Chapter 7
The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture
Before beginning this very important section, let us recall the chapter on inspiration. We must always keep in mind that the Bible has two authors: God and man. For a proper understanding of any text, whether it be a psalm verse, or a Gospel narration, or a prophecy, both authors must be taken into account.
At the same time, we must never forget the intimate relationship that Scripture has to the new People of God, the Church. The Scriptures were born in the Church, were written for her, and were entrusted to her for their custody and interpretation.
The technical name for determining the meaning of Sacred Scripture is hermeneutics (from the Greek word “hermeneuo,” meaning to interpret).
This is a very general term, but in classical biblical studies it was divided into three constituent disciplines: noematics, the general study of the various meanings of Scripture; heuristics, which studies the specific meanings of texts by using certain literary and doctrinal criteria; and prophoristics, which is the exposition of biblical materials for the general public.
Exegesis is the study of the meaning of a text in relationship to theology and the Church as a whole, and embraces the subject matter of heuristics and prophoristics; it includes the historical and literary study of a text, a determination of the text’s meaning within the context of the wider canon of Scripture, and its application to the Church’s life today.
Because biblical meanings are not well defined in many modern books, and because there is a great number of new and at times contradictory approaches to Scripture study, I have chosen in this introductory handbook to retain these classical divisions. They explain quite clearly the different objects of biblical study, and thus they help us avoid the confusion that is frequently encountered in this field.
The Literal Meaning of Scripture
The literal meaning is the first and most important sense to determine; it is the basis for understanding both the actual words and any deeper meaning that could be derived from them. In his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu (no. 23), Pope Pius XII teaches:
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. In the performance of this task let the interpreters bear in mind that their foremost and greatest endeavor should be to discern and define clearly that sense of the biblical words which is called literal.
A way of defining the literal meaning, which takes into account the dual authorship of Scripture, is “that meaning intended by the sacred author as moved by the Holy Spirit.” It is usually taken to mean the sense expressed immediately and directly by the words themselves. As stated above, all the other biblical meanings are derived from it (see Catechism, no. 116).
The literal sense is twofold:
• proper, when the words are taken in their ordinary meaning, such as “he overturned the tables of the money-changers” (see Matthew 21:12) or “Abraham called the name of the son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac” (see Genesis 21:3); and
• improper or metaphorical, when the words have a derived or figurative meaning, such as “Behold the Lamb of God” (see John 1:29), since the text does not speak of the animal, but of a man. Parables and and allegories, which are developed comparisons between two or more things, also have a derived or figurative meaning.
The so-called sensus plenior (“fuller sense”) is a meaning that goes beyond the words themselves, but is nevertheless based on them. It is really an extension of the literal meaning, and is possible because of the dual authorship of the Bible: one of the authors is in time, but the Other is outside of time and therefore can give a deeper meaning to the human words. This meaning may take centuries to elucidate.
In the words of Pope Leo XIII (Providentissimus Deus, no. 14): "For the language of the Bible is employed to express . . . many things which are beyond the power and scope of the reason of man - that is to say, divine mysteries and all that is related to them. There is sometimes in such passages a fullness and a hidden depth of meaning [ampliore quadam et reconditiore sententia] which the letter hardly expresses and which laws of interpretation hardly warrant."
Referring to the same phenomenon, Saint Thomas Aquinas comments: "God could have had the hagiographer understand many consequences and applications of his text. But even if he did not, we cannot doubt that the Holy Spirit knew them, who is the main Author of the sacred books." (De Potentia, Q.IV, a.1.c)
One example of the sensus plenior is seen in God's word to the serpent and to Eve after Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience in Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed."
This verse literally seems to refer to the opposition between serpents and human beings, while its plenary meaning can extend to something far more profound: the battle between Satan and the human race, and the conquest of Satan by the son of Mary.
Another is the literal meaning of Psalm 118:22, the verse referring to the stone rejected by the builders that has become the cornerstone; at first this verse appears to be an architectural image, but it is applied in a plenary way by Peter to Christ’s rejection by the leaders and elders of the Jews (see Acts 4:11). He is indeed the stone rejected by the builders but he has become the cornerstone of the new people of God.
