Vatican II: Dei Verbum

Bp. Barron: Vatican II and Scripture in the Liturgy

Follow this link to hear a great talk delivered by Bp. Robert Barron on Vatican II and Scripture in the Liturgy.

Vatican II: Inside the Council (Dei Verbum Ep. 4)

Review: The Word of God at Vatican II by Fr. Ronald Witherup

Dei Verbum is the most important Church document concerning Scripture.  One of the important objectives of the council fathers who composed this document was the encouraging of all Catholics to make reading and studying the bible a normative part of daily life (DV 22,26).  Now this is not to say that prior to this that the Church official discouraged her people from reading the Bible.   (This is quite evident in the often found indulgence notice in the back front cover of many Douay-Rheims Bibles.)  Yet, it must be recognized that there were places where Catholics were discouraged, instead to take up books like the Baltimore Catechism.  While I was born more than a decade after the council, and so don't know this by personal experience, I have heard from numerous people, while leading Bible studies and teaching classes, that this did indeed happen in some places.  With that being said, there is no excuse now.  The Church has made it abundantly clear that she wants her sons and daughters taking up the Scriptures everyday for spiritual nourishment.  All of out previous Popes, most notably Pope Benedict and Francis, have regularly reminded us to do this.  What greater example could we have then the great scriptural writings of Benedict!

Now, while there have certainly been scholarly volumes devoted to Dei Verbum, very little has been published for the average Catholic. Yet, with the 50th anniversary of its publication coming in 2015, we are beginning to see some fine resources being published.  I am very happy to report that Little Rock Scripture Study's The Word of God at Vatican II: Exploring Dei Verbum is extremely helpful and easily applicable to either personal or group study.

Written by noted Catholic biblical scholar Fr. Ronald D. Witherup, who was one of the main editors on the lovely Little Rock Catholic Study Bible, this 85 page volume provides a short overview of all the main points concerning the council document. It is broken into three sections: 1) A Brief History of Dei Verbum; 2) A Brief Commentary on Dei Verbum; 3) Ongoing Interpretation and the Fruits of Dei Verbum.   Scattered throughout are various charts that cover a wide range of topics, most notably the different theories on Inspiration, comparison of the two main drafts of the document, the major scripture documents that led up to Vatican II, and church documents after Vatican II.  Witherup does an admirable job in providing context and content to this document.  He reminds us that "virtually all church documents have been influenced in one way or another by previous church teachings.  Dei Verbum is no exception (7)."  His chart on the documents that led up to Vatican II begin with Trent and Sancta Mater Ecclesia of 1964.  In each case, he gives a brief summary of each document and indicates which paragraphs of Dei Verbum were influenced by them.

In addition, he also recognizes many of the important figures who contributed to this document.  A certain Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict) is mentioned more than once.  He notes that Pope Benedict's poetic Verbum Domini is the most "comprehensive and important" document since the council (68).  Other works of scholars like Brown, Murphy, and Fitzmyer are rightly noted as being some of the great fruits of Vatican II.  (Little Rock Scripture Study is of course mentioned as well.)  I would have perhaps liked to see others mentioned as well, for example some of those scholars associated with the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture.  

I will conclude with what I think is the real heart of Witherup's work, that being his paragraph by paragraph commentary of Dei Verbum found in chapter 2.  The commentary is aided by the fact that Witherup included the actual document.  So, you don't need to flip between this book and the council document.  It is right there for you.  (And yes, the footnotes from Dei Verbum are included as well.)Encompassing over 40 pages, Witherup takes you through each section of the document providing helpful commentary on the main issues.  These range from one to five or more paragraphs each depending on the issue.   As you can guess, there is more of an extensive commentary on the interpretation of paragraph 11.  As Witherup notes, the issue of inerrancy is an issue still being debated and discussed today.  Pope Benedict asked for the issue to be studied by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and its finding are due to be released quite soon.

The Word of God at Vatican II is a great resource.  It comes with a study guide for individual or group study.  An answer book can be purchased as well.  I plan to use this throughout the year and next.  If I had my wish, I would love to see a collection of essays published by contemporary Catholic scripture scholars, from a wide variety of schools, looking back at the importance of Dei Verbum.

Thank you to the fine folks at Liturgical Press for providing me a review copy.

Book Review: Vatican II: The Essential Texts

We are in the midst of commemorating the fifty years since the work of the Second Vatican Council.  There are a number of books that have been, and will be, published during this time which look back at the Council.  It goes withouth saying that Vatican II has had an impact on all Catholics.  For this blog, certainly the importance of Dei Verbum looms large.  I hope to spend some time blogging about it as we get closer to the its 50th anniversary in 2015.  

