book at a somewhat more popular level. The other chapters employ conciliar teaching to formulate theological answers to some important questions. These are questions which trouble not only the hierarchy and the theologians but also ordinary BOOK REVIEWS 157 members of the Church, as they come to terms with the Church's renewed self-understanding. Chapter 3 (" The Emerging World Church and the Pluralism of Cultures") picks up where Karl Rahner's wellknown address at the Weston School of Theology in 1979 left off. Dulles accepts Rahner's argument that Vatican II achieved the first official self-actualization of Catholicism as a world church. Taking the resulting problem of inculturation as the current phase in the relation between Christianity and culture, Dulles specifies the relation between two cultures as "cultural reciprocity." He leaves behind the simple, familiar contrast between classicism and a non-normative concept of culture. His ecumenical research enters into Chapter 4 ("The Meaning of Catholicism: Adventures of an Idea "), which places Vatican II in the context of two centuries of Protestant-Catholic discussion on the essence or basic idea of Catholicism. Intra-Catholic pluralism turning into opposition underlies most of the hook, hut Chapters 5 and 6 ("Authority and Conscience: Two Needed Voices") treat two such polarizations thematically. In 5 Dulles finds Dei Verbum open to an understanding of tradition as the handing on from generation to generation of the " tacit knowledge " whose content is the lived awareness of the God of Jesus Christ. Chapter 6 does not admit a second, alternative magisterium, hut it does situate hier· archical teaching amid the several sources of authority accepted by Catholicism-Scripture, tradition, the whole People of God, and theologians along with the hierarchy. And, in the formation of personal judgments and decisions, conscience has its own authority. A theology of communication follows from each of five models of the Church. Chapter 7 shows how this, in turn, implies a distinct approach to evangelization, use of mass media, and episcopal and papal teaching. Chapters 8 and 9 {"The Church, Society, and Politics") discuss the tensions inherent in the Church's mission... (shrink)

Attridge, Harold W I am honoured to be with you this evening for this year's Knox lecture. When Master Shane McKinlay, and Associate Dean Rosemary Canavan invited me for tonight's lecture they indicated that during these fiftieth anniversary years of the Second Vatican Council the Knox lecturers are being asked to reflect on the significance of that watershed event in the life of the Church. I shall do so this evening from both scholarly and personal vantage points, since my experience (...) as a student of scripture was shaped in fundamental ways by the spirit of Vatican II. My study of Scripture has developed in a context and among a fellowship of scholars who have pursued the vision sketched by the Council's document on divine revelation, Dei Verbum. We have also worked very much in the spirit of a subsequent document, the Pontifical Biblical Commission's paper, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church presented in 1993. I shall come back to both of those texts. But first, remember where we were fifty years ago. (shrink)

Although Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas are often cited in support of “faith and reason,” the doublet achieved prominence in that form only in the nineteenth century. The encyclical Fides et ratio can be seen as forming Aeterni patris, Humani generis, and Dei verbum into a tradition. Indeed, it looks back to the nineteenth century and remains at best uninterested in twentieth-century thought. One difficulty with the expression is that each of “faith” and “reason” can be defined against “experience,” and (...) there is a danger that the doublet “faith and reason” invites abstraction from all contexts, including exegesis and love, imagination, and sacrament. Properly understood, “faith and reason” implies “faith and reason and . . .” The encyclical is unclear at crucial moments. It begins to speak of reason, then slides into talk of rationalism. It regards a crisis of rationalism as leading to nihilism, but the conclusion is hastily drawn, at best. It underlines the importance of metaphysics and is critical of “the end of metaphysics,” but confuses different senses of the word. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Wrestling with GodLeo D. LefebureWrestling with God. By Paul O. Ingram. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2006. 