Because of the profound nature of the sensus plenior and its close relationship with inspiration itself, its existence should be verified by its use in the New Testament or by the Fathers of the Church; the exegete should not invent it on his own.
Consequent and Accommodated Meanings
The consequent sense is the meaning reached by a simple process of reasoning which begins from some proposition or truth contained in the Bible. This is not strictly speaking the inspired meaning, but it follows logically from it and can be derived by an individual person, a theologian, or the Magisterium.
Our Lord Himself used the consequent meaning. For instance, from the Exodus text: "I am . . . the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (see Exodus 3:6), He concluded that the patriarchs were still alive because God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living" (see Matthew 22:32).
Similarly, the Council of Trent applies Saint Paul’s passage "Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin" (see Romans 5:12) - to the perennial Catholic teaching on original sin and its spread to the entire human race.
The accommodated meaning is that which is given to the text other than the one directly or indirectly intended by the human author. It is based on a certain resemblance between the object in the hagiographer’s mind and in the mind of a later commentator or preacher.
For the accommodation or actualization to be valid, the later commentary should always respect the harmony of faith (the interconnection of all revealed truths) and conform to the right understanding of the original text.
Therefore, when Christ said, "Put out into the deep" in Luke 5:4 (Latin "Duc in altum"), the original object was for the fishermen to trust in His word and go into the Lake of Gennesaret to lower their nets again, but a more current application could be that of Christ asking Christians to believe more in Him and go into the world to draw others to the Church.
In Novo Millennio Ineunte, Pope John Paul II actualized this phrase "Duc in altum" to encourage Christians to go forth with confidence into the new millennium, giving brave witness to Christ and His salvation. This is a proper actualization or application of the text because it respects the harmony of faith and legitimately extends its original meaning to another related dimension.
Improper quoting of Scripture occurs when the literal meaning is violated, quoted in the wrong context, or when its usage denies a truth of faith. An instance of this is the devil’s misuse of Psalm 91:11 when he asks Christ to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple in order to lead Christ to the sin of presumption (see Matthew 4:6-7).
The Typical or Spiritual Meaning
The typical sense is grounded on the literal sense and takes into account both the human and divine authorship of Scripture. God has authority and power not only over words, but also over the actual events and persons of human history.
Because of God’s intervention, certain persons, events, or things in Scripture can actually point to or foreshadow other persons, events, or things. The person, or thing, employed by God to signify something else is called a type; that which is foreshadowed is called an anti-type (not in the sense of being opposed, but in the sense of being completed).
In the words of Pius XII in Divino Afflante Spiritu (no. 26): "For what was said and done in the Old Testament was ordained and disposed by God with such consummate wisdom, that things past prefigured in a spiritual way those that were to come under the new dispensation of grace. Wherefore the exegete, just as he must search out and expound the literal meaning of the words, intended and expressed by the sacred writer, so also must he do likewise for the spiritual sense, provided it is clearly intended by God."
Types both in the Old and New Testaments have profound theological and often salvific meanings. For instance Adam the first man can be considered a type of Christ who is the perfect man, Noah’s ark may be considered a type of the Church because it saved the human race at the time of the flood, and the manna in the desert is a type of the Holy Eucharist because it sustained the people of God in their journey.
There are certain requirements however that are needed for there to be a true biblical type:
• The real existence of the person, thing, or event. It cannot be a mere poetic image or a figure from a parable.
• A true similarity between the type and the anti-type. This similarity could be physical or spiritual: for instance the manna in the desert physically was a kind of food and was a gift from God; the Eucharist is a spiritual food and is also a gift from God.
• Verification that it was God’s intention to prefigure something with another thing. This can be shown by a quotation from Christ ( Jonah prefigures his burial and resurrection, the manna prefigures the Eucharist), or by a sacred writer’s affirmation (the Letter to the Hebrews states that Melchizedek prefigured Christ), or by a unanimously substantiated use by the Fathers of the Church (Noah’s ark prefigures the Church).
Applying the above criteria, scholars over the centuries have been able to identify four major kinds of types:
• Messianic types refer to the Messiah in His Person: Melchizedek, the king and high priest who offers bread and wine after Abraham’s victory (see Genesis 14:18-20), is a type of Christ.
