Bishop Remi De Roo
Conversations
Topic
Dei Verbum (“Word of God’)
The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation
Dei Verbum
• Introduction
• A story about Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII a man filled
with hope
• “ Consult not your fears but your hopes
and your dreams. Think not about your
frustrations, but about your unfulfilled
potential. Concern yourself not with what
you tried and failed in, but with what is till
possible for you to do.”
Quotes from Blessed Pope John XXIII about
the Second Vatican Council
• “I expect a little fresh air from it.”
• “We must shake off the imperial dust that has
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accumulated on the throne of St. Peter since
Constantine.”
“We must become a church of pastors not a society of
rulers.”
A Presentation in three parts
• Part-1 The Actual Document: Dei Verbum
(The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)
• Part-2 The Central Teachings of the Document
• Part-3 The implementation and influence of the
document on the Church’s understanding of
Sacred Scripture (Bible) & Tradition over the
past 50 years
Part-1 The Actual Document
• Setting the stage with a story
• Structure and overview of the document (Dei
Verbum )
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Preface
Chapter-1 Revelation Itself
Chapter-2 Handing on Divine Revelation
Chapter-3 Sacred Scripture, Its Inspiration and Divine
Interpretation
– Chapter-4 Old Testament
– Chapter-5 New Testament
– Chapter- 6 Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church
• The actual vote on the document Dei
Verbum was nearly unanimous 2,344 to 6.
Pope Paul VI promulgated the document
on November 18, 1965
A few words about the Preface
• The preface maintains that divine
revelation is a self manifestation of God
who in essence is both personal and
relational.
• The Council wishes to address the matter
of how God reveals God’s self to
humankind and how humans respond to
the voice of God.
A few words about chapter 1 of
the document
• Chapter 1 emphasizes the personal rather than
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propositional dimension of revelation.
Revelation is God’s self communication, out of love, to us
as God’s friends, invited into God’s company.
Moreover, our God moves among us, and acts in human
history.
Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of God’s revelation for he
is the Incarnate Word through whom all things are
made. Jesus is both “the mediator and fullness of all
revelation.” (DV, 2)
Put another way, Christ is both the message and the
messenger of all that God wants to say to us.
• Revelation is available to all human beings through the
light of natural human reason.
A few words about chapter 2 of the
Document entitled “Handing on Divine
Revelation
• Both Scripture and Tradition flow from the same
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“divine wellspring” of truth.
Both constitute inspired revelation under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
They (Scripture & Tradition) are not two separate
sources but “one sacred deposit of the Word of
God.”
There is growth in our understanding of revelation.
The teaching office of the church authoritatively
interprets Sacred Scripture yet it “ is not above the
word of God, but serves it.”
Emphasis on the both /and
aspects of the Catholic Faith
• Scripture and Tradition
• Word and Sacrament
• Personal and propositional
aspects of revelation.
A Few Words About Chapter 3
of the Document “Sacred
Scripture Its Inspiration and
Interpretation”
• This chapter maintains a careful balance
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between the divine and human origins of the
Scriptures.
God is the “author” of the Scriptures, but the
human writers are also “true authors” who
communicated faithfully God’s intended
message.
No specific theory of inspiration is adopted by
the council, but several biblical passages that
affirm the inspired nature of both testaments are
cited (John 20:31; 2 Tim 3:16)
Chapter 3 of the document continued
• The Scriptures communicate the divine message
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in human language; thus any interpreter must
consider the literary forms and conventions of
communication of biblical times (e.g., words,
style, customs) in order to interpret the message
accurately.
The Scriptures “faithfully and without error teach
that truth which God, for the sake of our
salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred
Scriptures.“ (DV, 11)
Thus, divine inspiration neither necessitates nor
guarantees that every historical detail of
scripture is accurate, in our contemporary sense
of that word.
Scriptures have an inherent unity in them that
must influence their authentic interpretation.
Article #13 of chapter 3: a
striking comparison
• “The words of God expressed in human
language have been made like human
discourse, just as the Word of the eternal
Father, when he took to himself the flesh
of human weakness, was in every way
made like man. “ (DV, 13)
• Put in plain English---The Bible is like
Jesus, fully human and fully divine.