116 + xii pp.Paul Ingram of Pacific Lutheran University is a long-time veteran of Buddhist-Christian dialogue and a generous contributor to the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies. His earlier book, Wrestling with the Ox, took the famous Zen ox herding pictures as an entry point for reflecting on the transformation of identity that (...) can take place in Buddhist-Christian relations. The present book opens with the image of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32 as a launching point for exploring religious diversity in a world ever more shaped by natural science. Ingram's thesis is that "Christianity is now in a process of decay and that dialogue with the world's religions—especially Buddhism—and Christian dialogue with the natural sciences are the two most important intellectual foci for thinking Christians" (p. x).Relating his position to that of John Hick while questioning Hick's Kantian epistemology, Ingram proposes a pluralistic evaluation of the world's religious traditions—or at least some forms of them. Ingram seeks to be deeply rooted in the Christian tradition while being open to the legitimate variety of other religions. Nonetheless, Ingram has rather harsh words to say about "legalists and fundamentalists" without ever offering a precise definition of who is included in these terms. He describes fundamentalists in all religious traditions as "trapped in the conventional categories of their ideologies" (p. 21), but what counts as "conventional categories" or as "ideologies" is never fully clarified.Ingram rejects any tradition's claim to have "the final or the exclusive or the inclusive Word about God" because this would be a form of idolatry, which Muslims call shirk (p. 19). Ingram's position would appear to condemn a very wide spectrum, including traditional Christians and Muslims who believe that their respective scriptures express God's final revelation. Such a grouping would appear to be far broader than those conventionally labeled "fundamentalist." For example, Vatican II's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) expresses the traditional Catholic belief that Jesus Christ is the center of revelation and no further public revelation is to be expected before his Second Coming; the constitution also accepts historical criticism of the Bible and thus does not fit the usual model of "fundamentalism." Because "fundamentalist" is frequently not a contemporary form of self-designation, it would be helpful to have more specific guidance on how Ingram wishes to apply the term, especially to contexts that are not Christian. If all those who firmly hold traditional doctrinal views are included under this umbrella, Ingram's pluralistic thesis presents itself as firmly rejecting a considerable range of the world's religious traditions.Citing Alfred North Whitehead and contemporary physics, Ingram finds plurality and interdependence to be at the heart of all forms of existence, "from sub-atomic [End Page 201] particles to religious traditions to God" (p. 20). This is a clear rejection of the Muslim doctrine of tawhid, the radical oneness of God, which for Muslims excludes any notion of Trinity or plurality or interdependence in God. Even though Ingram clearly intends to include Islam among the community of acceptable religions, central Muslim beliefs in the oneness of God and the finality of the Qur'an appear to be unacceptable to his position.If we ask about the criteria for distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable forms of religion, much in Ingram's discussion seems to turn on intuition and emotion. He tells us that the basis for a person belonging to one religious tradition rather than another is not rational argument; rather, "It all depends on what or who 'speaks' to you" (p. 31). While admiring a wide range of religious leaders, Ingram admits, "I don't 'experience' them. They don't 'speak' to me" (p. 31). Ingram acknowledges that his difficulty with fundamentalist Christians is strongly emotional: "Whenever I listen to fundamentalist Christians describe Jesus as a kind of best buddy, I feel a little creepy" (p. 32). Ingram is distrustful of claims of reason regarding religion: "You find yourself in a state of faith, that is you 'get... (shrink)

On the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary since the publication of The Catechism of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI published a Letter entitled Porta Fidei, in which it was promulgated the Year of Faith. It began on November 11th 2012 and expired onl November 24th 2013. The year of 2012 was also when the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops about The New Evangelization for the (...) Transmission of the Christian Faith took place. On the Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, Benedict XVI remembered that in the current days faith cannot be assumed in society and also pointed out the importance of rediscovering it, to "show the joy of meeting Christ”, welcoming the grace and the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the contribution of the Church's Catechism to The New Evangelization for the preaching of the Christian faith. We understand that pointing out the strength and beauty of faith means to present it in a new way to man, keeping its essential integrity. Such exercise isn’t just a challenge for the Church, but also an urgent task and an important contribution to the complete formation of the human being. To say the same thing in a new way we must always come from a source which is capable of preserving and renewing our faith. The primary source of faith is the Divine Revelation and therefore this is also the source of the proclamation of the Gospel. This idea, for us, is decisive for the matter of faith and its announcement, which is found in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation. Therefore our article will develop this idea based on Dei Verbum and it intends to be a contribution to catechesis, understood as a process of initiation into the Christian life or life in faith. (shrink)