• Allegorical types refer to the Messianic kingdom: the sacrifices of the Old Testament, such as the burnt offerings and the Passover lamb, refer to the sacraments of the New Testament.
• Anagogical types refer to the things of the world to come. The destruction of Jerusalem in the New Testament prefigures the end of the world and God’s final judgment.
• The tropological or moral types contain lessons for our moral guidance. The life of the people under the Judges prefigures our own life: sin, punishment, conversion, and renewal (see Catechism, no. 117).
In The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, its 1993 document the Pontifical Biblical Commission offers a slightly different approach to the typical sense of Scripture and the sensus plenior. It considers both of these to be subsets of a more general spiritual sense, which must always be founded on the literal sense, and which it defines as "the meaning expressed by the biblical texts when read under the influence of the Holy Spirit in the context of the paschal mystery and of the new life which flows from it" (see II.B.2).
This definition is broad enough to include both the sensus plenior and the typical meaning of texts studied above, though it appears to weaken the classical definition of the typical sense which referred specifically to real persons and things, and not simply to the "meanings" of texts.
This view of the spiritual sense as a meaning that gradually unfolds because of the action of the Holy Spirit takes into account more modern theories of the various readings and re-readings of Scriptural texts in different eras, and it can apply both to the inspired books themselves, and to the exegetes who study the inspired texts in order to grasp their meaning in the light of Christ’s pascal mystery.
The Pontifical Biblical Commission's definition of the spiritual sense is particularly significant because it mentions the reading of a text with the help of the Holy Spirit, which is essential for all true exegesis, and highlights the central role of Christ’s death and resurrection (the paschal mystery) as the key to understanding the deepest meaning of a text.
Heuristics: Determining The Meaning of a Text
As stated above, for the proper study of any biblical passage, the literal meaning must be discovered. This first entails a study of the internal characteristics of a text, that is, what the text contains in itself apart from outside considerations.
Among these characteristics is the language of the text itself. The three biblical languages are Hebrew, Aramaic (related to Aramaean and spoken in Palestine after the fourth century B.C.), and Greek (the common form, called koine, spoken in the ancient world after the fourth century B.C.).
We must recall that God chose to use these three languages as the vehicles for communicating His truth and love to all men and narrating His miracles and other salvific actions in human history. Vocabulary, grammar, word order, and literary structure all form part of the literal meaning intended by God and expressed by the human author.
Obtaining the best critical text is another important factor. Using the studies of codices and text analysis, the scholar should attempt to work with a text that seems the closest to the original, both in content and style. For more information on this method and its scope, please refer to the classification and interpretation of ancient papyri and codices in chapter 5.
The context of a passage should also be considered, namely its connection with what precedes and follows it. This connection can be logical, psychological (arising from the association of ideas), or historical (the narration of the events before and after the text).
The Pontifical Biblical Commission's 1993 document on biblical interpretation considers other forms of literary analysis, such as rhetorical, narrative, and semiotic forms of speech. Each has its proper role in determining the meaning and internal richness of the passage in question.
Parallelism is the study of those passages that have a certain resemblance either in vocabulary or content to the passage in question. Matthew 8:1-4 and Luke 5:12-14 both speak of Jesus' curing of a leper, but in slightly different ways. Psalm 118:22 and 1 Peter 2:7 both speak of a stone rejected by men.
An example of doctrinal parallelism is the teaching of Christ on the indissolubility of marriage and passages from Saint Paul’s letters on marriage. Parallelism can show, either by contrast or harmony, how all the texts of Sacred Scripture truly complement one another in presenting the mysterious unity of God’s truth to mankind.
This meaning is being more and more highlighted in modern Scripture studies, under the title of canonical interpretation - that is, to see a text not only in terms of its historical or literary source, but in terms of its significance within the wider canon of books that the Church considers inspired.
The literary form of a passage is a vitally important consideration. We mentioned above that in order to determine the literal meaning of a text, one should try to discover the pattern of speech being used, since this pattern of speech will help reveal the thoughts, sentiments, and intent of the sacred author.
