Letter & Spirit, Vol. 6: For the Sake of Our Salvation: The Truth and Humility of God's Word (Letter & Spirit Journal) by Scott Hahn

Author:Scott Hahn [Hahn, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Christian Books & Bibles, Bible Study & Reference, Bible Study, Catholicism, Religion & Spirituality, General Fiction
Amazon: B004S81NEW
Publisher: Emmaus Road Publishing
Published: 2011-03-02T07:00:00+00:00

RESTRICTED INERRANCY AND THE

“HERMENEUTIC OF DISCONTINUITY”

Brian W. Harrison, O. S.

Oblates of Wisdom Study Center

The nature and scope of biblical inerrancy, or the truth of Sacred Scripture, has not in recent decades been a popular topic in the writings of Catholic theologians and biblical scholars. According to the standard international bibliography of Christian scholarship, Louvain University’s Elenchus Bibliographicus, not one publication by a Catholic writer has mentioned either the truth or inerrancy of Scripture in its title since 1995, and only three have done so since 1983.1 The most recent authoritative and comprehensive general survey of modern Catholic biblical scholarship, the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s document The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, includes no clear statement of Catholic doctrine on the guaranteed truth of Scripture; it mentions the subject only once, very briefly, and in passing.2

The long-dormant question of inerrancy has been reawakened, however, as a result of the Synod of Bishops held in Rome in October 2008, dedicated to the “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” This issue was explicitly raised at the Synod and news reports indicated that the ensuing discussion brought to light disagreements and uncertainties among the assembled bishops as to whether the Second Vatican Council (1963–1965) allows for the possibility of error in sacred Scripture. Accordingly, one of the Synod’s final propositions requested that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “clarify the concepts of the inspiration and truth of the Bible, as well as their reciprocal relationship, so that the teaching of Dei Verbum 11 may be better understood.”3 No doubt as a result of that request, this issue was chosen as the key theme for discussion at both the April 2009 and April 2010 plenary sessions of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, a consultative body of the doctrine congregation. At this writing, nothing as yet has been published regarding the results of the Commission’s deliberations. Nonetheless it seems an opportune time to review the current status of the question regarding Catholic teaching on inerrancy.

In this essay I will first review classical Catholic doctrine on the issue, then I will argue that the crucial text of Vatican II—paragraph 11 of the Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum (1965)4 —should be read in harmony with this tradition—that is, with what Pope Benedict XVI has identified as a “hermeneutic of continuity.” This will involve a critical analysis, from the standpoint of both faith and reason, of a widespread tendency to read this conciliar text according to a “hermeneutic of discontinuity,” or rupture, with our doctrinal heritage.5

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