Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi
Title of Series: "What's the Word? Dei Verbum 40 Years Later"

"Inspiration: What Does it Mean?"

Session 4 - December 3rd, 2004

On this First Friday of Advent, the First Friday of December 2004, we gather together for the fourth meditation of our series on the Word of God, Dei Verbum. This revolutionary document from the Second Vatican Council will be 40 years old next November 18, 2005. Our effort this year is to get a head start on the celebration of its anniversary by pondering this text not only from an academic perspective but from a perspective of helping us grow in love with God's living Word.

We have defined Revelation as another term for the Word of God, another way of describing God's self communication to us. When we hear the term Word God we have learned that God's Word is communicated and transmitted continually through Scripture and Tradition (the faith lived) and that the magisterium (the teaching authority of the Church) exists in service of the Word of God not dominating God's living Word. It transforms us, here and now, energizes us and leads us to God. His Word communicates life, His very life to us, all designed for our salvation.

We have spent much time on Tradition in the last meditation. Ours is a faith which includes Tradition, a living transmission distinct from Scripture but closely related to Scripture. Through Tradition, the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is and all that she believes (I.e. In the reception of the sacraments, the writings of the Holy Father and our bishops, our common prayer). As we gather prayerfully at this very moment, we are experiencing the living Tradition of the Church, the living voice of the Lord Himself. God is speaking to us in a very special way in the quiet of our prayer where He breaks open into our lives.

In the remaining meditations this year the focus will shift to Scripture itself and its role in the life of the church. I have entitled this reflection from Chapter III: "Inspiration What does it mean?"In effect, what is it that gives scripture, God's love for us communicated in human language, its divine guarantees? I will say a few words on interpretation of scripture as well this morning.

When we hear the word inspiration, we immediately think of something that is brilliant. How often have we heard someone say about an idea--oh, that must have been inspired, something extraordinary that someone could not easily have thought up?

Now when it comes to scripture, it comes from God. There can be no more brilliant person. But the Word of God in scripture comes through human authors and that is where the challenge for understanding has been. Without hesitation, we also know that the Holy Spirit is involved, hence the word INSPIRATION. One of the basic texts is 2 Tim 3:16-- "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work."

One point that we must never forget is that the same Holy Spirit who inspired those individuals to reduce to writing God's living Word in the 72 books of the Old and New Testament is still operative in our lives inspiring us, if you will, as we ponder and attempt to feast on the living Word of God equipping us in our day "for every good work."

As the catechism teaches: "If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, 'open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures." CCC 108 This is a work in progress for those of us who each day prayerfully ponder God's Word in scripture, who attempt to make His living Word an integral part of our lives.

But before analyzing in specific detail article 11 of Dei Verbum, and in anticipation of Father Gerry O'Collins talk on decoding the Da Vinci Code, that popular book which is about to become a movie, I thought I would debunk one major assertion made by that book that Constantine collated the Bible. Article 11 of Dei Verbum makes it clear that God is the author of the bible and that He chose certain men, Constantine not among them, "consigned to writing whatever he wanted written and no more." The Old Testament had been compiled long before the birth of Jesus and the New Testament's formation began almost two hundred years before Constantine. More on the Da Vinci Code when Fr. O'Collins comes on January 9, 2005.

A.) ARTICLE 11--INSPIRATION AND TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE

Those divinely revealed realities which are contained and presented in Sacred Scripture have been committed to writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For holy mother Church, relying on the belief of the Apostles (see John 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-20, 3:15-16), holds that the books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.(1) In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him (2) they made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and through them, (3) they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted. (4)

Before speaking of inspiration, what does the word canonical mean? An old friend Fr. Michael McMahon recently explained "canonical" in this way:

"On the basis of usage and acceptance in the Church, it was gradually determined which books were to be regarded as inspired. These books were to be listed as Holy Scripture and became canonical, fundamental to the rule of faith. The decision about which books to include in the canon of Scripture reflected the faith of the whole people. The books thus declared canonical and inspired by the Spirit of God contain the truth which God wished to be set down in the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation."

Turning to "inspiration," quoting 2 Tim 3:16 (cited above), the Vatican Council also cites 2 Pet. 1:19 21 where, in applicable part, the author writes: "Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God."

