Roman Catholic theology of Scripture

The theology of Scripture in the Roman Catholic church has evolved much since the Second Vatican Council of Catholic Bishops ("Vatican II", 1962-1965). This article explains the theology (or understanding) of Scripture that has come to dominate in the Catholic Church today. It focuses on the Church’s response to various areas of study into the original meaning of texts.

Vatican II's Constitution on Revelation opened the door to acceptance within the Church for much of the scholarly study of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures that had taken place since the 19th century. Developments within the Catholic Church can be traced through documents of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which oversees scriptural interpretation as it pertains to Catholic teaching. Until Vatican II the decrees of this commission reflected the Counter-Reformation effort to preserve the tradition unchanged, lest errors arising during the Protestant Reformation enter into Catholic belief. Consequent on Vatican II, the Counter-Reformation mentality in the Catholic Church diminished and the ecumenical spirit of openness to what is good in modern studies was embraced. The Council Fathers reiterated what was dogmatic in the previous teaching of the Church, "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." This is the substance of what church dogma (infallible teaching) says. The Council document went on to show an openness to development of doctrine, since historically growth in understanding has led to more developed theologies – in this case of scriptural interpretation within the Church. The Council Fathers continued:

However, since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion, the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words. To search out the intention of the sacred writers, attention should be given, among other things, to "literary forms" ... in accordance with the situation of his own time and culture. For the correct understanding of what the sacred author wanted to assert, due attention must be paid to the customary and characteristic styles of feeling, speaking and narrating which prevailed at the time of the sacred writer, and to the patterns men normally employed at that period in their everyday dealings with one another. 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 judgment of the Church may mature.

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