One can, of course, find a whole assortment of books which analyze Vatican II.  Just do a search on Amazon and you will find dozens of books in English, representing vastly different perspectives.  Those of us of the post-Vatican II Church are fully aware of the interpretations and conflicts that are out there concerning the Council.  One of my great hopes with Pope Francis is that he can begin to bring some healing as the Church moves forward.  I think the dual canonizations of JXXIII and JPII was a very good idea in this regard.

One of the key terms for Vatican II was ressourcement, which meant a going back to the earlier sources.  In that spirit, I feel it is critical that those of us who are serious about the Church and her mission need to go back to the sources of the Second Vatican Council.  And how do we do that?  Well, we need to actually take the time to read the documents themselves, not only alone but also in study groups.  That is why I am excited to get a copy of Little Rock's Dei Verbum study, which comes out in June.  However, if you want to get a collection, in English, of the Council documents there are honestly not a lot of really good options.  The standard text that most of us are familiar with is the two volume work by Austin Flannery.  The problem is that it is massive and the production quality of the books are not very good.  The paper is cheap and the cover will not stand up to much use.  There is also the out of print edition by Abbotts and Gallagher, which is wonderfully compact, but again suffers from some of the same quality issues as the previous edition.  There was also a large volume published by Pauline which contains the sixteen documents, but it too is out of print.  So what do you do if you want a fairly nice looking, and feeling, collection of the documents of Vatican II which you can actually take around with you to read and pray over?  (And yes, I understand that you can print them off for free from the Vatican website.)

I would recommend Image's Vatican II: The Essential Texts edited by Norman Tanner, SJ.  This "essential" collection of Vatican II is a pleasure to read from and portable enough to tuck into your bag without taking up too much space.  This volume contains the Four Constitutions (Sacrosanctum Concilium, Dei Verbum, Lumen Gentium, and Gaudium et Spes) along with the Declarations on Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae) and on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate).  Each of the documents come with a brief historical introduction by Edward Hahnenberg, which help to place their formation in their historical context.  (If anyone can recommend a fuller treatment of the history of the council, which doesn't follow the extreme positions taken by some on both sides, I'd appreciate it.)  The translation of the documents comes from a 1990 Sheed & Ward/Georgetown University Press publication, with minor edits by Norman Tanner.  The book's appendix contains all the notes that were included with the official documents, which are certainly a must for understanding the true intent of the Council Fathers.   

The very first thing you will encounter in this volume are the "introductions" from Pope Benedict XVI and Boston Globe columnist James Carroll.  Without getting into specifics, these two share differing opinions on the Council.  Pope Benedict is of the school of seeing the Council through the hermeneutic of continuity with the past, while Carroll falls more in the hermeneutic of rupture/change.  I stand with Pope Benedict on this issue, so I don't find Carroll's comments all that convincing.  (It should be noted that both "introductions" consist in previous articles/speeches done by the authors.)  I am not, in general, a fan of Carroll's writings, however, I think having his essay included, along with Benedict's, shows the spectrum of interpretation that has existed during these past fifty years.  

As with any volume that claims to be "essential," there are bound to be elements I would have liked to see included.  In particular, since this volume is directly primarily towards the lay faithful, I think they should have included the the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity.  It would have really rounded out the other six, and plus when we think about the laity's role in the New Evangelization, it would be really helpful to have this document among the others.  Also, since Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate were included, I would have really liked to have seen Unitatis Redintegratio, the decree on Ecumenism, a part of this collection.

Overall, however, if you want an attractive and portable edition of the main Vatican II documents, this is the one to go with.  I highly recommend it.    

Thank you to Katie at Image Books for providing me a review copy

Little Rock Scripture Study: The Word of God at Vatican II

Coming in June, Little Rock Scripture Study will be releasing a new 4 session study on Dei Verbum called The Word of God at Vatican II.  This looks very promising, as well as being something that is really needed.  The sessions are led by Catholic Scripture scholar Ronald D. Witherup, SS.   Fr. Witherup is the superior general of the Sulpicians and lives in Paris, France. He holds a doctorate in biblical studies and is the author of articles on Scripture and of numerous books including Gold Tested in Fire: A New Pentecost for the Catholic Priesthood, and is New Testament editor of the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible (Liturgical Press).   He has published widely, with a number of his books being available for purchase. 

About this 4 session study:
Did you ever wonder how the Bible became such an essential part of being a Catholic in our Day? Dei Verbum—The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation—remains one of the foundational teachings of the Second Vatican Council. Discover how this teaching helped to move the Bible into the heart of parish faith formation, and continues to direct our efforts in liturgy, education, and spirituality. Appropriate for all parish adult faith formation efforts, Bible study groups, and diocesan education programs.