The most of Christian traditions embrase the notion of sacrament. This notion deals with the church directives in a narrow meaning. According to Saint Augustine, the sacrament is a visible action of an invisible grace thus the Church, the Christ, the Bible, being material phenomena where two natures combine, are also considered to be sacraments. Therefore, the author of the article presents the Bible as the most outstanding and the most visible example of a sacrament in a broad meaning. Using (...) the examples of the attitude change to the Bible in the Catholic tradition, the author studies the move from the sacral perception of the text in the decisions made at the Council of Trent to its open sacramental understanding in the documents of the Second Vatican Council and its post-council decisions. Due to the fact that Ukrainian scholars and local clergy theologically poorly interpreted the Bible as a Word of God in the Catholic tradition, the goal of this article is to make a diachronic comparison of the results of the Council of Trent and the Second Vatican Council, which allows to show the change dynamics in the attitude of the Catholic Church to the Bible. The Council of Trent was a reaction of the Catholic Church to the emergence and achievements of the Reformation and its important principle Sola Scriptura. The Council approved two doctrinal documents on the Sacred Scripture: the first one deals with the Scripture canon and the relations between the Scripture and the Sacred Tradition, and the second one defines which text of the Scripture is to be considered sacred and official and how to interpret this text. The author concludes that the Council limited the Sacred Tradition only with faith and moral issues, meaning spheres of doctrines and piety, and recognized Latin translation of the Bible - Vulgate - to be the only official version to have a sacred meaning and "a sacred book per se". The Bible is admitted to be a closed book, separated from the readers and receivers of the Gospel, which is prohibited for an autonomous interpretation. On the contrary, the Second Vatican Council and its documents, in their essence, had a pastoral task, manifested in an attempt of giving a comprehensible overview of the Catholic Church doctrine for the world community. Therefore, the author asserts that the last 400 years of the history of the Catholic doctrine show serious changes in its attempt of contextualization and mark its main peculiarity: reaction to the modern society challenges and needs. The task of the Second Vatican Council was to clarify the nature of the Sacred Scripture, which had to balance the Tradition and a new approach to the Scripture. Based on the analysis of the documents of the mentioned Councils and the commentaries of the authoritative Catholic preachers, the author concludes that the new approach to the Sacred Scripture essentially points to the open sacral and sacramental character of the Bible. The author emphasizes the modern approach to the sacrality of the Bible not only as to a "sacral book per se", but also in its sacral effect on the reader. The researcher asserts that new changes declared in Dei verbum and Verbum Domini, which emphasize the pastoral effect of the Bible as a way of knowing Jesus Christ, are crucial for the building relations between various Christian movements, especially for the Catholic and Protestant traditions. (shrink)

This report is an attempt to reread the event of Revelation in view of DV 8: «Ecclesia, volventibus saeculis, ad plenitudinem divinae veritatis iugiter tendit, donec in ipsa consummentur verba Dei». The text aims at clarifying the eschatological character of Revelation, raising however a theological problem of great importance: if and in what measure is it possible to think of Revelation as a never concluded process, if the theological tradition asserts that Revelation is concluded with the death of the last (...) Apostle and Dei Verbum speaks of Christ as the fullness of Revelation? The eschatological character of Revelation is investigated in the light of the dynamism of the Tradition, in particular of DV 8, which gives indications of great interest to resolve the matter of the persistence of Revelation in the time of the Church. The report affirms that the Tradition does not limit itself to the understanding of the revealed fact, but it points out the participation of the Church in the dynamism of Revelation itself. The conclusion is reached by means of a description of the constitutive relationship between Christian experience and knowledge - described in Dei Verbum as intima spiritualium rerum quam experiuntur intelligentia - which has it most clear and most pertinent expression in the sensus fidei. (shrink)

