DIALOGICAL REVELATION? ON THE RECEPTION OF DEI VERBUM 12 IN VERBUM DOMINI

Abstract

The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum is generally seen as a
climax1 in the church’s magisterium on the significance of the Word of God in the life of the church. Dei Verbum 1 describes its own
relationship to the previous statements of the church as follows: “…
following in the footsteps of the Council of Trent and of the First
Vatican Council, this present council wishes to set forth authentic
doctrine on divine revelation and how it is handed on.” In the almost
50 years since the Council there have been relatively few official
documents on revelation, Scripture and Tradition. In fact the only
texts of the Magisterium to be listed here are the document of the
Pontifical Biblical Commission “The Interpretation of the Bible in the
Church” of 19932 and the apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini of
2010.3 By comparison we see that in the area of Catholic social
teachings since Gaudium et Spes no less than seven encyclicals
appeared in the same time period. In this study, we will compare the
understanding of revelation, Sacred Scripture and the interpretation
of Scripture in Dei Verbum with “The Interpretation of the Bible in the
Church” and especially with Verbum Domini. In doing so our goal is
to study aspects of the effective history and the reception of Dei
Verbum. Our focus will be on the question how the understanding of
revelation as dialogue evolved.