Pontifical Biblical Commission Research Articles

“Si vuol cambiar tutto, si critica tutto” The Holy Office and Catholic Bible Exegesis after Divino afflante Spiritu (1943)

Based on two cases of ecclesiastical book censorship from the 1950s, the article deals with the Holy Office's handling of Catholic biblical exegesis during the late phase of the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-58). On the one hand, the inner-Vatican conflicts between the Suprema Congregazione and the Pontifical Biblical Commission in the years 1956-58 are examined. Secondly, the case of the German New Testament scholar Karl Hermann Schelkle shows the specific situation of Catholic biblical scholarship between the centre and the periphery a good decade after the biblical encyclical "Divino afflante Spiritu" (1943).

A leitura popular da Bíblia

The popular reading of the Bible proposed by Ecumenical Center for Biblical Studies (CEBI) is a concrete way of approaching the text based on the demands of reality, thus fitting into what the Pontifical Biblical Commission calls the Liberation Approach. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the document on The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, we bring to reflection the memory of the work of popular reading of the Bible carried out in the Catholic Diocese of Mossoró-RN within the methodology proposed by the CEBI. Examining the reports of the meetings that took place in the seventies and eighties of the twentieth century, we can see the strong presence of women, the relationship with ecclesiastical and base communities and popular movements and the resistance of the group that remains active even in the face of a adverse ecclesiastical situation.

Teologia Moral Fundamental A questão da permanência, universalidade e aplicabilidade dos preceitos morais da Sagrada Escritura

In this article we focus on the delicate issue of the interpretation and concrete application of the moral exhortations and regulations present in Sacred Scripture. The Bible, in its moral dimension, requires special exegetical and hermeneutical care. Through biblical exegesis, texts are interpreted in the literary, cultural and religious context of the time and place in which they were written. Through hermeneutics, in turn, we seek to discover and discern what the biblical text teaches us today, what light and guidance it brings to readers/believers in the face of their current problems.When one intends to make a “moral use” of the Bible, care and discretion must be exercised. There is a moral evolution from the Old Testament to the New Testament according to a divine pedagogy. Adultery, for example, was condemned in the Old Testament with the penalty of stoning. Jesus continues to condemn adultery from a moral point of view, but the cruel punishment provided for in the Torah (“Law”) becomes unacceptable in the light of the Christian spirit. Mercy overcomes legal judgment (John 8:1-11). The more concrete biblical moral norms are, the more carefully they must be interpreted and applied. In this regard, it is very useful to keep in mind the document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, dated April 15, 1993: “The interpretation of the Bible in the Church”. This document presents two fundamental interpretation criteria: the updating criterion and the inculturation criterion. This way, fundamentalism is avoided and the evangelical spirit is preserved. And here we come to the core message: it is essential to read and interpret the Bible with a Christian perspective. Jesus Christ is the key to reading all of Holy Scripture.