Inspiration thus means that the scriptures have God as their author but that He "chose certain men who... 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."

About inspiration, Fr. Michael McMahon writes:

"Inspiration should be seen as an extraordinary action of the Holy Spirit in the mind and heart of those involved in the production of the Scriptures. With our awareness that the biblical material often went through long periods of oral tradition before reaching written form, we must affirm that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was at work in these stages too, guiding the minds and hearts of all those who were involved in the development of the material. We should also acknowledge the inspiration of God's Spirit working in the communities, both Jewish and Christian, from whom the scriptural material emerged. Ultimately, the inspiration of Scripture remains a mystery of God's loving outreach to us, a mystery which we cannot fully fathom."

The understanding of inspiration has importantly undergone a theological development in the church, a true development of doctrine. In 1893, Leo XIII, in Providentissimus Deus wrote "For all the books which the Church receives as sacred and canonical are written wholly and entirely with all their parts at the dictation of the Holy Spirit." (Equivalent of a boss to a secretary) In Spiritus Paraclitus, note Benedict XV's subtle shift in emphasis in 1920: "at the inspiration or instigation or urging or even dictation of the Holy Spirit, they were written and published by him." (Not exclusively dictation) In Divino Afflante Spiritu, in 1943, Pius Xll, takes a different approach altogether where in summary form he states that when God "writes" with man, he writes with a unique instrument, one endowed with intellect and free will. The mystery lies ultimately in this, that the book is wholly God's and wholly man's. That brings us to Dei Verbum where although the Council affirms that God is author of scripture it also teaches that "certain men" are "true authors" and "consigned to writing whatever he wanted written and no more." That is a quite a shift from Leo Xlll where the writers of the sacred texts are akin to the taking of dictation. The Vatican Council refers to these "certain men" as "true authors" at the same time describing God as author. Thus what God wanted to say is found in what was written by human writers who were genuine authors and not mere mechanistic stenographers copying down what God dictated.

In the second paragraph of Article ll, the Council takes up the question of "inerrancy", a term which means the Bible is without error.

Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings (5) for the sake of salvation. Therefore "all Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind" (2 Tim. 3:16-17, Greek text).

Previous formulations of the Church's teaching on "inerrancy" had been more apologetic and even narrowly written. Dei Verbum focuses more positively on the Truth of scripture. "...we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation,wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures."

Such Truth, necessary for our salvation, is thus necessarily free from error. Truth thus is a consequence of inspiration not a consequence of inerrancy. That is a subtle but important change. The Truth of the Bible is God's faithful, stable and steadfast love for His people. Total accuracy in secular matters, I.e. Regarding full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision, should thus not be expected from the Bible, only that which speaks to that Truth necessary for our salvation.

B.) ARTICLE 12--INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE

12. However, since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion, (6) the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words.

To search out the intention of the sacred writers, attention should be given, among other things, to "literary forms." For truth is set forth and expressed differently in texts which are variously historical, prophetic, poetic, or of other forms of discourse. The interpreter must investigate what meaning the sacred writer intended to express and actually expressed in particular circumstances by using contemporary literary forms in accordance with the situation of his own time and culture. (7) For the correct understanding of what the sacred author wanted to assert, due attention must be paid to the customary and characteristic styles of feeling, speaking and narrating which prevailed at the time of the sacred writer, and to the patterns men normally employed at that period in their everyday dealings with one another. (8)

But, since Holy Scripture must be read and interpreted in the sacred spirit in which it was written, (9) no less serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture if the meaning of the sacred texts is to be correctly worked out. The living tradition of the whole Church must be taken into account along with the harmony which exists between elements of the faith. It is the task of exegetes to work according to these rules toward a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature. For all of what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject finally to the judgment of the Church, which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God. (10)

Since Sacred Scripture is the inspired Word of God which includes both divine and human authors, Dei Verbum sets forth rules of interpretation. In other words, the question is what did God want to reveal and what did the human writer seek to affirm.

