The Final Message of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God (part 2)

I posted the notes for the first of four allocutios about the Final Message of the Synod here.


Below are the notes for my second allocutio. Section 4 represents what I am going to use as the spiritual reading at the opening of the meeting.

4. Pope Benedict XVI: the unity of Scripture[1]

The aim of [“canonical exegesis”] is to read individual texts within the totality of the one Scripture, which then sheds new light on all the individual texts. Paragraph 12 of the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on Divine Revelation had already clearly underscored this as a fundamental principle of theological exegesis: If you want to understand the Scripture in the spirit in which it is written you have to attend to the content and to the unity of Scripture as a whole. The Council goes on to stress the need for taking account of the living tradition of the Church and of the analogy of
faith (the intrinsic correspondences within the faith).

Let us dwell for the time being on the unity of Scripture. It is a theological datum. But it is not simply imposed from the outside on what is in itself a heterogeneous ensemble of writings. Modern exegesis has brought to light the process of constant rereading that forged the words transmitted in the Bible into Scripture: Older texts are reappropriated, reinterpreted, and read with new eyes in new contexts. They become Scripture by being read anew, evolving in continuity with their original sense, tacitly corrected and given added depth and breadth of meaning. This is a process in which the word gradually unfolds its inner potentialities, already present somehow like seeds, but needing the challenge of new situations, new experiences and new sufferings, in order to open up.

This process is certainly not linear, and it is often dramatic, but when you watch it unfold in [the] light of Jesus Christ, you can see it moving in a single overall direction: you can see that the Old and New Testaments belong together. This [is a] Christological hermeneutic, which sees Jesus Christ as the key to the whole and learns from him how to understand the Bible as a unity.

5. The Final Message Section 2: “the Word was made flesh”

This section draws an analogy between God made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, and the words of God made flesh in the written words of the books of Scripture. It then goes on to assert the unity between the two parts of this analogy.

'Christ is "the Word [that] was with God and the Word was God" (Jn 1:1). "He is the image of the unseen God, the first-born of all creation" (Col 1:15); but he is also Jesus of Nazareth who walks the roads of a marginal province of the Roman Empire, who speaks the local language, who reveals the traits of a people, the Jews, and its culture. Therefore the real Jesus Christ is fragile and mortal flesh; he is history and humanity, but he is also glory, divinity, mystery: he who revealed God to us, the God no one has ever seen (cf. Jn 1:18). The Son of God continues to be so even in the dead body placed in the sepulcher and the resurrection is the living and clear proof to this fact.[2]…

'… the Bible is also "flesh", "letter"; it expresses itself in particular languages, in literary and historical forms, in concepts tied to an ancient culture, it preserves the memories of events, often tragic; its pages not infrequently are marked by blood and violence, within it resounds the laughter of humanity and the flowing tears, as well as the cry of the distressed and the joy of those in love. For this, its "bodily" dimension requires an historical and literary analysis, which occurs through various methods and approaches offered by Biblical exegesis. Every reader of Sacred Scripture, even the most simple, must have a proportionate knowledge of the sacred text, recalling that the word is enveloped in concrete words, which is shaped and adapted to make it heard and understood by all of humanity…. . The Bible, however, is also the eternal and divine Word and for this reason requires another understanding, given by the Holy Spirit who unveils the transcendent dimension of the divine word, present in human words.[3]

'Here, thus, lies the necessity of the "living Tradition of all the Church" (DV 12) and of the faith to understand Sacred Scripture in a full and unified way. Should one focus only on the "letter", the Bible is only a solemn document of the past, a noble, ethical and cultural witness. ….. Exegetical knowledge must, therefore, weave itself indissolubly with spiritual and theological tradition so that the divine and human unity of Jesus Christ and Scripture is not broken.[4]

POINTS TO NOTE:

1. The assertion of a unity of the Scriptures is closely linked to the idea of salvation history. See first post.

2. Scripture is communicating to us, not just a word spoken to us by God, but the person of Jesus Christ. Its written “words” are a kind of flesh to show us the “Word” that is God made man - Jesus Christ. The purpose of Biblical knowledge is a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. The Final Message of the Synod expresses this by talking about Jesus as “the Face of the Word”, and saying that “That the divine Word has put on a face is at the centre of Revelation”.[5]

3. The Final Message of the Synod suggests that a certain level of formation is necessary for those who read the Scriptures, if they are to encounter Jesus Christ. The Final Message implies two components of this formation: a knowledge of exegetical methods so that different forms in the Scriptures can be recognised; and a knowledge of the life and tradition of the Church so that the Scriptures are read in their appropriate ecclesial context. A suitable commentary on the Scriptures and The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church come to mind as necessary reading to accompany the reading of the Scriptures.

4. The attitude of Muslims towards the Koran is not like that of Catholics towards the Bible. They would not see the Koran as in any way enfleshing the person of God.

5. It is necessary to read Scripture within the Tradition of the Church if this personal encounter with Jesus Christ is to be achieved. The Final Message of the Synod will therefore talk about reading Scripture within the Church in its third section. However, for evangelical Christians who read the Scripture without this ecclesial context, it is difficult to go beyond the “letter” of Scripture. In practice they are vulnerable to a fundamentalist reading of Scripture, which misses out the element of personal encounter.

[1] Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth pp.xviii-xix.
[2] Final Message of the Synod n.4.
[3] Final Message of the Synod n.5.
[4] Final Message of the Synod n.6.
[5] cf Final Message of the Synon n.6.

As far as a commentary on Scriptures is concerned, I really do not know which to recommend. What I do quite often refer to, and find strikes the correct balance of pastoral usefulness and academic rigour, is Xavier Leon-Dufour's Dictionary of Biblical Theology.