We did a reading of the Vatican II document on Divine Revelation called Dei Verbum. The following are my contributions to the discussion. I expect this will take about three posts to complete the series.
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Introduction.
What is Dei Verbum? Translated in means “the Word of God” and it is taken from the opening phrase of the document. It refers to itself as the “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.” It was the very first document put out by the Second Vatican Council, and it is dated, November 18, 1965, promulgated by his holiness, Pope Paul VI. You can read the document online, here.
In
the preface we are given the objective of the document:
Therefore, following in the footsteps of the Council of Trent and of the First Vatican Council, this present council wishes to set forth authentic doctrine on divine revelation and how it is handed on, so that by hearing the message of salvation the whole world may believe, by believing it may hope, and by hoping it may love. (Preface, Paragraph 1)
In layman’s terms, the objective is to put forth the doctrine of how the Catholic Church has received divine revelation and how it communicates that revelation to the faithful. It is important to remember that some things we can know about God through our senses and reason and some things we can only know through divine revelation. This document deals only with the divine revelation element of how we know God. The second part of that quoted sentence tells us why the Church communicates: so that the whole world may believe. I emphasized “whole world” because that is more than just the Catholic Church. It does so I believe because the Catholic Church as the institution created by Jesus through Peter sees herself as having the responsibility of maintaining the faith for all, whether they consider themselves as part of the Catholic Church or not.
You can read a history and summary of Dei Verbum at Wikipedia, here.
Let’s take this week to read it. It’s only ten pages. And then we’ll have the next two weeks to discuss it.
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Susan
Commented:
And my other question relates to your last statement. Are you able to clarify what you mean when you say "the Catholic Church...sees herself as having the responsibility of maintaining the faith for all, whether they consider themselves as part of the Catholic Church or not"? Would I be accurate in re-expressing what you were saying as, 'feels the responsibility to keep fidelity to what was handed on to Her, and to continue to express such to allow the opportunity for any and all to choose to believe?' There might be a subtle distinction there that I am trying to clarify
My
Reply to Susan:
Hmm, when I said that it
came out of my understanding, perhaps out of my impressions. I don't know for a
fact whether the Church feels that responsibility. I think it does, but I don't
want to state it as absolutely certain. How do you and others feel on that? Do
you think the Catholic Church feels the responsibility to maintain Christianity
whether other sects of Christianity agree with her or not?
As to the subtle distinction you are making, yes, I would agree. It is part of the Bishop of Rome's responsibility and duty to keep fidelity with what has been handed down. It is his primary job function. I don't know if I meant to draw that distinction. Perhaps my choice of words were not perfect.
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The first thing in understanding a work is to first understand its structure. The structure of Dei Verbum is given to us in six chapters with titles. Let me lay this out:
1.
Revelation Itself
2.
Handing on Divine Revelation
3.
Sacred Scripture, It’s Inspiration and Divine Interpretation
4.
The Old Testament
5.
The New Testament
6. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church
A summary outline of Dei Verbum would be the understanding of how God revealed Himself to humanity, how humanity handed on that revelation, how it came to be written down as inspired scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, and how the Church teaches with the scriptures to form the life of the faith.
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Now
I will get at the heart of each chapter with some abundant quotes.
Chapter 1: “Revelation Itself.” Paragraphs 2 thru 6:
The
first chapter states that “God chose to reveal Himself and make known the
hidden purpose of His will.” That is
what I would call a foundational statement to salvation history and the
scriptures, which are nothing less than the Word of God. Here are key statements in chapter 1 fill out
this claim. Each of these excerpts build
toward the conclusion of chapter 1. The
number in parenthesis is the number of the paragraph in the document.
This plan of revelation
is realized by deeds and words having an inner unity: the deeds wrought by God
in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities
signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the
mystery contained in them. By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God
and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the
mediator and the fullness of all revelation. (2)
Through the patriarchs,
and after them through Moses and the prophets, He taught this people to
acknowledge Himself the one living and true God, provident father and just
judge, and to wait for the Savior promised by Him, and in this manner prepared
the way for the Gospel down through the centuries. (3)
Moreover He confirmed
with divine testimony what revelation proclaimed, that God is with us to free
us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to life eternal. (4)
To make this act of
faith, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede
and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God, opening the eyes of the
mind and giving "joy and ease to everyone in assenting to the truth and
believing it." (5) To bring about an ever deeper understanding of
revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His
gifts. (5)
Through divine revelation, God chose to show forth and communicate Himself and the eternal decisions of His will regarding the salvation of men. That is to say, He chose to share with them those divine treasures which totally transcend the understanding of the human mind. (6)
The
development of the excerpts reach this conclusion for chapter 1:
As a sacred synod has affirmed, God, the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty from created reality by the light of human reason (see Rom. 1:20); but teaches that it is through His revelation that those religious truths which are by their nature accessible to human reason can be known by all men with ease, with solid certitude and with no trace of error, even in this present state of the human race. (6)
God has revealed Himself and can be known through human reason.
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Kerstin
Commented:
Manny
wrote: "God has revealed Himself and can be known through human reason."
This, in a nutshell, is what modernism denies,
what we run up against every day.
Referencing 1 Timothy and
Titus, this sentence on the bottom of paragraph 4 stood out for me:
The Christian
dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass
away and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, the
deposit of faith is true and unalterable. It is. Yet from the very beginning
men have tried to create wiggle room for themselves to make it in their own
image. This famous G.K. Chesterton quote comes to mind:
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
My
Reply to Kerstin:
Agree Kerstin. The other takeaway from that passage you quote that should be noted is "we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is important. Revelation has stopped with the apostles. Stuff like the Book of Mormon or the Koran can never be seen as revelation because revelation has ended. Any revelation by saints or mystics is private revelation and while it may be useful for devotional purposes cannot add to inspired revelation.
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Here
is a nice little video on what Dei Verbum
is and says.
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