The first point is the discovery of the human author's intention. To do that, Dei Verbum teaches that the interpreter of a sacred text must "take into account the conditions of [the author's] time and culture, the literary genres in use at that time, and the modes of feeling, speaking and narrating then current." CCC 110 For the fact is that "'truth is differently presented and expressed in the various types of historical writing, in prophetical and poetical texts,' and other forms of literary expression." To close the gap in meaning between our time and the time in which the scripture was reduced to writing can require an historical critical inquiry and that is what the Church sets forth in this section of Dei Verbum. But as Fr. McMahon emphasizes:

"Exploration of the human dimensions of the Scriptures allows us to discover the divine message. In so doing we need to invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit, who inspired these writings. In this way we acknowledge the Scriptures for what they really are, the word of God in human language, inspired by the Spirit of God."

There is a danger of fundamentalism, McMahon, writes if we fail to employ these historical critical methods:

"The fundamentalist approach disregards the diversity of views and the development of understanding which is found in the Bible and does not allow for the presence of imperfect and time-conditioned elements within Scripture (Dei Verbum 15). Fundamentalism has been described as a kind of intellectual suicide (Interpretation of the Bible I.F), for it favours a superficial interpretation of biblical texts, in which there is insufficient consideration of the place of a given text within a developing tradition."

A second step is also required for purposes of interpretation of a text in addition to the historical critical method. Why? Quite simply, because the text is also the work of the divine author "....since sacred Scripture must be read and interpreted with its divine authorship in mind" underscoring the role of the Holy Spirit.

Three theological norms of interpretation are required--

l.) The unity of scriptures both Old and New Testaments. "Different as the books which comprise it may be, Scripture is a unity by reason of the unity of God's plan of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, open since his Passover." CCC 111 This means that we should be able to hear the word of God in its fulness. By example, we should read the Jewish Scriptures with new insight due to the fulfillment brought by Christ, which is displayed in the books of the New Testament;

2.) Scripture must be read within the living Tradition of the church. "...for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God's Word, and Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture." CCC 111; and,

3.) The need to be attentive to the "analogy of faith." One part of sacred scripture interprets another. There is a coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation and different texts must be read in that light.

We can never forget that scripture must be read and interpreted in the same Spirit in which it was originally written. Human efforts alone at full interpretation of scripture are impossible without the aid of the Holy Spirit who inspired the words in the first place. Thus writer, reader, and interpreter, although separated by time and space, are all united by being moved by one and the same Holy Spirit. Finally, as Dei Verbum teaches, "all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."

C.) ARTICLE 13--THE CONDESCENSION OF GOD

13. In Sacred Scripture, therefore, while the truth and holiness of God always remains intact, the marvelous "condescension" of eternal wisdom is clearly shown, "that we may learn the gentle kindness of God, which words cannot express, and how far He has gone in adapting His language with thoughtful concern for our weak human nature." (11) For 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 men.

At the end of our meditation this morning, I have an Advent thought from the last article in this section of Dei Verbum. It invokes the parallel between the inspiration of sacred scripture and the Incarnation of the Son of God, whose feast we prepare for in these Advent days.

As if to summarize article 13, Father Mike McMahon writes:

"From the early centuries of the Christian faith, the Fathers of the Church and theologians have acknowledged that God's word comes to us in human form. St John Chrysostom, that great Father of the Eastern Church, refers frequently to the divine condescension by which the words of God are adapted to our limited human understanding. Dei Verbum follows Chrysostom in drawing a parallel between the Incarnation of the Son of God and the human expression of the words of God: For the words of God, expressed in human language, have been made like human discourse, just as once the Word of the eternal Father, when he took to himself the flesh of human weakness, was made like human beings.(Dei Verbum 13). Our God comes willingly to be immersed in our humanity. The Son comes to live human life to the full, and the words of God share fully in the dynamics of human language."

Stated differently, Pope John Paul II, in his missionary intention for the Apostleship of Prayer this December, prays "that the incarnation of Jesus Christ may be the authentic model for every attempt at inculturating the Gospel." He writes further: "Just as 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,' so too the good news, the word of Jesus Christ proclaimed to the nations, must take root in the life situation of the hearers of the Word," because, he said, "inculturation is precisely this insertion of the Gospel message into cultures."

May the Word of God, the living Word of God in sacred scripture, take root in each of us and transform us into Christ Jesus this Advent in the power of the Holy Spirit and make us ready anew for His birth on Christmas.

Amen.