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin R. Wilson

Reviewed by: Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by Marvin R. Wilson Zev Garber marvin r. wilson, Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (2nd ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. xxiii + 443. Paper $29.99. In the context of our time, Pope John Paul II challenged members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission to help Catholics understand that the Hebrew Scriptures are essential to their faith (1997). Similarly, Evangelical Protestant Marvin R. Wilson asserts that the branches of Christianity and Christendom extend deeply to Hebrew roots, unknown to multitudes of Christian believers, practitioners, and seekers; and this presents distinctive challenges to Jews and Christians in their visions of one another. For example, when Jewish and Christian scholars interweave the narrative and teachings of Jesus into the cultural and social life of first-century Judaism in the land of Israel under the rule of Caesar, they pinpoint the evolving christology of the Jesus-believers, which conflicts with the viewpoints of the rabbis and the jurisdiction of Rome. Nonetheless, W. strongly maintains that the link between Judaism and Christianity is the common ancestry of the two faiths traced back to the covenant of ʾabrāhām (“the father of a multitude of nations,” Gen 17:4). The volume is divided into six parts accompanied by multiple chapter questions, indexes (author, word, subject, biblical and rabbinic sources) and selected bibliography. Part 1 speaks of the nature of Abraham’s spiritual children, encompassing the election of Israel under the rubric of the root and branches (Romans 9 and 11): where and why they (root/Jews; branches/gentiles) are similar and different; and the recognition that the Hebrew Bible is Jewish revelation birthed in an ancient Near Eastern environment, which suggests that, in order to understand the beliefs and practices of evolving Christianity, today’s gentile Christians must follow first-century apostles, disciples, and God-fearers who were immersed [End Page 148] in Jewish culture, languages, and thought. This process of re-Judaization requires immersion and learning of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic sources and commentaries, Josephus, and more. Part 2 treats selectively the history of the relationship between church and synagogue. Of particular interest are examples of disagreement between rabbinic halakah and the Jewish Christian groups that led to heresy and theological conflicts on the Jewish side, and anti-Jewish supersessionist readings on the Christian side. Nevertheless, Christians and Jews today who are committed to reading Scripture together are deeply motivated by an academic and reverential disposition toward rabbinic Judaism and the desire to correct the maligned image of Jews and Judaism that emerges from erroneous readings of the Gospel sources. From my perspective, anti-Judaism biases happen when historicity (Pharisaic kinship of Jesus, Peter, and Paul) is conflated with apologetic (“Give unto Caesar”) and polemic depictions (Jews are a deicidal and misanthropic people), as well as theological innovation (Christ replaces Torah as the ultimate teaching and Testament). Wilson cites other biblical and nonbiblical data as evidence for the parting of the way and the emergence of the church as the New Israel, such as Jewish defeat in the wars against Rome (66–70 c.e., 133–135 c.e.), leading to the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem, respectively. Hellenization of Jewish Christianity (severance of Jesus and Jewish Christianity from Pharisaic Torah belief, practice, and ritual) and the insertion of christological reading into Hebrew Scriptures paved the way for centuries of Christian anti-Jewish teaching and anti-Semitic behavior, from the birth of gentile Christianity to the Shoah and beyond. W.’s position on the centuries-old separation is neither extreme skepticism nor full-faith acceptance but rather a centrist position, somewhat contrary to an ecclesiastical tradition that teaches that truth is bound to NT and early Christian kerygma (preaching) and didachē (apologetics). Exploring the place of Jesus in Second Temple Judaism means to apply drash (insightful interpretation) to peshat (plain meaning of the text). Why so? From my Jewish view, it is because Jesus the historical being, that is to say, the Jesus before the oral and written traditions, is transformed and transfigured into a...

Homosexuality as Outlined in the Document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission What is Man? A Journey Through Biblical Anthropology (Paragraphs 185-195) in the Context of Ecumenical Dialogues on the Human Person

The article seeks to present a general overview of the document What is Man? (Ps 8:5). An Itinerary of Biblical Anthropology, published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 2019. The author endeavours to identify any reactions from other Churches and Christian Traditions to the document. What kind of reception, if any, has there been from the Orthodox Church and from the Protestants? What can we conclude from a selection of known positions, prior to the 2019 document? The paper will focus on only one particular issue — homosexuality and same-sex unions — and present a comparative analysis with the aim of identifying areas of convergence, as well as areas of divergence, between different Churches on the theme.

Homosexuality in the Pontifical Biblical Commission Document "What Is Man"?

Considerable public attention has been given to the treatment of homosexuality in the recent document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, What Is Man? A Journey through Biblical Anthropology. Some reports have claimed that the document represents a shift in Catholic teaching toward the accept­ance of homosexual acts. This article assesses that claim by carefully examining the relevant sections of the document in the perspective of its wider reflections on biblical anthropology and on the biblical vision of the institution of marriage. While the document situates the biblical texts concerning homosexuality within their literary and cultural contexts and emphasises the pastoral sensitivity with which this topic must be approached, it does not promote a revision or reversal of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality.