Cette étude examine cinq principaux changements de méthodologie qui se trouvent dans cinq documents-clé de Vatican II, afin de discerner à quel point ces documents sont cohérents avec ou différents des principales caractéristiques de méthodologie de la période du concile. L'article commence par une introduction à trois approches théologiques en voque dans les écrits catholiques romains au temps du concile: néo-scolastique, transcendantalisme et correlationisme. La conscience historique est aussi examinée comme une note importante de méthode théologique. L'article examine ensuite Sacrosanctum (...) Concilium, Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Dignitatis Huamnae et Gaudium et Spes en vue de ces données. L'étude identifie six changements méthodologiques notoires dans les documents: la mise en sourdine de la néo-scolastique du 19e siècle, la transformation de la néo-scolastique grâce aux ressources bibliques, la montée de questions centrales à la méthode transcendentale, des essais tardifs mais importants de raisonnement transcendental, une corrélation toujours croissante de mode confessionel, une conscience historique en développement. En conclusion, les A. affirment une évolution méthodologique dans Vatican II qui pourrait valider une évolution continue de la méthode théologique aujourd'hui. (shrink)

L’article propose une relecture « à rebours » de la Constitution Dei Verbum sur la Révélation divine à partir de son dernier chapitre sur « la Sainte Écriture dans la vie de l’Église», en tenant compte des transformations intervenues depuis Vatican II, tant dans la culture européenne que dans l’exégèse critique. Le rapport de nos sociétés aux traces culturelles du christianisme, surtout à la Bible dont est montrée la fonction « inspirante » ou « révélatrice », et une « (...) foi » élémentaire, essentielle à toute existence humaine, fournissent le point de départ d’une démarche inductive qui désigne les « seuils » que cette « foi » peut passer quand elle est mise en relation avec le Nazaréen, à travers ses disciples, et accède à l’expérience de Révélation en jeu dans ces rencontres. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Cur Deus Verba: Why the Word Became Words by Jeremy HolmesJames B. ProthroCur Deus Verba: Why the Word Became Words by Jeremy Holmes (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2021), 284 pp.This book's title plays on the incarnational analogy, and its argument begins and ends with God's purposes to draw humanity into communion with himself through revelation. In both aspects, Holmes echoes Dei Verbum (DV, §§2, 13). However, rather than (...) pursuing a revelation-historical organization or beginning with Scripture's texts to derive conclusions about its nature and purpose, the book takes a "top-down" (13) approach to bibliology. In this way, its strength is the theological framing or refraining it gives to common questions.The first three chapters culminate, he claims, in a "definition of Scripture" (11). Beginning with the Trinity and creation, Holmes argues that all things have their being by participating in the inner life (the Word) of the Father, thus reflecting him, and that the Spirit drives creatures "toward the pattern of the Son" (33). God desires creatures to be good and causes of goodness in others, patterned after and in the Son through the Spirit's impulse to return them to God. In the Incarnation, God "reconciles nature with grace" (39) and in Christ perfects these desires. In Christ, man is now "included in the life of the Trinity" (37) and an agent of revelation, reflects God perfectly, and in love sends the Spirit to return humans to God through himself. This leads to reflections on Scripture directly. "Scripture is meant to impress the interior life of the Church on each generation; put another way, it is meant to impress Christ the Head on the members of his Mystical Body" (69). This brings Holmes to the topics of inspiration and canon. In order for human texts to impress Christ on his members, to communicate the divine through human means, "God himself" must be "addressing the [End Page 393] heart of the believer" (72). He makes a case for canon by pointing to the communal nature of humans. Tradition and canon, by which truth as a common good is formulated for a society, order and inform the society regarding its purpose, history, and character. "Tradition," then, "is good for man as man" (57) even in natural society, and all the more so in the supernatural society, the