Catholic View on Biblical Inerrancy

What is the Catholic Church's view of Biblical inerrancy? She certainly holds to the view that the Bible is inerrant, but to what degree? Recently, I have been in email correspondence with a reader over this issue. He has pointed out that there is a great deal of Catholic Bible scholarship that holds to a more limited view on inerrancy, which, to him, seems to contradict the pronouncements by some Popes like Leo XII, but most notably Pius XII in Divino Afflante Spiritu. I produce that quote from the first paragraph of that document:

"Inspired by the Divine Spirit, the Sacred Writers composed those books, which God, in His paternal charity towards the human race, deigned to bestow on them in order "to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice: that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work." This heaven-sent treasure Holy Church considers as the most precious source of doctrine on faith and morals. No wonder herefore that, as she received it intact from the hands of the Apostles, so she kept it with all care, defended it from every false and perverse interpretation and used it diligently as an instrument for securing the eternal salvation of souls, as almost countless documents in every age strikingly bear witness. In more recent Times New Roman, however, since the divine origin and the correct interpretation of the Sacred Writings have been very specially called in question, the Church has with even greater zeal and care undertaken their defense and protection. The sacred Council of Trent ordained by solemn decree that "the entire books with all their parts, as they have been wont to be read in the Catholic Church and are contained in the old vulgate Latin edition, are to be held sacred and canonical." In our own time the Vatican Council, with the object of condemning false doctrines regarding inspiration, declared that these same books were to be regarded by the Church as sacred and canonical "not because, having been composed by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her authority, nor merely because they contain revelation without error, but because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God for their author, and as such were handed down to the Church herself." When, subsequently, some Catholic writers, in spite of this solemn definition of Catholic doctrine, by which such divine authority is claimed for the "entire books with all their parts" as to secure freedom from any error whatsoever, ventured to restrict the truth of Sacred Scripture solely to matters of faith and morals, and to regard other matters, whether in the domain of physical science or history, as "obiter dicta" and - as they contended - in no wise connected with faith, Our Predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Deus, published on November 18 in the year 1893, justly and rightly condemned these errors and safe-guarded the studies of the Divine Books by most wise precepts and rules."

Since then, however, the most notable contribution to this issue comes from the Second Vatican Council's Constitution Dei Verbum. Perhaps I am wrong, and please correct me if I am, but I believe this was the first statement on Biblical inerrancy found in a document of an Ecumenical Council. Concerning Dei Verbum and inerrancy, the main issues comes down on how one interprets Dei Verbum 11:

"Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation."

There are some, like Fr. Raymond Brown and most notably some of the editors of the NAB commentary, which hold to a more limited view of inerrancy, which simply covers Biblical truth which God intended for our salvation. For them, this does not included apparent discrepancies, particularly in regards to historical or scientific information. They point out that the pre-vote debate on on Dei Verbum at Vatican II showed an "awareness of errors in the Bible (NJBC 1169)." Thus, for those who agree with the more limited form of Biblical inerrancy: "Scriptural teaching is truth without error to the extent that it conforms to the salvific purpose of God (Ibid)." For this view, you read more about it in the New Jerome Biblical Commentary pages 1168-1170, in the section on Church Pronouncements.

Then there are others that would hold to a more broad view of inerrancy, closer to the unlimited inerrancy as found in Leo XIII's encyclical. Those in this group contend that the Dei Verbum quote "for the sake of salvation" tells us not what is deemed inerrant, but rather why God wished the truth to be recorded in the Bible. They will point to the footnote to this statement in Dei Verbum, which references various Church Fathers, Popes, and Councils, which upholds the fuller form of inerrancy. Thus, unlimited inerrancy "is the belief that the Scripture is completely and comprehensively true in all that it intentionally affirms (Catholic Bible Dictionary 389)."

In some ways, there is still debate in the Church on this issue. Perhaps there is a desire, by the Church at this time, to be ambiguous on this issue. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the section that deals with the inspiration of Scripture, paragraph 107, simply quotes from Dei Verbum 11 without any qualification.

It should be pointed out that the limited and unlimited view groups both recognize that there are difficulties in inerrancy. In addition, they both reject, in any case, that the Catholic Church's position is similar to fundamentalism. The key being that Catholic's are called to use modern Biblical scholarly methods in order to find out what is the literal not literalistic meaning of any given text. Certainly, this calls for the use of literary criticism, which seeks to find out what type of literary genre the author is using in his work. Thus, understanding the intent of the author and the literary form used in his writing can help to alleviate some of the difficulties in this area.

These are some of my opening thoughts on this issue. There is certainly more that can be said and added to this discussion, so I open this question up to you, my readers. What are your thoughts?

Work Cited:
Divino Afflante Spiritu
Dei Verbum
Catechism of the Catholic Church
New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy
The Catholic Bible Dictionary, edited by Hahn