What Is Man? A Journey through Biblical Anthropology by Fearghus Ó Fearghail and Adrian Graffy

Reviewed by: What Is Man? A Journey through Biblical Anthropologyby Fearghus Ó Fearghail and Adrian Graffy Donald Senior the pontifical biblical commission What Is Man? A Journey through Biblical Anthropology(trans. Fearghus Ó Fearghail and Adrian Graffy; London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2021). Pp. 366. £19.99. This is the latest document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) and may be its longest to date. For those less acquainted with the role of the PBC, it is a commission of some twenty biblical scholars from all over the world intended to serve as a resource on biblical matters for the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and, through the Congregation, for the pope himself. First established under Pope Leo XIII, it evolved under Pius X as a monitor for Catholic biblical scholarship at a time when the church was highly suspicious of the reductionist spirit associated with historical biblical criticism. Over time, particularly under Pius XII, the monitoring role gave way to a more constructive approach. After the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI placed the PBC under the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith and confirmed its purpose as a Vatican resource on biblical interpretation. In recent years, the PBC has produced a series of expansive statements on such topics as various methods of biblical interpretation, on the key role of the Jewish Scriptures in the Christian Bible, on the moral horizons of the Bible, and on biblical inspiration. Several of these topics were expressly requested by the reigning pope (e.g., on the Jewish Scriptures by John Paul II, on inspiration by Benedict XVI); this latest presentation on biblical anthropology was requested by Pope Francis. These documents derive from the intertwined contributions of the PBC's members. Typically, the work of producing the document takes two or three years, beginning with an agreement on the overall format, and then various members producing papers on specific aspects of the topic, and finally the weaving together of this disparate material into a coherent text. The end result is that the PBC's statements are thorough, more like a state of the question than innovative, and, at times, their style reflects the somewhat patchwork nature of the production. [End Page 506] In this instance, however, the PBC's study of biblical anthropology has a unique and rich format. As stated at the outset, the document takes its cue from the account of human origins in Genesis, particularly chaps. 2–3, but with substantial reference to Genesis 1–11. The focus is, therefore, primarily on OT texts. Basic motifs from the Genesis account that reflect fundamental descriptions of what it means to be human, and the essential relationships that define the human, are described across the major components of the Bible: the Torah, the prophetic literature, and the wisdom traditions (often with particular attention to Psalms). Each segment, however, ends with the exemplification of the motif in the Gospels and in the letters attributed to Paul. The document states that its overriding methodology is that of "narrative theology"; however, this term should be taken in a very broad sense—distinguishing the document's thematic approach from a more systematic or philosophical analysis. The contents of the document are rich and accessible to the broad audience it has in mind: "members of theological faculties, catechists, students of the sacred sciences." Broad expositions of biblical motifs are bolstered (in smaller type) by incisive technical analyses of key texts (e.g., a thorough discussion of the nuance of the term "image" of God in Gen 1:26). The document is arranged in four "chapters" or major sections: (1) The Human Being as Created by God (both frail and of the earth but also in the image of God); (2) The Human Being in the Garden (taking up topics of food, work, and relationship with animals); (3) The Human Family (love between husband and wife, between parents and children, and between "brothers and sisters" understood broadly); (4) The Human Being in History (God's commands; human obedience and transgression; God's intervention in history and ultimate salvation in Christ). The opening "chapter," taking its cue from Genesis 1–11, sets the tone for the entire document and...

Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II by Gavin D'Costa

Reviewed by: Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II by Gavin D'Costa Lawrence E. Frizzell gavin d'costa, Catholic Doctrines on the Jewish People after Vatican II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). Pp. 240. €80. The potential for the impact of biblical scholarship on the modern world is profound and wide-ranging. Since the 1950s the collaboration among scholars of various religious heritages has been enriching in many ways. This has included a fruitful contribution by Jewish experts on the Hebrew Bible and its interpretation, moving from the varied literature of the Second Temple period to the rabbinic era and beyond. Now theologians are reviewing [End Page 132] the impact of these insights on the way the Christian message intersects with the Jewish people and their heritage. The book under review tackles a number of issues that flow from the Second Vatican Council's application of biblical studies to the Catholic faith with an impact on contemporary Catholic–Jewish relations. The four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council laid the foundation for the spiritual life and practices of Catholics. From these flowed the Decrees and Declarations regarding Christian ecumenism and interreligious relations. All the texts are addressed to Catholics, but many other people are affected by the integration of the council's teachings into the worship and moral life of Catholics. The interpretation of the sacred Scriptures in scholarly settings has an impact on the prayer and practices of the faithful. In many areas the council documents lay a foundation for guiding Catholics into a deeper appreciation of the church's teaching. Gavin D'Costa has explored the developments of the council's insights, especially the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) and the Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra aetate). He draws attention to the series of documents that interpret and apply Nostra aetate to the teaching of Catholic doctrine. He studies these texts in detail, along with papal encyclicals, statements, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), and the Pontifical Biblical Commission's The Jewish People and Its Holy Scripture in the Christian Bible (2001). D'Costa's conclusions are summarized as follows: "The full authority of the magisterium stands behind the biblical teaching that the covenant with biblical Israel, God's people, is irrevocable (Romans 11:29)." This prepares for a doctrinal implication: "The cultic religious rituals of Rabbinic Judaism are alive and lifegiving, not dead and deadening," as was taught by Augustine and Aquinas (p. 188). The land is central to the covenantal promises to Israel. D'C. favors "a minimalist Catholic Zionism." This means that the founding of the State of Israel may be the working of God in history in relation to God's chosen people. However, this position "cannot underwrite any form of Israel government or political messianism . . . nor can it keep quiet about the just cause of a Palestinian homeland" (p. 189). The question of mission to the Jewish people is placed within "the necessity of witness to all those who do not know Jesus Christ and his Church. This witness cannot compromise the freedom of religion or be coercive in any manner. . . . [The] emerging Jewish Catholic ecclesia has a special witness to offer; it is possible to follow Yeshua and remain a Jew and be a Catholic . . . within the Catholic Church that is qualitatively made up of "the church of the circumcision and the church of the gentiles" (p. 7) (see Gal 2:7). D'Costa presents the magisterial authority for his conclusions flowing from the council in developments grounded in the teachings of the last three popes and three written statements of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 1974, 1985, and 2015. D'C. studies these documents and that of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. "They point to a trajectory that is supported by a range of existing magisterial teachings. They are advanced in this book as strong candidates for how the Church might develop its doctrinal teachings about God's Jewish people, both in their reaction to such theologies and more importantly from their faithful following of God's demands. In this process, the Church is also slowly discovering...

Aportes del nuevo documento de la PCB ¿Qué es el hombre? al diálogo con el mundo contemporáneo

The recent study intitled What is man? written by the Pontifical BiblicalCommission (PBC) was involved in a reductionist polemic that troubled sexual moral’s topics, even before it’s publication. However, a careful analysis of the documentallows us to catch a glimpse of a newness/continuity dynamic in relation toprevious Vatican commission’s studies as well as a proposal of an “itinerary” thatgoes beyond a doctrinal recipe. This in order to assume that there is no unique answerin the Bible about the human being, but a multiplicity of relations that set uphis “imagen” and “mystery” dimension.

Why Does the Epistle to the Hebrews Evoke the Desires of the Patriarchs?