The failure to do this will frequently lead to the misinterpretation of biblical passages. For instance, someone might misinterpret the first chapter of Genesis by concluding that the author affirms that the world was created in six days of twenty-four hours each, and miss the point of the creation narrative, which is to describe the power of God and the dependence of the created world on Him.
Different biblical literary forms include historical narration (though often not in the modern sense), juridical description, prophecy, didactic materials (letters, notes, commentaries), poetry (as in the Psalms), parables, genealogies, and apocalyptic visions.
The external criteria, that is, those factors outside of the text itself, are also of key importance for determining its meaning.
The first of these is the author. For many books of the Bible the author is unknown, but to the extent that it is possible one should try to identify and understand him, or at least the characteristics of writers at his time and from his cultural milieu.
For instance, it is helpful to know that Hebrew authors make frequent use of parataxis in communicating. Similarly, one must be aware that Hebrew writers did not generally distinguish between primary cause and secondary causes. They therefore directly attribute to God many different events and human actions (see Exodus 4:21; Amos 3:6). Hebrew as a language is also rich in imagery, but often sparse in abstract ideas.
Where we do know something of the author, we should consider the kind of man he was.
For instance, it is helpful to know that the prophet Amos was a shepherd, had little formal education, and was raised in the country. The prophet Isaiah, on the other hand, was an educated man with a wide range of vocabulary and diction. Greek was Saint Luke’s native tongue, and a part of his Gospel reflects this.
In the case of books that were formed by a literary tradition over a number of years, and whose writers are unknown (for example, the Book of Kings), it is important to try to reconstruct the era which is covered, and the intention of the final writer, as far as we can identify him by the reconstruction of historical and literary data within the texts themselves.
The occasion of the writing of the text is another important consideration. As far as possible, we should try to know what motivated the sacred author. For instance, Saint Luke's Gospel was written for the information of Theophilus (see Luke 1:1-4), who could either be an individual or a symbolic name for the Gentile Christian community.
The Book of Sirach was translated from the Hebrew to Greek for the benefit of the Jews in Egypt by the grandson of the author. The prophecy of the birth of Emmanuel (see Isaiah 7:14) was given on the occasion of the invasion of Judea by the kings of Syria and Israel, at a time of great national stress and uncertainty.
The purpose of the book is often connected with the occasion and helps the interpreter understand the intention of its content.
The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles or Paralipomenon were written for the Jews who had returned from the Babylonian exile and were seeking to reestablish their destroyed city. Saint Matthew’s Gospel was written to demonstrate that Jesus was truly the Messiah and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Saint John wants to defend in his Gospel the divinity of Christ, which was being questioned toward the end of the first century.
The original audience is another factor, and often this is intrinsically connected with the purpose of the book.
It is important to know, for example, that the Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles were written to bolster the faith and resolve of the returning exiles from Babylon, that Saint Luke wrote his Gospel primarily for Gentile converts, that Saint Matthew wrote his for Jewish Christians and for the Jews in general.
To understand Saint Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians properly, we need to know what kind of people they were and the particular temptations that the early Christians faced in the cosmopolitan and libertine city of Corinth.
If there were various re-readings or re-interpretations of sacred texts throughout the centuries, it is important to know the circumstances behind them…for instance the various re-readings and reflections upon Pentateuch materials in the period after the Second Temple was constructed (circa 500 B.C.), as in the Book of Sirach.
The auxiliary sciences can also throw much light on scriptural texts. The science of history gives us some background on the general customs of Semitic peoples, the various wars and invasions that they endured, and the customs and circumstances of their daily life.
It is helpful to understand something of the relationship between Samaritans and Jews in order to understand fully the parable of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37) or the agricultural situations of Israel between 1000 and 600 B.C. in order to understand some of the laws of Exodus and Leviticus. The literature and history of neighboring peoples, such as the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, are of great help in understanding the full meaning of many texts.
Archeology reveals the construction of ancient cities, the placement of walls and ramparts, and testimonies on clay tablets or pillars in the desert or other sites. Often these are useful for determining more exactly the dates of biblical events or other events that occurred at approximately the same time.
