Verbum Domini and the Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology ed. by Fr. Scott Carl (review)

This volume is a collection of essays that emerged from conferences sponsored by the Msgr. Jerome D. Quinn Institute of Biblical Studies at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas in 2009 and 2011. As the editor, Fr. Scott Carl, states in his introduction: "The overarching goal of these conferences has been to think about the implications of these acts of the magisterium [i.e. the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God and the promulgation of Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini in 2010] for our lives as biblical scholars teaching in Catholic seminaries" (xii). Accordingly, the essays in this volume exhibit a vibrant concern for the interpretation of the Bible in concert with the Church's faith and life, as well as the teaching of such theologically attuned exegesis in seminary formation.

The essays in this volume are collected into two major parts, each of which has a distinct theme. The essays in part I, "The Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology" (1), deal in various ways with Ratzinger's / Benedict XVI's directive to better integrate biblical exegesis and Church doctrine (or theology more broadly), and thus overcome the so-called "hiatus" (41) between them (referencing Ratzinger's 1988 Erasmus Lecture). Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy, O.Cist. ("Inspiration and Incarnation") argues that a Ressourcement-style renewal of the theology of biblical inspiration would serve the reintegration of biblical exegesis and theology. Crucial for such a project, according to Farkasfalvy, is the place of Scripture as a theological reality within the economy of salvation, culminating in the Incarnation of the Word. Fr. Francis Martin ("Spiritual Understanding of Scripture") frames his presentation by referencing the ancient Judeo-Christian exegetical tradition that Scripture mediates the source of revelation to faith-filled readers. Martin goes on to identify certain modern philosophical ideas pertaining to the understanding of history (e.g., the rejection of transcendent causality in the world) and human cognition (e.g., the influence of Kantian epistemology) that obstruct conceptually our access to that source of revelation.

Brant Pitre ("Verbum Domini and Historical-Critical Exegesis") focuses on Verbum Domini §§29–49 and discerns five major principles in this section to guide Catholic biblical interpretation. He notes Benedict's positive (though not uncritical) appraisal of historical-critical exegesis and the need to overcome the split between biblical exegesis and theology by putting into practice the full interpretive program given in Dei Verbum §12. Fr. Pablo Gadenz ("Overcoming the Hiatus between Exegesis and Theology: Guidance and Examples from Pope Benedict XVI") provides a very substantive essay that focuses on two major ideas of Ratzinger/Benedict: "Dogma as Interpretation of Scripture" (45) and "The Church as the Living Subject of Biblical Interpretation" (52). Instead of seeing Church dogma as a movement away from the plain sense of Scripture, Gadenz notes, Ratzinger encourages scholars to think of it as a movement into the depths of Scripture (61). Gadenz's essay also complements nicely that of Farkasfalvy by documenting how the inspiring Holy Spirit is active within the faith community both as the Scripture's past context of composition and as its present context of interpretation. Christian D. Washburn ("The Catholic Use of Scriptures in Ecumenical Dialogue") argues for the incorporation into ecumenical dialogue of modes of theological exegesis, such as those methods inspired by the Church Fathers, to supplement the accepted use of historical-critical exegesis. The incorporation of theological methods of exegesis is befitting ecumenical dialogue, since it presumes what the dialogue partners already agree on—"the Bible is the inspired Word of God" (71)—and provides insight into the Christian reception of biblical texts prior to the disputes of the sixteenth century (77–78).

Part II of the collection, "The Word of God in the Formation of Seminarians," takes up some various aspects of teaching Scripture in seminaries. Peter S. Williamson ("Preparing Seminarians for the Ministry...