1. Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation
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Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation

2. Status among the 16 Documents
One of four constitutions
A dogmatic constitution (also Lumen gentium)
The primary constitution, according to the “hierarchy of truths”
Revelation
Church (ad intra) Lumen gentium
Liturgy (ad intra) Sacrosanctum concilium
Church and World (ad extra) Gaudium et spes
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3. Pre-History Trent Vatican I
Prevailing Scholastic Approach Before Vatican II
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4. Drafting
First Draft
Second Draft
Third Draft
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5. Voting and Promulgation
Voting 2,344 to 6
Promulgated 18 November 1965
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6. Structure and Chapter Content
Prologue (#1)
1. Divine Revelation Itself (#2-7)
2. The Transmission of Divine Revelation (#7-10)
3. Sacred Scripture: Its Divine Inspiration and Its Interpretation (#11-13)
4. The Old Testament (#14-16)
5. The New Testament (17-20)
6. Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church (#21-26)
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7. Seven Shifts in Church Teaching
Revelation
Faith
Primary Receiver of Revelation
Tradition and Scripture
Magisterium and Revelation
Interpretation of Scripture
Scripture in Catholic life
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8. Shift 1: The Nature of Revelation
Revelation is the event of God the Father reaching out to humanity, through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit
Any “information” about God (that can be formulated into propositions) comes from that primary personal encounter
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9. DV, 2
“It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will, which was that people can draw near to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature. By this revelation, then, the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses men and women as his friends, and lives among them, in order to invite and receive them into his own company…
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10. “… The pattern of this revelation unfolds through deeds and words which are intrinsically connected: the works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and confirm the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain. The most intimate truth thus revealed about God and human salvation shines forth for us in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of revelation.”
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11. DV, 6
“By divine revelation God wished to manifest and communicate both himself and the eternal decrees of his will concerning the salvation of humankind.”
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12. Paradigm Shift from Vatican I
From a doctrinal-theoretical-propositional-ahistorical notion (Vat I)
To an understanding of revelation as God’s trinitarian SELF-communication in history
Revelation is God’s outreach to humanity through Christ in the power of the Spirit
This more personal-historical-communicative notion nevertheless includes the propositional dimension of that communication.
through compromise formulations, the document attempts to hold in tension the two approaches
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13. God’s self-communication
As God’s self-gift
As God’s Word or Address to humanity
As God’s self-disclosure
As God’s self-revelation (Barth)
As “the Gospel” itself
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14. Revelation as God’s Word
God “addresses men and women as friends”
Scripture as “the written Word of God”
“Word” here is a symbol whose referent is the revelation event itself
Scripture is not revelation itself, but a potentially revelatory text
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15. “unfolds through words and deeds”
Revelation is not just pure communication of words or information or decrees or propositions of knowledge about God
It is a process of coming to know God personally
“Paideia” - humanity’s education by God
This “personal knowledge” God reveals in human experience through historical events and persons
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16. Normative and Unsurpassable
Jesus Christ is normative revelation
All that we say about God must meet the norm of the Christ event (as witnessed to in Scripture and tradition)
Jesus Christ is unsurpassable revelation
There is no further revelation of God beyond Jesus Christ; revelation “ends” with the apostolic period (as witnessed to in Scripture and tradition).
However, the reception of the Christ event by the church is never ending.
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17. Shift 2: The Nature of Faith
a shift from faith predominately understood as assent to beliefs about God
this parallels Vatican I’s propositional notion of revelation
to primarily a personal loving response to God’s loving outreach
this parallels Vatican II’s more personalist notion of revelation
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18. Revelation and the Holy Spirit
Only the Holy Spirit can open our eyes to see, recognise and interpret “the signs of the times”
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19. Faith and the Holy Spirit
“For this faith to be accorded we need the grace of God, anticipating it and assisting it, as well as the interior helps of the holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, and opens the eyes of the mind and ‘makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.’ The same holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that revelation may be more and more deeply understood.” (DV, 5)
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20. Shift 3: Primary Receiver of Revelation - “the entire church”
DV to be read in the light of LG
LG, 12: “The holy People of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office… The whole body of the faithful who have received an anointing which comes from the holy one cannot be mistaken in matters of belief. It shows this characteristic through the entire people’s supernatural sense of the faith (sensus fidei)…”
“Tradition and scripture make up a single deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the church. By adhering to it, the entire church, united to its pastors, remains faithful to…”
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21. Shift 4: Tradition and Scripture
through compromise formulations, the document attempts to hold in tension two approaches
a rejected but revised two-source theory
Scripture and tradition are two sources of revelation
the source of revelation is God’s self gift
a new approach that sees the Gospel of and about Jesus Christ, the fullness of revelation, as the single source of tradition and Scripture
a parallel to the shift from a propositional to a more personalist notion of revelation
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22. Holy Spirit and the Living Tradition DV, 8b
“The tradition that comes from the apostles makes progress in the church, with the help of the Holy Spirit. There is a growth in insight into the realities and words that are passed on…
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23. This comes about through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts [theology]. It comes from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which they experience [sensus fidei] (tum ex intima spiritualium rerum quam experiuntur intelligentia). And it comes from the preaching of those who, on succeeding the office of bishop, have received the sure charism of truth [magisterium]…
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24. Thus, as the centuries go by, the church is always advancing towards the plenitude of divine truth, until eventually the words of God are fulfilled in it.”
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25. The Nature of Tradition
a process
“traditioning”
the products of the process
“traditions”
doctrines, liturgical traditions, spiritualities, Christian practices
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26. “Living Tradition”: DV, 8b
“What was handed on by the apostles comprises everything that serves to make the people of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith. In this way, the church, in its doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that it itself is, all that it believes.” DV 8
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27. Scripture and Tradition
“Sacred tradition and sacred scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. Flowing from the same divine well-spring, both of them merge, in a sense, and move towards the same goal…. Both scripture and tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal devotion and reverence.” DV, 9
“Tradition and scripture make up a single deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the church.” (DV, 10)
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28. Shift 5: Magisterium and Revelation
the magisterium is not the primary receiver of revelation, but rather “the entire church”
like the entire church, the magisterium is a servant to that which the church has received: revelation (the Word of God, witnessed to in the written Word of God)
through compromise formulations, the document attempts to hold in tension two approaches
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29. DV, 10: Revelation and Magisterium
“Tradition and scripture make up a single deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the church…
“This magisterium is not superior to the word of God, but is rather its servant…
“It is clear therefore that … sacred tradition, sacred scripture and the magisterium of the church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way under the action of the one holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” DV, 10
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30. Shift 6: Interpretation of Scripture
1964 Pontifical Biblical Commission Doc
acceptance of historical-criticism
genres, language, etc
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31. Inerrancy?
once again, through compromise formulations, the document attempts to hold in tension two approaches
not factual truth
but “salvific truth”
“that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation.” (DV, 11)
the purpose of the Scriptures is human salvation
“they told us the honest truth about Jesus” (DV, 19)
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32. Shift 7: Scripture in Catholic Life
pre-history
Reformation debates on sola scriptura and role of the church as authentic interpreter
recognition of Scripture as
“the soul of theology”
the basis of any “pastoral” renewal in the church
another example of the “reception” of Protestant emphases
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33. Unresolved Tensions
Ongoing history of salvation and the signs of the times
God’s revelation and the “faith” of non-christian believers
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