Since 1890, there has been a great expansion of exploration in Palestine and the Middle East, principally by British archaeologists. Among the items of greatest interest are the so-called "tells" of the Holy Land - mounds of ruins that are built upon ancient cities and rising at times to seventy or eighty feet above the surrounding plain. These tells contain the remains of walls, temples, and houses, along with pottery, records of wars and battles, paintings, and other artifacts. They are most helpful for reconstructing the life and times of those who wrote the texts of Sacred Scripture.
A system that uses both internal and external criteria for studying texts is the historical-critical method. Though it began with rationalistic and humanistic assumptions (see Chapter 8), the historical-critical method has a certain value because of its investigation of the historical origin of traditions or writings that led to the inspired texts, along with any additions or modifications that may have been made in that process.
This method was endorsed in the Pontifical Biblical Commission's 1993 study as "an indispensable method for the scientific study of the meaning of ancient texts" (I.A.) - although in more recent years its value has been de-emphasized by some scholars.
The same document recommends the wholistic study of biblical texts, which should take into account what are called the diachronic factors - that is, specific historical factors that influenced the writing of a text, and the synchronic factors - that is, the text itself considered as a final product (see I.A.4).
The major types of heuristics are well summarized in the Catechism from the point of view of the hagiographer: In order to discover the sacred author’s intention, the reader must take into account the conditions of their time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking, and narrating then current (no. 110, original emphasis).
Nature and Sources of Sound Exegesis
Exegesis is the study of a text or book in the light of other revealed truths at the service of the Church. It is most properly a theological endeavor and tends to be rare today in the field of biblical studies, since most modern biblical scholars tend to be more linguistic and empirical than theological in their approach to Scripture.
Essential to the success of any exegete is that he possess the proper dispositions for studying the Bible.
The Bible is much more than an ancient document that can be grasped by the principles of human scholarship alone. Rather, Scripture has a Divine Author and conveys a truth that transcends human reason. The exegete must therefore have faith in order to study God’s Word properly.
And since God is also goodness, there must be moral rectitude in the exegete’s will. If these are lacking, a biblical researcher will stay only on the surface of texts and never grasp their full meaning.
Faith entails the acceptance of a biblical text as containing an infallible truth and not simply a human thought or opinion. Faith connects the scholar with the entire context of Scripture and indeed with Revelation as a whole.
It gives him a greater penetration into the real meaning and import of the sacred texts, and opens him to the Holy Spirit’s gift of understanding. Without faith that God can truly elevate the human intellect and move the will, one would miss the whole message of the prophetic, sapiential, and psalmist literature. Without faith that God can truly intervene in history, the scholar would not be able to grasp even the literal meaning of a biblical narrative, and what the author, as a man of faith, was trying to say.
Here it might be good to recall the definition given in the Catechism: "Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself" (no. 1814).
As a virtue, faith is connected with the will, since religious truths are not always evident to the intellect. In other words, to have faith, a man must also want to believe. This has great importance for certain obscure passages of Scripture, or for passages that might appear critically or historically doubtful.
Saint Augustine’s attitude as an exegete is very admirable in this regard: "If there is something I don’t understand, it is not Scripture’s error . . . it is mine, or an error of a copyist."
Moral rectitude is also essential. Biblical studies are not merely academic or intellectual enterprises, nor simply a collection of erudite facts or theories. To penetrate and apply Scripture properly, one must always recall the words of the Second Vatican Council: "Sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with its divine authorship in mind" (Dei Verbum, no. 12).
The moral virtues that open the exegete to the true Word of God are:
• humility, by which he recalls the limited value of his own mind or ideas before the holy text;
• charity, by which he recalls that Scripture is really a manifestation of God’s love for us and an invitation to enter into His intimate life; and
• patience, by which he avoids rash conclusions and reflects upon his material in the light of a higher truth.
It is appropriate for the researcher to pray to the Holy Spirit before he studies, especially asking for His gifts:
• wisdom, so that he might consider the text in the light of God’s providence and loving plan for mankind;
• understanding, so that he can connect his research with other truths of faith;
• fortitude, so that he not be discouraged by the difficulty or obscurity of a given Hebrew or Greek text or the many theories about it;
• fear of God, so that he revere and appreciate the power and justice of God in the texts he studies, and not become proud in his own conceptions; and finally,
• piety, by which he recognizes the sacred text as just that - sacred - to which he owes a great reverence.