The Pontifical Biblical Commission’s document The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible, calls attention to a threefold connection between the two parts of the Christian Bible: continuity, discontinuity, and newness. The paper offers an analysis of a passage as an example of this relationship. The Epistle to the Hebrews (11:8–22) gives a particular emphasis to the desires of the patriarchs among other attitudes of the heroes of faith. They were looking for what was promised to them and desired by them: a city with the solid foundations planned and built by God. Now these desires can be fulfilled: the everlasting life with God is offered to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

O obowiązywalności wczesnych dekretów Papieskiej Komisji Biblijnej

Wczesne „Odpowiedzi” Papieskiej Komisji Biblijnej miały rangę dokumentów doktrynalnych, a ich celem było wyznaczenie granic katolickiej ortodoksji w studiach Pisma Świętego. Dekrety te nigdy nie utraciły swojego znaczenia formalnego, choć zostały niemal całkowicie zapomniane i unieważnione przez teologów. W 1955 roku ukazał się anonimowy artykuł, którego celem było ograniczenie autorytetu „Odpowiedzi” i uznanie ich za przestarzałe. Jednak za artykułem tym nie stał żaden formalny autorytet Kościoła. Obecnie wypada spojrzeć na te dokumenty jako na świadectwo nieustannie aktualnego Magisterium Kościoła zgodnie z zasadą „hermeneutyki ciągłości”.

Die Prinzipien der katholischen biblischen Hermeneutik in „der Sprache der Unmündigen“. Ein Beitrag zum 25. Jubiläum des Dokumentes der Päpstlichen Bibelkommission zur Interpretation der Bibel in der Kirche


 
 
 Ponad 25 lat temu Papieska Komisja Biblijna wydaa dokument pod tytuem „Interpretacja Pisma witego w Kociele”. Zosta on powicony ówczesnym naukowym kwestiom hermeneutyczno- egzegetycznym. Niemniej jednak duszpasterska strona tego zagadnienia nie zostaa pominita. Duszpasterze powinni take w dostpny sposób przyblia Pismo wite wszystkim wiernym (rozdz. IV, art. C, nr 3). Ale jak to zrealizowa praktycznie? Dokument nie rozwija szczegóowo tego tematu. Niniejszy artyku podejmuje dane wezwanie, przedstawiajc gówne hermeneutyczno- -biblijne zasady Kocioa Katolickiego „jzykiem prostaczków” (Mt 11,25).
 
 

The Christological hermeneutics of Augustine in Benedict XVI’s Mind

This article attempts to explore the Christological hermeneutics of Augustine in Benedict XVI’s method of reading Christ. The study is divided into three parts. The first part explores the Christological issues and methods since Vatican II. The proliferation of the Christological hermeneutics ignited the Church (Dei Verbum and Pontifical Biblical Commission) to set some guidelines and controls in order to pave the way to a better quest for the real Jesus. Within this context, Benedict XVI proposed a Christological hermeneutics which present a convincing figure of the real Jesus of Nazareth. The second part of the article deals with the commonalities and distinction of the hermeneutics of Augustine and of Benedict XVI. It highlights the similarities of the theological context of both theologians. Likewise, it presents the continuity of the thought of Augustine and Benedict XVI. The last part explains the Christological Hermeneutics of Augustine in the mind of Benedict XVI. It investigates and defines the Augustinian method of knowing Christ within the framework of Benedict XVI’s personal quest for Christ.

A Theology of the Christian Bible: Revelation, Inspiration, Canon by Denis Farkasfalvy, O. Cist

