Pope: The unbreakable unity between Scripture and Tradition
(Vatican Radio) On Friday Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Biblical
Commission at the end of their plenary assembly here at the Vatican on ‘inspiration
and truth in the Bible’. Emer McCarthy reports:
Pope
Francis told them “the Holy Scriptures are the testimony in written form of God's
Word, the canonical memorial that attests to the event of Revelation. The Word of
God, therefore, precedes and exceeds the Bible. It is for this reason that the center
of our faith is not only a book, but a history of salvation and especially a Person,
Jesus Christ”.
Citing the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium,
he said: “The interpretation of the Holy Scriptures cannot be only an individual
scientific effort, but must always confront itself with, be inserted within and authenticated
by the living tradition of the Church…. The texts inspired by God were entrusted to
the Community of believers…to nourish the faith …respect for this profound nature
of Scripture conditions the very validity and effectiveness of biblical hermeneutics”.
Thus
the Holy Father concluded, any interpretation that is either “subjective or simply
limited to an analysis incapable of embracing the global meaning that has constituted
the Tradition of the entire People of God over the centuries” is simply insufficient.
In short there is an unbreakable unity between Scripture and Tradition.
Below a Vatican Radio translation of the full text of Pope Francis’ discourse
to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, April 12, 2013.
Venerable Brother, Dear
Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission,
I am pleased to welcome
you at the end of your annual Plenary Assembly. I thank the President, Archbishop
Gerhard Ludwig Müller, for his greeting and summary of the topic that has been the
subject of careful consideration in the course of your work. You have gathered again
to study a very important topic: the inspiration and truth of the Bible. It is a matter
that affects not only the individual believer, but the whole Church, for the life
and mission of the Church is founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology
and the inspiration of all Christian life .
As we know, the Holy Scriptures
are the testimony in written form of God's Word, the canonical memorial that attests
to the event of Revelation. The Word of God, therefore, precedes and exceeds the Bible.
It is for this reason that the center of our faith is not only a book, but a history
of salvation and especially a Person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. Precisely
because the Word of God embraces and extends beyond Scripture, to understand it properly
we need the constant presence of the Holy Spirit who "guides [us] to all truth" (Jn
16:13). It should be inserted within the current of the great Tradition which, through
the assistance of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of the Magisterium, recognized
the canonical writings as the Word addressed by God to His people who have never ceased
to meditate and discover its inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council has
reiterated this with great clarity in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: "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" (n. 12).
As the aforementioned conciliar
Constitution reminds us, there is an unbreakable unity between Scripture and Tradition,
as both come from the same source: "There exists a close connection and communication
between sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the
same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same
end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing
under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred Tradition takes the word
of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands
it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit
of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain
it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone
that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore
both sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the
same sense of loyalty and reverence" (ibid., 9).
It follows, therefore,
that the exegete must be careful to perceive the Word of God present in the biblical
texts by placing them within the faith of the Church. The interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures cannot be only an individual scientific effort, but must always confront
itself with, be inserted within and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church.
This norm is essential to specify the correct relationship between exegesis and the
Magisterium of the Church. The texts inspired by God were entrusted to the Community
of believers, the Church of Christ, to nourish the faith and guide the life of charity.
Respect for this profound nature of Scripture conditions the very validity and effectiveness
of biblical hermeneutics. This results in the insufficiency of any interpretation
that is either subjective or simply limited to an analysis incapable of embracing
the global meaning that has constituted the Tradition of the entire People of God
over the centuries, which “in credendo falli nequit" [cannot be mistaken in
belief – ed](Conc. Ecum. Vatican II Dogmatic Cost. Lumen Gentium, 12).
Dear
Brothers, I wish to conclude my talk by expressing my thanks to all of you and encouraging
you in your important work. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God,
the Divine Teacher who opened the minds and hearts of his disciples to understand
the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:45), guide and support you always in your endeavors. May
the Virgin Mary, model of docility and obedience to the Word of God, teach you to
accept fully the inexhaustible riches of Sacred Scripture not only through intellectual
pursuits, but in prayer and throughout your life of believers, especially in this
Year of the Faith, so that your work will help to shine the light of Sacred Scripture
in the hearts of the faithful. Wishing you a fruitful continuation of your activities,
I invoke the light of the Holy Spirit and impart my Apostolic Blessing upon you all.