In the timeless words of Saint Jerome: "Scripture is a subject that should be studied on one’s knees."
As we have said, exegesis is part of theology, since the exegete studies an object of divine Revelation - namely, that which is recorded in a text of the Bible. The exegete will certainly take into account the data of the positive and empirical sciences - this is often very helpful for determining the literal meaning of a text - but he must also go beyond them into the wider perspectives of theology and, ultimately, into the service of the Church and souls.
Biblical theology should inform studies in dogmatic (systematic) and moral theology as well, since the analysis of revealed texts opens the mind to God's own timeless truth. It is fair to say that almost all of Catholic doctrine can be found in Sacred Scripture, at least implicitly.
For instance, the study of the divine name Yahweh in Exodus 3:14 can be truly foundational for the knowledge of God and His attributes; an exegesis on Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans has a powerful relation to the theology of grace and justification; the analysis of Saint Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount supplies essential ideas on the nature of the spiritual life and the meaning of Christianity itself.
Exegesis done in this fashion is a true service to the Church. It provides positive assistance to the Magisterium in preserving and interpreting the deposit of faith contained in Scripture and Tradition. It also helps people to grow in holiness by connecting them more integrally with Christ’s truth and love as revealed in Sacred Scripture.
Therefore, the Catholic scholar does not work in a vacuum. He studies within a living context that dates back to the inspiration of the sacred author by the Holy Spirit. He is working within a Church that was founded by Christ the Word and whose presence continues within that Church.
Therefore, if the exegete is to say something valuable, he must first take into account the content and unity of the whole of Scripture (see Catechism, no. 112). As Saint Augustine said, "novum in vetere latet, vetus in novo patet" (the new is hidden in the old; the old is unveiled in the new, as quoted in Dei Verbum, no. 16).
Jesus Christ is the one who unifies all of Scripture with His life, death, and Resurrection; He is also the key to the great unity and cohesion of the Old and New Testaments. The Mosaic law, the Passover ceremony, the manna in the desert, the various Messianic prophecies - all have their fulfillment in Him. ("Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them," Matthew 5:17)
The true scholar of the bible, who can deepen his knowledge with faith and prayer, will be able in some way to reproduce in his works the same admiration for the beauty and power of Scripture, fulfilled in Christ, as the two disciples going to Emmaus experienced in their encounter with the risen Christ: "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" (see Luke 24:32).
Living Tradition
The second major resource of the exegete is the living Tradition of the whole Church (see Catechism, no. 113). Since "Scripture must be read and interpreted with its divine authorship in mind" (see Dei Verbum, no. 12), the exegete must interpret God’s Word in a truly ecclesial way by avoiding subjectivism as well as ideas that are limited to his own time.
To assure this objectivity, he should first have recourse to the Church's teaching authority, or Magisterium. In one sense, this is simply part of being a good professional: the biblical scholar who does not take into account the Magisterium is like a salesman who does not know his product, or a physician who is ignorant of proven medicines for the sicknesses he treats.
First, the exegete should be aware of any dogmatic pronouncements that have been made about the specific texts he is examining. Actually, throughout time there have been very few of these, since the Church has always desired to let the Holy Spirit work in multiple ways through the words He inspired.
But there are some defined meanings, established by Ecumenical Councils of the Church throughout the centuries: for instance, we know that John 3:5 refers to the Sacrament of Baptism, Matthew 16:18 refers to the infallibility of the Pope, Malachi 1:11 is a prophecy about the universal sacrifice of the Mass, and John 20:22-23 refers to the Sacrament of Penance.
There are many texts of the Magisterium that indirectly support a scriptural interpretation: for instance, Romans 5:12 refers to original sin (Council of Trent), and 1 Peter 2:9 refers to the priesthood of all the faithful (Vatican II).
By examining ecumenical councils and synods, the encyclicals of popes, the decrees of Vatican congregations, and certain episcopal statements, the Catholic exegete can obtain an accurate idea of how the Magisterium has understood and considered a passage throughout the centuries. This puts him in the excellent position of rendering greater service to the entire Church, within the context of the truth revealed by the Holy Spirit (Dei Verbum, no. 12).
