A topic of paramount importance
The interpretation of Sacred Scripture is of paramount importance to the Christian Faith and the life of the Church. “Indeed, in the Sacred Books,” as the Council rightly reminded us, “the Father who is in Heaven lovingly comes to meet His children and converses with them […].” The way in which biblical texts are interpreted by men and women today has direct consequences for their personal and communal relationship with God, and is also closely linked to the mission of the Church.
ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Speech, 23/4/1993
Interpret Scripture with the same spirit with which it was written
But, since Holy Scripture must be read and interpreted in the sacred spirit in which it was written, no less serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture, if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out. The living Tradition of the whole Church must be taken into account along with the harmony which exists between elements of the faith. It is the task of exegetes to work according to these rules toward a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgement of the Church may mature.
ST. PAUL VI.
Dei Verbum. Second Vatican Council,
18/11/1965
Dangers of a secularized hermeneutic
The lack of a hermeneutic of faith with regard to Scripture entails more than a simple absence; in its place there inevitably enters another hermeneutic, a positivistic and secularized hermeneutic ultimately based on the conviction that the Divine does not intervene in human history. According to this hermeneutic, whenever a divine element seems present, it has to be explained in some other way, reducing everything to the human element. This leads to interpretations that deny the historicity of the divine elements. Such a position can only prove harmful to the life of the Church, casting doubt over fundamental mysteries of Christianity and their historicity – as, for example, the institution of the Eucharist and the resurrection of Christ.
BENEDICT XVI.
Verbum Domini, 30/9/2010
Beware of an exegesis that begins with the negation of God
To hear them [the Modernists] talk about their works on the Sacred Books, in which they have been able to discover so much that is defective, one would imagine that before them nobody ever even glanced through the pages of Scripture, whereas the truth is that a whole multitude of Doctors, infinitely superior to them in genius, in erudition, in sanctity, have sifted the Sacred Books in every way […]
Unfortunately, these great Doctors did not enjoy the same aids to study that are possessed by the Modernists for their guide and rule, – a philosophy borrowed from the negation of God, and a criterion which consists of themselves. We believe, then, that We have set forth with sufficient clearness the historical method of the Modernists. The philosopher leads the way, the historian follows, and then in due order come internal and textual critique. And since it is characteristic of the first cause to communicate its virtue to secondary causes, it is quite clear that the critique We are concerned with is an agnostic, immanentist, and evolutionist critique. Hence whoever embraces it and employs it, thereby professes the errors contained in it, and places himself in opposition to Catholic doctrine.
ST. PIUS X.
Pascendi Dominici gregis, 8/7/1907
An exposition useful to the life of the Church
Let the Catholic exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest, that namely of discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the Sacred Books. […] not only to expounding exclusively these matters which belong to the historical, archaeological, philological and other auxiliary sciences – as, to Our regret, is done in certain commentaries – but, having duly referred to these, in so far as they may aid the exegesis, they should set forth in particular the theological doctrine in faith and morals of the individual books or texts so that their exposition may not only aid the professors of theology in their explanations and proofs of the dogmas of faith, but may also be of assistance to priests in their presentation of Christian doctrine to the people, and in fine may help all the faithful to lead a life that is holy and worthy of a Christian.
PIUS XII.
Divino afflante Spiritu, 30/9/1943
Not limited to human aspects
To respect the coherence of the Church’s faith and the inspiration of Scripture, Catholic exegesis must be careful not to limit itself to the human aspects of biblical texts. It must also help Christians to perceive the Word of God more clearly in these texts, so that they may better welcome it and live fully in communion with God.
To this end, it is evidently necessary that the exegete himself perceive the Divine Word in the texts, and this is only possible if his intellectual work is fuelled by an impulse of spiritual life. Without this foundation, exegetical research remains incomplete; it loses sight of its primary purpose and is limited to secondary tasks.
ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Speech, 23/4/1993
Ecclesial faith, condition for authentic biblical hermeneutics
Authentic biblical hermeneutics can only be had within the faith of the Church, which has its paradigm in Mary’s fiat. St. Bonaventure states that without faith there is no key to throw open the sacred text: “This is the knowledge of Jesus Christ, from whom, as from a fountain, flow forth the certainty and the understanding of all sacred Scripture. Therefore it is impossible for anyone to attain to knowledge of that truth unless he first have infused faith in Christ, which is the lamp, the gate and the foundation of all Scripture.” And St. Thomas Aquinas, citing St. Augustine, insists that “the letter, even that of the Gospel, would kill, were there not the inward grace of healing faith.” Here we can point to a fundamental criterion of biblical hermeneutics: the primary setting for scriptural interpretation is the life of the Church.
BENEDICT XVI.
Verbum Domini, 30/9/2010
It is the Church’s right to judge the true sense of the Scriptures
To restrain petulant spirits, [the same sacred Synod] decrees that no one, relying on his own prudence, in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, twisting Holy Scripture to suit his own senses, dare to interpret Holy Scripture itself contrary to that sense which holy mother Church has held and holds, whose right it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
PAUL III.
Decree on the Vulgate and the mode of interpreting
Sacred Scripture. Council of Trent, 8/4/1546
Law protecting biblical science from error
By this most wise decree the Church by no means prevents or restrains the pursuit of Biblical science, but rather protects it from error, and largely assists its real progress. A wide field is still left open to the private student, in which his hermeneutical skill may display itself with signal effect and to the advantage of the Church.
LEO XIII.
Providentissimus Deus,18/11/1893