Church. The "texts that embody and transmit the tradition" (63) give continuity and life to the organism that is the Church, while within that tradition these texts can function as a sort of "guide rail" and a "mirror" of its identity (67).This overall view of Scripture lends perspective to particular topics (chs. 4-12). Turning to Scripture's authorship and inspiration, Holmes emphasizes again that God means humans to be real causes of revelation as God "attaches his voice" to their writing (82, 91, and throughout). This may, in differing circumstances, involve endowing them with particular and even unusual graces, many of which God grants to others who hand on revelation (such as Augustine), but in the case of the biblical authors the ("only") difference is that God "intended" biblical texts like Luke "to sound not only Luke's voice but God's voice as well" (91). His "general account of the fact of biblical difficulties" (202), then, depicts the human "author's soul" as "like the body of an instrument, determining the overtones of everything he writes" (208). God writes the notes to be played and selects the instruments, and God "asserts what the human author asserts" (210). But the particularities of an author's soul (and upbringing, assumptions, etc.) can be seen in anything from grammatical infelicities in Paul to the author's assumptions about a geocentric solar system, the goodness of killing the Canaanites, or Qoheleth's unawareness of an afterlife. God attaches his voice to their writing, and these instruments play "only God's note" (219), but God "does not affirm or deny" the assumptions or unasserted views of the author when writing (209). Scripture's purpose is not merely to impart doctrine but to conform one to Christ, and difficult passages are inspired in part for us to... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Patterns of Penance and the Sin of Cain:Approaching a Sacramental Biblical TheologyJames B. ProthroMy essay focuses particularly on the sacrament of reconciliation. I am currently composing a monograph on this sacrament for a series in biblical theology, surveying the Scriptures to see how, within them, the Church's sacraments are prefigured, revealed, and commanded, and to illustrate Scripture's witness in a way that will "strengthen" and "rejuvenate" our theology and (...) practice, following Dei Verbum (DV) §24. My contribution here focuses especially on how to approach writing a biblical theology of penance. Biblical treatments and defenses of the sacrament are often brief, contenting themselves with proving a few conceptual points or doubling down on Jesus's giving his apostles the power and duty of absolution in John 20:19–23. Robert Fastiggi's discussion of the biblical "foundations" of reconciliation, for instance, spans less than thirty pages for both testaments combined, and concludes with a kind of anti-climactic apology: "While it's clear that the Sacrament of Penance has been instituted by Christ, the actual form of the administration of the sacrament will need to develop within the Church's tradition."1 This is a roundabout way of saying that although Scripture clearly attests to the sacrament's theological foundations, it leaves us only with foundations. If this is true, how far can a biblical theology of the sacrament go, and how should one go about it?Approaching a biblical theology of penance, I think, requires us to pause and consider two aspects of the task. First, we should give an account [End Page 1371] of "biblical theology" and our aims in writing one. Secondly, we should consider how to write a theology of this sacrament in particular. What should we be looking for? Such questions will help us gain a clearer vision of what illumination we should expect from Scripture about penance and how we will go about finding it. With our approach and aims discussed, this essay can then conclude with an attempt to follow them in practice by offering a theological, penance-focused exegesis of the sin of Cain (Gen 4:1–16).A Biblical Theology of the SacramentWriting a biblical theology of the sacrament of reconciliation requires us to attend to the notion of "biblical theology." Unfortunately, there continues to be little agreement on exactly what biblical theology is. The phrase is "a wax nose" molded always to the interpreter practicing it.2 Thankfully, however, this lack of consensus allows us to offer our own proposal and tailor it to the task at hand. Rather than offering a requisite Forschungsbericht or haggling with other proposals in detail as though my goal were to dismantle or replace them globally, I can in this brief essay tell you how I think one should go about this task and why.Our task is writing a biblical theology of penance, and we may begin by noting already two small words in that phrase that tell us much. The first is the indefinite article, "a." We are writing a biblical theology. That designates our goal already as an academic product that fits a particular