Reviewed by: A Theology of the Christian Bible: Revelation, Inspiration, Canon by Denis Farkasfalvy, O. Cist Anthony Giambrone O.P. A Theology of the Christian Bible: Revelation, Inspiration, Canon. By Denis Farkasfalvy, O. Cist. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2018. Pp. xii + 239. $34.95 (paper). ISBN: 978-0-8132-3029-0. Denis Farkasfalvy, Hungarian Cistercian, displaced from the monastery of Zirc and longtime abbot of Our Lady of Dallas, mathematician, expert on Bernard of Clairvaux, translator of the Psalms and member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission for more than a decade (2002-13), was already in ill health when he died of Covid-19 on May 20, 2020. His passing interrupted work on one final, monumental project on the Gospel of Matthew. It is the theology of sacred Scripture, however, where his legacy is most assured. This final book, with the all-embracing, yet targeted subtitle, “Revelation, Inspiration, Canon,” caps a lifetime of reflection and personal engagement around these central theological themes. Out of this engagement comes Farkasfalvy’s considerable frustration over a standing ecclesial inability to enunciate the correct doctrine on these matters, as he sees it. This weariness blurs in these pages with a more systematic and detached account, and the book wavers among being a primer, a history of the conciliar era, and a kind of personal theological memoire. [End Page 157] While the dustjacket blurbs are true to form (“remarkable work,” “epochal,” “crowning achievement,” “brilliantly luminous”), Richard Ounsworth has captured another quite valid response in his entertaining and appreciative, yet sharp review in New Blackfriars. “This book is simultaneously excellent and rather frustrating, fascinating and puzzling, even at times infuriating, but nevertheless a must-read for anyone seeking to engage with the Bible as sacred scripture.” Farkasfalvy’s deep personal investment in his theme, and his equally deep disappointment at its travesty in modern Catholic thought, “seems to have caused him to lose the thread of his argument through large parts of the book.” “The structure of the book is opaque, the titles of the chapters offering very little clue as to where the argument is going.” In the end, the book is “very clear about what Farkasfalvy thinks is the wrong understanding of biblical inspiration, far less about what he thought was right.” The complaints are not without warrant. What Ounsworth fails to observe in all this is that this book is, in fact, in many ways a more tangled version of and sequel to Farkasfalvy’s earlier, somewhat more disciplined effort, Inspiration and Interpretation: A Theological Introduction to Sacred Scripture (CUA Press, 2010). The present text is, accordingly, perhaps best read as a supplement to that initial work, almost in the form of a family of essays: a circular thinker’s imperfectly polished (practically) posthumous manuscript. The keys ideas and major insights, in any case, are very much the same in both these works. The fundamental error remains a misunderstanding of the double authorship of the sacred text, illuminated by Rahner’s Urheber/Verfasser distinction. God is not a literary author, we are repeatedly told. His action in the generation of the Scriptures is not to be plotted on the same level as the human veri auctores, for, if it were, every error and deficiency in the text would be charged to God’s account. The result would be either the collapse of the divine meaning of the Scriptures, or else a willful blindness to the genuine problems (both of which responses are today championed in various quarters). Neo-Scholasticism, notably in the persons of Augustine Bea and Pierre Benoit, does not fare at all well in this account. Briefly, the model of inspiration advanced by these figures, which became at the time of the Second Vatican Council the doctrina communis—a view based on instrumental causality, joined to the Summa’s treatise of prophecy, and applied not only to prophets but to all scriptural authors or “hagiographers”—is, for Farkasfalvy, in large measure responsible for our present woes. “We must here repeat: Rahner’s succinct critique of the Neo-Thomistic concept of dual authorship is philosophically correct” (50). The abbot goes on to add, however...

Dlaczego List do Hebrajczyków przypomina o pragnieniach patriarchów?

The Pontifical Biblical Commission’s document The Jewish People andtheir Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible calls attention to a threefoldconnection between the two parts of the Christian Bible: continuity, discontinuityand newness. The paper offers an analysis of a passage as an exampleof this relationship. The Epistle to the Hebrews (11:8-22) puts a particularemphasis on the desires of the patriarchs among other attitudes of the heroesof faith. They were looking for what was promised to them and desired bythem: a city with solid foundations planned and built by God. Now thosedesires can be fulfilled: the everlasting life with God is offered to all whobelieve in Jesus Christ.