Among the most beneficial aids in an exegete’s research are the decrees of the Pontifical Biblical Commission before 1971. The Pontifical Biblical Commission was established by Pope Leo XIII in 1902 to promote and direct biblical studies and to ensure that new theories or interpretations would not contradict Catholic truth and Tradition.
While not infallible, its decrees generally provided theological boundaries for scriptural interpretations, without judging the ultimate truth or falsehood of any specific interpretation. Its purpose was to orient Catholic scholars and to safeguard Catholic doctrine. A true external and internal consent to its decisions was required - within the scope of each decision, and subject to ongoing biblical scholarship and the appropriate declarations of the Magisterium.
The decrees of the Pontifical Biblical Commission defend such things as the divine origin and inspiration of Scripture, the proper interpretation of the Pentateuch, the historicity of the Gospels and books of the Old Testament, and the authenticity of the Gospels and books of the New Testament.
They also address more specific issues, such as the dates of composition of certain books, the dependence of one Gospel on another, and the nature of certain literary forms or traditions. Its decisions are given as answers to questions and are carefully worded to allow for changes if serious research proves otherwise.
To date, with the exception of the 1948 letter to Cardinal Suhard recognizing the existence of different literary sources for the Pentateuch, I know of no substantive revision of any of its previous decrees. After 1971, the Pontifical Biblical Commission ceased to be an organ of the Magisterium and became simply an advisory commission of scholars.
Apart from the magisterial documents that pertain directly to his text, the Catholic exegete should be aware of the recent papal and ecclesial documents regarding biblical studies in general. They teach essential truths about inspiration, historicity, inerrancy, and literary forms within the context of the Bible’s general message of salvation and its place within the Church.
These documents include:
• Providentissimus Deus by Pope Leo XIII (November 18, 1893) speaks of the holiness and inspiration of Sacred Scripture while warning of the dangers of certain rationalist tendencies that would deny the universal and supernatural message of the texts. It directs scholars to connect their studies with the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the writings of the Fathers. It also contains specific guidelines for the proper understanding of the descriptions of nature and the physical universe in the Bible.
• Lamentabili by Pope St. Pius X (July 3, 1907) condemns sixty-five propositions that deny or call into question the nature of Revelation, the historicity of the Gospels, and the truthfulness of the sacred writers themselves. The decree rejects the supposed dichotomy between the "Jesus of faith" and the "Christ of history."
• Spiritus Paraclitus by Pope Benedict XV (September 15, 1920) commemorates the 1,500th anniversary of the death of Saint Jerome. The encyclical deals with the life and writings of Saint Jerome and defends the historicity of the Bible, particularly in light of certain misunderstandings of Providentissimus Deus. It also explains the proper use of the Bible for the edification of the Church.
• Divino Afflante Spiritu by Pope Pius XII (September 30, 1943) was written on the fiftieth anniversary of Providentissimus Deus. It reiterates the work of Pope Pius' predecessors and encourages the renewal of biblical studies according to recent findings in the Holy Land, the availability of good critical texts, and the diligent investigation of literary forms. It also encourages more ample use of Scripture in the instruction of the faithful.
• Dei Verbum from the Second Vatican Council (November 18, 1965). This dogmatic constitution shows the connection of Sacred Scripture with the Trinity and God’s loving plan for mankind and the Church. It synthesizes the main points of previous Magisterial documents and defends the sanctity, inspiration, and historicity of Scripture. It emphasizes the threefold unity of Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium as the key for understanding and properly applying biblical texts in every age. It also encourages a greater incorporation of Scripture into the theology, preaching, and life of the Church.
All of the above documents discuss the importance of scriptural study in the training and ongoing formation of priests. The study of the sacred page is truly the "soul of theology" (Dei Verbum, no. 24) and also has a tremendous impact on the spiritual life of the faithful. Priests and deacons should nourish their prayer life on Sacred Scripture and thereby build up the Church in their preaching.
All the faithful are encouraged to know and read Scripture, for in the famous phrase of Saint Jerome, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."