genre, not simply a lens with which I read. Depending on which term one emphasizes—biblical or theology—and depending on what one means the phrase to rule out, the phrase "biblical theology" can be used to indicate exegesis that is "theologically interested"3 (as opposed to exegesis that spurns dogmatic theology) or to indicate theology that is "biblically faithful"4 (i.e., explicitly biblically sourced as opposed to theologies that operate from first principles other than revelation). Both of these uses of the term, I think, have valid interests but cede too much definitional ground: exegesis that is opposed to or not aimed at the theological truth is incomplete, from a Catholic perspective, and theology that is not constantly informed and reformed by God's [End Page 1372] word can only be ancillary to theology.5 To do exegesis that is theological or theology that is exegetical is simply to do exegesis or to do theology; we do not need an added composite term. Writing a biblical theology indicates not merely... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:CONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING THE HUMAN BODY Scriptural Anthropology T:ODAY BIOETHICAL ISSUES are much discussed by heologians. Yet they make little use of the Bible in olving these problems. Why? Is it because these bioethical issues are so new it seems unlikely the Bible has much to say about them? Rather it is because many suppose that scholars have shown the Bible's moral teaching to be so historically conditioned that (...) it cannot be normative for" modern man" but only paranetic, i.e. it exhorts and motivates us to do good and avoid evil but provides no concrete norms of good and evil still valid today. Such norms must be supplied by philosophical ethics and the empirical sciences. Hence, in moral argument we should avoid Biblical" proof-texting." 1 The recent development of " canon criticism " provides, I believe, a way out of this impasse.2 The doctrine of Biblical inspiration means that although the Council of Trent declared the Bible inspired "in all its parts ",3 yet this guarantee of inerrancy applies not to these parts taken in "proof-texting" iso1 For a collection of current essays on this subjects see Charles E. Curran and Richard A. McCormick, S.J., eds. The Use of Scripture mMoral Theology (Readings in Moral Theology, No. 4) (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) and Robert J. Daly, S.J., et al. Christian Biblical Ethics from Biblical Revelation to Contemporary Christian Praxis, Method and Content (New York: Paulist Press, 1984) for a more systematic argument. For my own position see, "The Development of Doctrine about Sin, Conversion, and the Following of Christ" in Moral Theology Today: Certitudes and Doubts (St. Louis: Pope John Center, 1984) p. 46-64. 2 See Brevard S. Childs, The New Testament as Canon (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), pp. 3-47. 3 Council of Trent, Session IV, DS 1504, Vatican II, Dei Verbum, n. 11. 501 502 BENEDICT M. ASHLEY, O.P. lation nor merely in their context within a given book of the Bible, but in their ultimate context within the total Canon. Consequently, seriously to view the Bible from the perspective of a " historicist " rather than a " classical world view " (as Bernard Lonergan urged us to do 4) we must not leave the concrete moral teaching of the Scripture on the shelf of the pa.st. Instead let's use a hermeneutic by which God's Word revealed in history truly illuminates today's problems. Scripture and the Construction of the Human Person Today we are concerned about problems of artificial human reproduction and of genetic engineering. Does the Bible cast any light on these puzzles? To ask about reconstructing humans, we must first ask how God constructed them. Through much of its history Catholic theology read the Bible through the eyes of Platonism because this seemed to make the Gospel intelligible and credible to the Greco-Roman world. Perhaps it was this Platonic theology that Lonergan was thinking about when he spoke of " the classical worldview " with its neglect of human historicity. Platonism helped theology defend the "primacy of the spiritual" and especially the dignity and immortality of the human spirit. But it also favored a non-biblical dualism which identified the true human person with the soul and considered the body as its tomb.5 If we shelve this Platonic theology and seek a less dualistic, more historicist anthropology, we discover the first chapters of Genesis wonderfully provide such an anthropology as the basis of a moral Instruction or Torah.6 This Torah forms the cove4 Bernard Lonergan, "The Transition from a Classicist World-View to Historical Mindedness" (1966) in Second Collection, ed. by W. F. K. Ryan and B. J. Tyrrell (London: Darton, Longmans, Todd, 1974), pp. 1-9. 5 For an extensive discussion of this history see my Theologies of the Body: Humanist and Christian (Braintree, Mass.: Pope John Center, 1985), pp. 101250. 6 Isaac M. Kikawanda and Arthur Quinn, Before Abraham Was (Nashville, Tenn.: Abngidon Press, 1985), discounting the Documentary Hypothesis not from a conservative but from an advanced literary point of view, have pro- CONSTRUCTING/RECONSTRUCTING THE HUMAN BODY 503 nant foundation of both Old and New Testament around which the whole Canon takes... (shrink)

