Posted on 11/11/2010 7:08:06 AM PST by marshmallow
Pope Benedict has issued the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini [The Word of the Lord], the most important Church document devoted to Sacred Scripture since the Second Vatican Councils Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), which was promulgated in 1965.
The publication of Verbum Domini follows the twelfth ordinary general assembly of the Synod Of Bishops, which took place in 2008 and was devoted to The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church.
The document, though released on November 11, is dated September 30, the memorial of St. Jerome.
Verbum Domini joins Dei Verbum and three papal encyclicals-- Pope Leo XIII's Providentissimus Deus (1893), Pope Benedict XV's Spiritus Paraclitus (1920), and Venerable Pius XII's Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943)-- as a milestone in the development of Catholic teaching on Sacred Scripture, which is summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos. 101-141).
Catholic World News will offer additional coverage of the document later today.
marked
Duh!
Thanks, I was wondering when he would get around to that
Yesterday saw...a forceful plea from a key papal advisor [Bishop Salvatore Fisichella, the rector of the Lateran University and President of the Pontifical Academy for Life] to reject the idea of Christianity as a Religion of the Book...........the big debate over Dei Verbum at the time of the council pitted what was then known as the two-source theory, which held that Scripture and tradition are essentially two separate streams of revelation, against the one-source theory, which posited that Scripture is the lone source of revelation and tradition is an elaboration of it. In effect, Dei Verbum held that Scripture and tradition are interdependent and integrally related to one another.
-- from the thread Synod: Christianity not a 'Religion of the Book'
"As we begin the work of this synodal assembly, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us turn our gaze to Christ, the light of the world and our only teacher," Cardinal Levada encouraged.The prelate's point was further developed when Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop of Quebec, took the floor to affirm that the Word is much more than the Bible. He clarified that Christianity is not a religion of the Book.
"The Word of God means before all else God himself who speaks, who expresses in himself the divine Word that belongs to his intimate mystery," he said.
This Word, he added during his Latin-language discourse, which he delivered seated beside the Pope, speaks in a particular and also dramatic way in the history of man, especially in the election of a people, in the Mosaic law and the prophets.
-- from the thread Cardinal Says Scripture Inseparably United to Tradition
The Church should combat widespread "Biblical illiteracy" among the Catholic faithful, Archbishop Eterovic said.
-- from the thread Synod to Focus on Proper Use of Scripture
...while fewer believers know much about the Bible, one-third of Americans continue to believe that it is literally true, something organizers of the Synod on the Word of God called a dangerous form of fundamentalism that is winning more and more adherents even among Catholics. Such literalism, the synods preparatory document said, demands an unshakable adherence to rigid doctrinal points of view and imposes, as the only source of teaching for Christian life and salvation, a reading of the Bible which rejects all questioning and any kind of critical research....
....The flip side of this embarrassment is the presumption among many Catholics that they get the Bible at Mass, along with everything else they need for their spiritual lives. The postconciliar revolution in liturgy greatly expanded the readings, with a three-year cycle in the vernacular that for the first time included Old Testament passages. Given that exposure, many think they do not need anything else. As Mr. McMahon put it, The majority still say you go to Mass, you get your ticket punched, and thats it for the week.
-- from the thread A Literate Church: The state of Catholic Bible study today
God bless the Pope.
Ping
Ping!
The important thing, I think, is that the Word became flesh. Christ is the living Word. We should not revere the Bible more than the teachings of the Living Word. This is why sacred Tradition and Teaching are so important. We know that there are many things Christ said and did that are not written in the New Testament. The Bible tells us so! So the only way to transmit those other unrecorded teachings from Christ is to pass them on through Church Tradition.
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