Chapters 4 & 5 deal with the
Old and New Testament
• The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels,
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selecting some things from the many which had
been handed on by word of mouth or in writing,
reducing some of them to a synthesis,
explaining some things in view of the situations
of the churches, and preserving the form of
proclamation, but always in such a fashion that
they told us the honest truth about Jesus.” (DV,
19)
This section of the document pointed out that
the four Gospels are most likely not the writings
of eye witnesses.
Three stages of Gospel
Development
• 1. The ministry of of Jesus
• 2.a period of oral transmission and
preaching by the apostles
• 3.The actual composition of the Gospels
by the evangelists who drew on the oral
traditions and retold the story of Jesus in
light of the situation in their own
churches.
A few words about Chapter 6 “Sacred
Scripture in the Life of the Church”
• The chapter’s first line is most striking:
• “The church has always venerated the divine Scriptures
just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since,
especially in the Sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives
and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table
both of God’s word and of Christ’s body.” (DV, 21)
• Thus, Christ is really present as much in the Sacred
Scriptures proclaimed, as in the Eucharistic species of
consecrated bread and wine.
• “He [Jesus] is present in his word since it’s he himself
who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in church.”
(Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #7)
Pastoral Items in Chapter 6
• The Scriptures are described as “food for the soul, the pure
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and everlasting source of spiritual life.” (article 21)
All liturgical preaching should be “ nourished and regulated by
Sacred Scripture,” for liturgical preaching “must hold the
foremost place” in the church’s ministry of the WORD (articles
21 and 24)
All Christian faithful should have easy access to Scripture and
good reliable vernacular translations (article 22) and should
be encouraged to read the Bible in order to better know
Christ. (article 25)
Pastoral Items Continued
• In keeping with the ecumenical nature of the council,
modern translations, where possible, should be
produced “in cooperation with the separated
brethren” for the benefit of all (articles 23 and 25).
• Priests, deacons and catechists have special
responsibility to be informed about Scripture, utilizing
the means of liturgy, devotional reading, instruction
and prayer (article 25)
• Catholic exegetes and biblical scholars are
encouraged to do their professional work recognizing
also the legitimate oversight provided by apostolic
authorities in the church (the pope and bishops)
(article 23)
• “… the study of the sacred page is, as it
were, the soul of sacred theology” (DV,
24)
• “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance
of Christ.” (DV, 24 quoting St. Jerome)
Part II : The Central Teachings
of Dei Verbum
What Dei Verbum Teaches about
Revelation
• Ch-2 of the document demonstrates the overall
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theological shift AWAY from the propositional
model.
The passage begins with a remarkable assertion:
God doesn’t reveal to us a collection of
information; rather God shares God’s very self
with us.
God comes to us as a person, Jesus Christ, who
is “both mediator and the sum total of
revelation.”
Thus, Jesus is the ultimate and primary way God
has been revealed to human beings.
According to Dei Verbum……..
• Revelation is primarily a matter of God inviting us into a
relationship: “the invisible God…, from the fullness of his love,
addresses men and women as his friends…, and lives among
them…, in order to invite and receive them into his company.”
• The council document relates revelation to the trinity.
• The council is reminding us that revelation is NOT a collection
of statements, theses, or teachings but the single “intimate
truth” of God’s love for us in Christ by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
What Dei Verbum teaches about
the Role and Authority of Sacred
Scripture
• Scripture is the privileged inspired witness to
what God has reveled to us.
• “God chose certain men who, all the while he
employed them in this task, made full use of
their powers and faculties so that, though he
acted in them and by them, it was as true
authors that they consigned to writing whatever
he wanted written, and no more.” (DV, 11)
Renewed Commitment to the Priority
of Scripture: A Counciliar Theme
• “ The treasures of the Bible are to be opened more lavishly,
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so that a richer share in God’s word may be provided for the
faithful.” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy #51)
Seminarians are to be taught that Scripture “was the very soul
of theology.” (See: Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests,
#16).
