Phillip A. Davis, Jr. | Daniel Lanzinger | Matthew Ryan Robinson (Eds.): What Does Theology Do, Actually? (Leseprobe)

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136 Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger 1. The Ecclesiological Principle in Catholic Hermeneutics This brings us to the first, foundational principle of Catholic hermeneutics: the ecclesiological principle. Among popes of all ages, it was Pope Benedict XVI. who had the greatest concern for questions of Scriptural interpretation. This was the case during his time as Professor of Theology, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and as Pope. In the latter role, he provided the Church with the longest and most theologically advanced document on the interpretation of Scripture in the Catholic Church, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, published on September 30, 2010. 1 Why is this document dated September 30? Who knows the answer? The Catholic reader should: it is the day commemorating Saint Jerome, patron saint of the exegetes. In its German translation, the document comprises 175 pages, divided into 124 sections. I would like to present the foundational principles of Catholic Scriptural interpretation according to this document. I will particularly be focusing on sections 29 to 40 of part one, which is captioned ‘‘The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the Church’’, and I will use several quotes from these paragraphs and indicate the paragraph number in parentheses. In this document, we encounter the ecclesiological principle as the first which is named for Catholic biblical understanding: ‘‘The Church as the primary setting for biblical hermeneutics’’. 2 One of the key statements of this section reads: ‘‘[T]he primary setting for scriptural interpretation is the life of the Church. This is not to uphold the ecclesial context as an extrinsic rule to which exegetes must submit, but rather is something demanded by the very nature of the Scriptures and the way they gradually came into being’’ (29; emphasis original). This sentence alone could keep us busy for a while. The traditional objection is: Does the Church want to dictate to me how I, the exegete, am to interpret the Bible? This could be discussed extensively. For our purposes, one short comment must suffice: Exegesis is no purely academic matter. 3 It is a mode of living. Just as we can only understand other cultures when we take part in them, we can ulti- 1 Available at https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/ hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini.html. 2 Cf. Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, ‘‘Sola scriptura? Luthers Schriftverständnis aus katholischer Sicht,’’ in Martin Luther im Widerstreit der Konfessionen: Historische und theologische Perspektiven, ed. Christian Danz and Jan-Heiner Tück (Freiburg: Herder, 2017), 152---74. 3 Cf. Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, ‘‘‘Keine rein akademische Angelegenheit’: Zum Verhältnis von Erklären und Verstehen in den Jesus-Büchern von Joseph Ratzinger / Benedikt XVI.,’’ in Der Theologenpapst: Eine kritische Würdigung Benedikts XVI., ed. Jan- Heiner Tück (Freiburg: Herder, 2013), 184---206.
The Catholic Understanding of Scripture 137 mately only understand the Bible through participatory observation. We are caught in this hermeneutical circle --- and this is true for all forms of understanding. 4 Antique philosophical schools likewise saw themselves as ways of life. Their teachings could not be grasped from a distance and from mere observation; they had to be lived. Likewise, the Bible is an expression of a way of life. It wishes to lead us to a form of spiritual practice or more precisely: to a form of social practice. The principle of participatory observation is relevant in some form for any kind of understanding. Buddhist texts, for instance, can only be understood through practice of the same. They are an expression of a practical form of life. Verbum Domini expresses it as follows: ‘‘Here we see the reason why an authentic process of interpretation is never purely an intellectual process but also a lived one, demanding full engagement in the life of the Church, which is life ‘according to the Spirit’ (Gal 5:16)’’ (38). The first and foundational principle of Catholic biblical hermeneutics therefore would be: ‘‘The Holy Spirit, who gives life to the Church, enables us to interpret the Scriptures authoritatively. The Bible is the Church’s book, and its essential place in the Church’s life gives rise to its genuine interpretation’’ (29). 2. The Council’s Biblical Hermeneutic: A Directive to be Appropriated As was said previously, the Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, which presented the fundamentals of biblical interpretation in the Church, brought with it full acceptance of historical-critical exegesis in the Catholic Church. The classical principles of Scriptural hermeneutics that were inherited from the Early Church, however, were not thereby relinquished. They were called to mind and, to a certain extent, simply placed alongside the model of modern Scriptural interpretation, remaining detached from the latter. Yet, post-conciliar reception of Dei Verbum almost exclusively focused on the historical-critical aspect of Scriptural interpretation, whereas traditional principles such as the unity of Scripture, the multiple senses of Scripture, and the orientation according to the regula fidei largely fell into oblivion. As a theologian, Joseph Ratzinger had often criticized a one-sided reception of Dei Verbum. 5 The Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini reminds us of this in the following words: ‘‘On the one hand, the Council emphasizes the study of literary genres 4 Cf. Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, ‘‘Kontemplatives Schriftverständnis --- Zur Wechselbeziehung von kontemplativer Übung und Schriftverständnis,’’ Studies in Spirituality 17 (2007): 115---25. 5 Cf. Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger, ‘‘Zwei antagonistische Modelle der Schriftauslegung in Dei Verbum?,’’ in Erinnerung an die Zukunft: Das Zweite Vatikanische Konzil, ed. Jan-Heiner Tück (Freiburg: Herder, 2013), 517---29.
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6 Note on the Cover Photographs mis
Page 6 and 7: 8 The What Does Theology Do, Actual
Page 8 and 9: 10 Contents C.I. David Joy (India)
Page 11: Acknowledgements This volume grows
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Page 25 and 26: Tahina Rahandrifenosoa (Madagascar)
Page 27 and 28: Online Exegetical Teaching 29 Ribbo
Page 31 and 32: Anja Block (Germany) Speaking Respo
Page 33 and 34: Speaking Responsibly about Biblical
Page 37 and 38: Athalya Brenner-Idan (Israel / the
Page 39 and 40: Plague, Pandemic, Divine/Human Inte
Page 42 and 43: Part 2 Academy: Parsing the Study o
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Page 50 and 51: 90 Dogara Ishaya Manomi approaches
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Phillip A. Davis, Jr. | Daniel Lanzinger | Matthew Ryan Robinson (Eds.): What Does Theology Do, Actually? (Leseprobe)

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