Przyjęcie wykluczonych do wspólnoty zbawienia na przykładzie Dz 15, 1–35

Celem artykułu było ukazanie sposobu postępowania wspólnoty pierwotnego Kościoła wobec problemu przyjęcia do wspólnoty zbawienia wykluczonych wcześniej pogan. Kwestia ta stanowiła wielkie wyzwanie teologiczne, pastoralne i normatywno-dyscyplinarne dla chrześcijaństwa początków. Zagadnienie przedstawione zostało w trzech punktach. Z uwagi na fakt, iż przedmiotem rozważań był eklezjalny proces decyzyjny dotyczący norm postępowania, w punkcie pierwszym zdefiniowane zostało pojęcie decyzji moralnej w jej trójwymiarowości czasowej. Stwierdziliśmy, że rozpoznanie prawdy moralnej jest owocem spotkania między przeznaczeniem (ἔσχατος), zbawczym działaniem Chrystusa (κριτήριον) oraz rzeczywistością wymagającą przemiany (καιρός). W centralnym, drugim punkcie ukazano paradygmat procesu eklezjalnej decyzji, którego owocem było pełne włączenie do wspólnoty Kościoła wykluczonych etnochrześcijan. Kościół czasu soboru w Jerozolimie na „sposób synodalny” podjął problem wykluczonych i rozwiązał go w wyważonym połączeniu prawdy, wolności i miłości, stając się pod tym względem koniecznym punktem odniesienia dla procesu rozeznawania wspólnoty chrześcijan każdego czasu. Przypomniano o tym w trzecim punkcie artykułu, który dedykowany został aktualnym wskazaniom na temat rozeznawania wspólnotowego zawartym w dokumencie Biblia a moralność. Wskazano w nim, iż Pismo Święte, niezbędne źródło inspiracji dla procesu rozeznawania eklezjalnego, nadal stanowić powinno konieczny punkt odniesienia dla rozwiązywania przez Kościół nowych, aktualnych problemów etycznych. Celem najważniejszym, który udało się osiągnąć, było zaproponowanie synodalności, starożytnej kościelnej metody rozeznawania, chrześcijańskiej „kultury dialogu i spotkania” jako skutecznej metody przezwyciężania degradującej współczesną cywilizację „kultury wykluczenia”.

Ewangelie jako prawdziwe świadectwo Słowa Wcielonego

The article develops the concept of true witness of the four canonical Gospels to Jesus Christ the Incarnated Word. The starting point is presentation of the teaching of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) in the document The Inspiration and Truth of the Sacred Scripture (2014) about the witness of the Bible, especially the Gospels. The canonical Gospels are considered in it as main witness of the life and teaching of the Incarnated Word. The article demonstrates that the PBC repeats here the teaching of the conciliar constitution Dei Verbum (1965). Argumentation in the article emphasizes the historical reliability of the transmission of the life and teaching of the historical Jesus in the Church tradition: historical Jesus – eye witnesses – written Gospels – authoritative interpretation in the Church. The canonical Gospels are not primarily literary texts but a truthful registration of the witness of faith of Jesus’ believers. Consequently, the hermeneutic of faith is the only methodology that is apt to explain and understand the true nature of the Scriptures.

The Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Old Testament, and Christ as the Key to All Sacred Scripture

The Pontifical Biblical Commission, the Old Testament, and Christ as the Key to All Sacred Scripture

Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospels by Matthew J. Ramage

Reviewed by: Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospelsby Matthew J. Ramage Andrew D. Swafford Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospelsby Matthew J. Ramage (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2017), 263pp. M atthewR amagehas shown himself to be a formidable exponent of the thought of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In his Jesus, Interpreted, he situates Benedict's exegetical vision alongside that of Bart Ehrman—where skeptic and Pontiff alike receive an eminently fair hearing. By the end of the book, we have encountered not just a dispute over grammar and syntax—over historical inquiry itself—but of philosophical worldview. Ramage deftly brings out the centrality of these meta-questions, going so far as to say they more or less determinethe exegetical outcome. The beginning of the book takes one through a tour of how—at least on its face—revolutionary Ratzinger's exegetical project was: Ramage demonstrates the tension between Ratzinger's positions and those seemingly rejected by the Pontifical Biblical Commission at the early part of the twentieth century (27–37). Throughout, one is introduced to Ratzinger's exegetical program—where the emeritus Pope is shown to be at once a practitioner and admirer of modern historical-critical methods, and yet is at the same time their "incisive critic" (57–72, 233). If patristic biblical interpretation tended to focus on the divinity and unity of Sacred Scripture, modern historical methods tend to accentuate the diversity of human voices at the origin of the Bible. As Ramage well notes, "Spiritual exegesis can go beyond the text of Scripture only after it has gone throughthe text by dealing with its literal sense" (60, emphasis original). If there is a perceived weakness in the patristic method, it is jumping too quickly to the spiritual. But as Ramage explains, Benedict clearly sees deficiencies in the modern approach as well: "Since faith is not a fundamental component of Method B [historical-critical] exegesis, those who employ this method sometimes miss the ultimate end, the very raison d'êtreof Scripture: the opportunity to encounter the living God who teaches man through his sacred word" (63). The middle section of the book takes one through Erhman's historical-Jesus analysis, detailing and summarizing his arguments principally against the divinity of Jesus and the resurrection (101–44). This [End Page 579]is followed by a survey of Benedict's counter positions, providing what Ramage takes to be a reasonable exegetical alternative (145–93). Ramage distills Benedict's penchant for trying to discern the "core" of faith and his willingness to concede extraneous "accidental" aspects as non-essential—a case in point being Benedict's opting for John's chronology and his rejection of the Synoptic account that the Last Supper was in fact a Passover meal (160–61). Another key feature that comes out—in contrasting Ehrman and Benedict—is the issue of development. For Ramage, the importance of Newman here could hardly be overstated. Ehrman's position is that Christology had its "Big Bang" within the first twenty years after the death of Jesus—at which point followers of Jesus began to believe in Jesus's resurrection and thereby mythologized the apocalyptic rabbi, setting forth a trajectory that would culminate in Nicea. But for Ehrman, of course, such a trajectory has very little to do with the historical Jesus. And for Ehrman, the whole question of "orthodoxy" has more to do with claims of power than it does truth. Ramage readily concedes development: the question is whether this development is the work of divine providence, leading the Church into an ever-deeper encounter with the truth (see 145). Ramage likewise provides a similar analysis for the question of Christ's Second Coming. Here, too, Ramage is willing to concede Ehrman's point that the "second coming" is largely the result of a delayed imminent expectation of Christ's coming (198). Ramage takes the reader through Ratzinger's willingness to countenance this basic framework, while attempting to discern faith's essential core: "For Ratzinger this is the critical point: in dealing with the second...

Belgický teolog a geolog Henry de Dorlodot (1855-1929) a evoluční vznik člověka

This study presents the life and work of the Belgian geologist and professor of dogmatic theology Henry de Dorlodot (1855–1929). The author of this study presents the life of this thinker and highlights his active participation in the World Darwinist Congress in Cambridge in 1909. Dorlodot published his work about the evolution of fauna and flora from the point of view of Catholic Orthodoxy in 1921. This was the reason for an investigation by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, followed by one from the Holy Office. Dorlodot did not publish this intended book about human evolution during his lifetime. After the discovery of the original manuscript, the book came out in 2009. This work contains a number of inspirational ideas. Dorlodot’s thoughts are based on the Tomistic concept of the relationship between the soul and the human body. Based on this theory, he argues that the fetus has been ensouled during the process of evolution at a certain moment in the body of the still inhuman mother, and thus the first human was born. His thesis wherein the first man was an ancestor for both, today’s humans and the Neanderthals, is also of interest. Dorlodot´s case probably entailed a breaking point, since at this time no one had been investigated by the Vatican authorities for having an open minded attitude to the evolution of the human body.