• “Easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all
the Christian faithful.” (DV, 22) and the faithful are to be
encouraged to develop “a frequent reading of the divine
scriptures” (DV, 25)
Dei Verbum’s Understanding of and
Teaching About the Role of Tradition
• Just What is Tradition?
• Tradition can be described as the living transmission of
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the Gospel in the Church.
“Tradition means: protect the fire, not preserve the
ashes.” Pope John XXIII
The Second Vatican Council and the Catholic Church
maintains that both the Bible and Church tradition is the
primary source of God’s revelation.
Put another way, God reveals God’s self through both
Scripture and tradition.
Tradition: A Living Reality
• In paragraph 8 of Dei Verbum there are two
important sentences about tradition. The first
states: “There is a growth in insight into the
realities and works that are being passed on”
• The second states: “This comes about through
the contemplation and study of believers who
ponder these things in their hearts… and from
the preaching of those who… have received such
a charism of truth.”
Tradition Progresses
• The council’s reference to the
“progress” of tradition speaks to an
important theological question: Can
doctrine change and develop?
• The Council’s response is YES
• Examples
The whole Christian faithful Share
responsibility for the development of
tradition
• “The tradition that comes from the disciples makes
progress in the church, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
There is a growth in insight into the realities and words
that are being passed on. This comes about through the
contemplation and study of believers who ponder these
things in their hearts (see Luke 2:19 and 51). It comes
from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which they
experience. And it comes from the preaching of those
who, on succeeding to the office of bishop, have
received the sure charism of truth. Thus, as the
centuries go by, the church is always advancing towards
the plenitude of divine truth, until eventually the words
of God are fulfilled in it.” (DV, 8)
The whole Christian faithful
contribute to tradition
• Each Believer by virtue of baptism, has a
supernatural instinct of sense of faith
(sensus fidei) that allows each to
recognize God’s word and to respond to it.
Two understandings of this
sense of faith (sensus fidei)
• As a kind of spiritual instinct or sixth sense
• As an actual perception or imaginative grasp of
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divine revelation
Another way of talking about this is to say that:
Tradition is a way for the people of God, which is
the church, to read the signs of the times
through the eyeglasses of faith and invent the
future. It is a liberating force, not an inhibiting
one.
Revelation & Tradition Happen
in Community
• Revelation is not a possession
• #8 of Dei Verbum teaches that “the
church is always advancing toward the
plenitude of divine truth.”
• No one can ever corner the market on the
activity of God
Part 3
• The implementation and influence of Dei
Verbum on the church’s understanding of
Sacred Scripture and Tradition over the
past 50 years
On Church Teachings
• The Catholic Church does not draw its
certainty about everything that has been
revealed about God from Sacred Scripture
alone.
• Both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture
are to be accepted and venerated with
the same sense of loyalty and reverence.
( DV, 9)
Influence of Dei Verbum
• On Catholic Theological and Biblical scholarship
• “Whereas altar-and-chalice was formerly, as it
were, the symbolism of Catholicism and,
obviously, of the counter-reformation, the bible
is now also taken as a symbol of the Catholic
Church alongside the chalice.” (Edward
Schillebeeckx)
Influence of Dei Verbum
• On priestly formation
• Dei Verbum and the teachings of Pope John Paul
II
• Dei Verbum and the Catechism of the Catholic
Church
– Cites Dei Verbum 77 times; also see chapter 2
• Dei Verbum and Catholic Parish Life
• Dei Verbum and Liturgical Music
• Dei Verbum and Ecumenism
Conclusion
• Reception of Dei Verbum
• 50 years is but a heart beat in the long
view of church history
The path that the constitution
has laid out for the future
• A future generation of Catholics who experience revelation as God’s self
communication of love for them.
• A generation that are neither biblical nor doctrinal fundamentalists but
rather biblically literate and doctrinally discerning.
• A future generation of Catholics capable of serious reflection on Sacred
Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
• A generation of Catholics who are full of wonder and awestruck at God’s
activities in their lives as a dear and close friend one who is as close as a
son is to his father and a daughter is to her mother.
• A personal footnote