Les documents officiels de l’Eglise catholique font grand usage de la Bible. La manière dont le texte scripturaire fonctionne dans les documents du magistère dépend de la théologie opératoire sous-jacente. Cet article examine les changements survenus dans la manière dont l’Eglise comprend et utilise l’Ecriture dans les documents du magistère, plus précisément dans des textes concernant la doctrine sociale de l’Église. Des exemples choisis dans les documents officiels permettent de reconnaître en gros trois paradigmes dans l’interprétation de l’Ecriture: 1) la (...) Bible comme recueil de propositions doctrinales; 2) la Bible comme archives des actions salvifiques de Dieu dans l’histoire: 3) la Bible comme vision d’une communion plénière avec Dieu et le prochain. Les deux derniers paradigmes se trouvent en germe dans le document Dei Verbum de Vatican II, tandis que le premier, qui avait été dominant dans les documents antérieurs à ce concile, a fait sa réapparition après la période de Vatican II. On montre que la compréhension de la Bible comme collection de propositions doctrinales accorde peu d’attention aux contextes historique et littéraire, tandis que les deux autres modèles s’y montrent plus sensibles, mettant l’accent sur la transformation et la communion plutôt que sur l’information. (shrink)

Resumen El artículo recuerda El Concilio Vaticano II a partir del ecumenismo. Trata del ambiente anterior al Concilio que hizo posible nuevas relaciones ecuménicas. Indica los debates del periodo conciliar relativos a la misión de la Iglesia ante el mundo, a la libertad religiosa y a la relación de la Iglesia con las otras Iglesias, y con otras religiones, debates importantes en la redacción de varios documentos conciliares como Lumem Gentium, Dei Verbum, Dignitatis Humanae, Nostra Aetate e Unitatis Redintegratio. (...) Paralelamente a los pasos ecuménicos alcanzados por el Concilio, el artículo destaca tres reacciones: (i) El nacimiento de una Iglesia latinoamericana cuyo rostro se presenta en las positivas respuestas de las Conferencias del Episcopado latinoamericano, en la efectiva construcción de una Iglesia “pueblo de Dios” y en el “ecumenismo social”; (ii) La posterior “restauración eclesiocéntrica”, marcada por la rigidez doctrinal y disciplinar del ambiente católico; (iii) La esperanza de un nuevo proceso conciliar, iluminado por la perspectiva liberadora propiciada por el Vaticano II, en el contexto de un mundo diversificado y pluralista. Palabras clave: Concilio Vaticano II. Ecumenismo. CELAM. PluralismoThe article addresses the Second Vatican Council under the focus of ecumenism. In this way, the article mentions the climate, prior to the Council that made possible new ecumenical relations. The text also points out the debates that took place at the time of the Council, especially those connected with the mission of the Church, the freedom of religion, and the relationship of the Church with the other Churches and with other religions. Among others, the article mentions the following documents: Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Dignitatis Humanae, Nostra Aetate and Unitatis Redintegratio. In correlation to the ecumenical steps reached by the Council, the article highlights three reactions: (i) The birth of a Latin American Church, whose face shows up in the positive answers of the Conferences of the Latin American Episcopate, in the effective construction of a Church understood as “People of god” and in “Social Ecumenism”; (ii) The subsequent ecclesiocentric restoration, marked by doctrinal and disciplinal rigidity within catholic environment; (iii) To hope of a new Conciliar process, illuminated by a liberator perspective favored by the Vatican II, in the context of a diversified and pluralist world. Keywords: Vatican Council II. Ecumenism. CELAM. Pluralism. - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2011v9n24p1221. (shrink)

