Divino Afflante Spiritu

Divino afflante Spiritu ("Inspired by the Holy Spirit") is a Papal encyclical letter issued by Pope Pius XII on September 30, 1943 calling for new translations of the Bible from the original languages, instead of the venerable Latin Vulgate of St Jerome, revised multiple times, which had formed the textual basis for all Catholic vernacular translations until that time. It inaugurated the modern period of Roman Catholic Bible studies by encouraging the study of textual criticism (or "lower criticism") pertaining to text of the Scriptures themselves and transmission thereof (e.g. to determine correct readings), and permitting the use of the historical-critical method (or "higher criticism"), to be informed by theology, Sacred Tradition, and ecclesiastical history, pertaining to the historical circumstances of the text, hypothesizing about matters such as authorship, dating, and similar concerns. The eminent Catholic bible scholar Raymond E. Brown described it as a 'Magna Carta for biblical progress'.

The first purpose of the encyclical was to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the issuing of Providentissimus Deus by Pope Leo XIII in 1893, which had condemned the use of higher criticism. In the encyclical, Pius XII noted that since then, advances had been made in archaeology and historical research, making it advisable to further define the study of the Bible.

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