For pertinent magisterial passages about Scripture in other eras of history, the student may consult the Enchiridion Biblicum, which was first compiled in 1927 and has had subsequent editions in 1954, 1961, and 1993. It is usually abbreviated as EB.
A second aspect of the living Tradition of the whole Church is the authoritative writings of the Fathers.
These writers, most of whom lived within the first eight centuries after Christ, were known for their erudition and holiness. They were closer in time to the origins of Scripture and shared more than we the ancient mentality with which to interpret them properly, along with a special grace of the Holy Spirit to be founders of churches and defenders of the faith. For these reasons, no exegete either in accepting or rejecting a meaning should interpret a passage contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
This criterion is restricted to passages on faith and morals, and unanimous consent does not mean a "mathematical" unanimity. Obviously both the Eastern and Western Fathers wrote about many things, and each interpreted Scripture according to the situation and needs of the Church at the time.
We can say that unanimous consent means any of the following:
• that many Fathers say one thing, and the rest are silent (for instance, that Isaiah 7:14 refers to the virgin birth);
• that a few fathers of great authority (for example, Athanasius, Irenaeus, Jerome, and Augustine) say one thing, and the rest do not contradict it;
• that a few Fathers of great authority in time of great crisis say something (e.g., Augustine and Jerome during the time of the Pelagian heresy, when both defended the gratuity of the divine gifts in their study of I Corinthians 4:7); and
• that a specific meaning of a passage is rejected by all of them (for example, that Philippians 2:5-8 does not refer to the Third Person of the Trinity).
If there is no agreement among the Fathers about a certain passage, it would be prudent to consider at least some of their principal ideas before venturing one’s own.
Harmony of Faith
The third exegetical principle for the scholar loyal to the Church is the analogy or harmony of faith (see Catechism, no. 114).
This principle is connected with the truthfulness of God and His Revelation and the impossibility of His contradicting Himself. There is a unity, therefore, among the passages of the Old and New Testaments, and among the major doctrines that are revealed therein.
There is also a unity within the truths of Tradition and the Magisterium, as Vatican II taught (Dei Verbum, no. 10). This means that there can be no contradiction or opposition between a biblical truth and any of the Church’s teachings.
There may appear to be tensions or obscure points at times, but these are the result of the limitation and weakness of our own minds, not the opposition of the truths themselves. With proper study, prayer, and humility, most of these apparent conflicts can be resolved. The ones that cannot are owed to the mystery and incomprehensibility of the Divine Author.
Here are a couple of examples where the harmony of faith may be applied: Mark 6:3 and similar passages, which mention "the brothers of the Lord," cannot refer to other natural children of Mary, because of the revealed truth of her perpetual virginity. "Brothers," then, must be interpreted in a wider sense, such as cousins or relatives. This meaning is also confirmed by the Aramaic usage of the term for "brothers."
Similarly, John 14:28 - "for the Father is greater than I" - cannot mean that God the Son is not equal to God the Father, but that Jesus in this passage is referring to his human nature, which of course is inferior to his divine nature.
Some people today also cannot understand certain Old Testament texts that appear to be unjustly violent - for instance, the destruction of all living things in Jericho (see Joshua 6:21).
Yet if one understands the exclusive nature of God’s love for His people, the danger of the Canaanite cults for the Israelites, and the evils that these cults later brought to the people, one can understand the true spiritual message of this destruction - and the need for absolute separation from the Canaanites’ way of life.
At a later time, Christ himself, the merciful savior of all mankind, would instruct His disciples to say to those people who reject their message: "Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; . . . it shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town" (see Luke 10:11-12). And He reiterates that same condemnation for those towns that had witnessed His miracles, but had not repented (see Luke 10:13-16).
In summary, the Catholic exegete should be a good professional. Therefore, he will know his field well and understand it from many different perspectives. For this reason, his studies can truly be useful for others. He will, of course, take into account the contemporary works of reputable Catholic scholars who are loyal to the Magisterium, along with their findings and insights.
Above all, he will always take into account the dual authorship of the passages he studies. He will understand that he is studying both human and divine things. Good biblical theology is therefore a service to the Church (Dei Verbum, no. 12). It helps the moral and spiritual life of the faithful and provides an intellectual resource for the pope and bishops in their magisterial role.