Les documents officiels de l’Eglise catholique font grand usage de la Bible. La manière dont le texte scripturaire fonctionne dans les documents du magistère dépend de la théologie opératoire sous-jacente. Cet article examine les changements survenus dans la manière dont l’Eglise comprend et utilise l’Ecriture dans les documents du magistère, plus précisément dans des textes concernant la doctrine sociale de l’Église. Des exemples choisis dans les documents officiels permettent de reconnaître en gros trois paradigmes dans l’interprétation de l’Ecriture: 1) la (...) Bible comme recueil de propositions doctrinales; 2) la Bible comme archives des actions salvifiques de Dieu dans l’histoire: 3) la Bible comme vision d’une communion plénière avec Dieu et le prochain. Les deux derniers paradigmes se trouvent en germe dans le document Dei Verbum de Vatican II, tandis que le premier, qui avait été dominant dans les documents antérieurs à ce concile, a fait sa réapparition après la période de Vatican II. On montre que la compréhension de la Bible comme collection de propositions doctrinales accorde peu d’attention aux contextes historique et littéraire, tandis que les deux autres modèles s’y montrent plus sensibles, mettant l’accent sur la transformation et la communion plutôt que sur l’information. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Dogma and Ecumenism: Vatican II and Karl Barth's Ad Limina Apostolorum ed. by Matthew Levering, Bruce L. McCormack, and Thomas Joseph White, O.P.Gavin D'CostaDogma and Ecumenism: Vatican II and Karl Barth's Ad Limina Apostolorum edited by Matthew Levering, Bruce L. McCormack, and Thomas Joseph White, O.P. (Washington, DC: Catholic University Press of America Press, 2020), ix + 369 pp.In May 1966 Karl Barth visited Rome. He was invited (...) to reflect on the Second Vatican Council, to ask questions to leading curial figures, and peritus theologians, as well as Pope Paul VI. Barth's book Ad Limina Apostolorum: An Appraisal of Vatican II contains his questions and an account from Barth of his visit, along with some other important essays. It is still deeply challenging in its incisiveness, despite its brevity. I have always been struck by Barth's Marian criticisms that are so central to his viewpoint about divine agency and human cooperation. These give us an excellent insight into his ecclesiology. They represent the reasons for much of his questioning of various Roman Catholic positions on all sorts of matters. Eberhard Busch's diaries, while Barth's assistant during this period, form a fascinating complimentary account of the visit. These tell of the not-so-fruitful visit to Augustin Cardinal Bea and the great highpoint (for Barth) of his one-hour audience with Pope Paul VI. Barth was impressed by the Jesuits during his visit, but not so much by the Dominicans. He thought the latter had absorbed too many streams of liberal modernity. The two Dominicans participating in this book turn those tides. Indeed, all the authors could be located within the conserving wings of their ecclesial membership, which makes the volume all the stronger in raising serious unresolved disagreements and noting important common ground. It is testimony to Barth's enduring value that this volume seems so timely. The Barth Centre at Princeton and the Pontifical Faculty of the Dominican House in Washington were the sponsors of this collection.The volume is structured around five of the key documents commented on by Barth, with a Catholic and Reformed voice reflecting on both the particular document and Barth's input (with the exception of Francesca Aran Murphy, who deals with George Lindbeck rather than Barth), thereby simultaneously pushing forward the Catholic–Reformed engagement with the Council and with Barth. There is a preface with a penetrating introduction by Thomas Joseph White, O.P., and an irenic opening chapter by Matthew Levering on biblical renewal at Vatican II. Then follow the twin reflections on the five documents.First (and rightly so) comes the Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation, Dei Verbum. Katherine Sonderegger develops a nuanced reflection on the metaphor of Scripture as mirror of God (found in Dei Verbum), showing [End Page 971] a deep appreciation of currents within Dei Verbum that Barth had not detected, but which are more connective with his concerns and preoccupations. Lewis Ayres rather impishly takes what Barth saw as the main weakness of the text (its chapter 2: "Handing on Divine Revelation") and makes it the greatest strength. Ayers provides a deeply learned and original exploration of the concept of "tradition" as sacramental. In this duet, Barth comes out looking like he may have missed hearing the melodies while too closely studying the score.Then follow two profound essays on Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Christoph Schwöbel builds up a strong Protestant case for the necessary visible ecclesial identity of the Church, thus showing a deep convergence without denying differences that remain. White, in a deeply insightful and probing essay, goes to the heart of the ecclesiological difference between Barth and Yves Congar (and some other key Catholics at the time): the relationship between uncreated divine agency and created human agency, especially within the context of the post-apostolic Church. White suggests that, without some stable ecclesial mediations, there can be no proper relationship envisaged between the transcendent causality of God operating in Christ and the created, active cooperative acts with this grace. While building up both a metaphysical and a theological case against Barth's criticisms... (shrink)