The Teaching of the Church on the Bible

By Marcel Gervais

This is a comprehensive commentary on the document "Dei Verbum"-The Word of God" published by the Catholic Bishops at the Second Vatican Council. This presents the teaching of the Church on the principles which must guide Catholics on the interpretation of the Scriptures.
This incisive commentary is presented in an easy to read style which makes it accesible to the average layperson.
This should be very helpful to an student of the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcel Gervais
• Release date: Dec 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781927766026

Marcel Gervais

About the Author Archbishop Gervais was born in Elie Manitoba on September 21 1931. He is the ninth of fourteen children. His family came from Manitoba to the Sparta area near St. Thomas Ontario when he was just a teenager. He went to Sparta Continuation School and took his final year at Saint Joseph`s High School in St. Thomas. After high school he went to study for the priesthood at St. Peter’s Seminary in London , Ontario. He was ordained in 1958. He was sent to study in Rome. This was followed by studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He returned to London to teach scripture to the seminarians at St. Peter’s Seminary. In 1974 he was asked by Bishop Emmett Carter to take over as director of the Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education. This Centre had been founded by Bishop Carter to provide a resource for adult education in the spirit of Vatican II. This Centre involved sessions of one or two weeks with many of the best scholars of the time. Students came not only from Canada and the United States but from all over the globe, Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe. By the time Father Gervais became the director Divine Word Centre was already a course dominated by the study of scripture to which he added social justice. This aspect of the course of studies was presented by people from every part of the “third world”; among which were Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez and Cardinal Dery of Ghana. In 1976 the Conference of Ontario Bishops along with the Canadian conference of Religious Women approached Father Gervais to provide a written course of studies in Sacred Scripture for the Church at large, but especially for priests and religious women. This is when Fr. Gervais began to write Journey, a set of forty lessons on the Bible. He was armed with a treasure of information from all the teachers and witnesses to the faith that had lectured at Devine Word. He was assisted by a large number of enthusiastic collaborators: all the people who had made presentations at Divine Word and provided materials and a team of great assistants, also at Divine Word Centre. The work was finished just as Father Gervais was ordained an auxiliary bishop of London (1980). He subsequently was made Bishop of Sault Saint Marie Diocese, and after four years, Archbishop of Ottawa (1989). He retired in 2007, and at the time of this writing, he is enjoying retirement.

Book preview

The Teaching of the Church on the Bible

(as found in " Dei Verbum, The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, " issued by the Second Vatican Council.)

by Marcel Gervais, Retired Archbishop of Ottawa.

Copyright 2013 by Emmaus Publications on Smashwords

The content of this book was first published in 1980 as part of the JOURNEY Series By Guided Study Programs in the Catholic Faith and is now being republished in Smashwords by Emmaus Publications, , 99 Fifth Avenue, Suite 103, Ottawa,ON, K1S 5P5, Canada

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter One-Revelation

Chapter Two-Transmission of Revelation

Chapter Three-Inspiration and Interpretation

Chapter Four-The Old Testament

Chapter Five-The New Testament

Chapter Six-Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church

About the Author

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Foreword

When young parents have their first child one of the most anticipated events is the child's first words. Did he or she say mama or papa. The parents listen continuously for every sound coming from the child. Then when it finally happens they are overjoyed. They call grandparents and friends to share their joy. Yet this is not the first communication that happens between the parents and the child. Even while the child is in the womb the parents listen to the sounds and to feel the movemnts of the child. They will even play their favourite music.. Some believe that playing the right music can increase the intellectual ability of the child later in life. They are trying to communicate with their child.

The articulation of words is one of the great abilities of humans. It is how we transfer our thoughts and feelings from our hearts and minds to the world around us.

It is no accident that the bible is called the word of God. In the bible, the book of Genesis is witness to the fact that the People of God believed that God started communicating with us from the very beginning. They believed that the revelation received by Abraham and then by Moses marked a new stage in how God communicated with humanity. His communication had moved from the witness of creation to specific actions. To them the call of Abraham and in particular the Exodus were the moments when God finally spoke his first words. The People of God listened and heard and this is what they have passed down to us.

In the twentieth century a tremendous evolution has occured in the way in which the Church has viewed the interpretation of the Bible. The major documents issued by the Church have been:

Divino Afflante Spiritu by Pope Pius XII in 1942

Dei Verbum the encyclical issued by the Bishops at the second Vatican Council in 1965

A document entitled The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church by the Pontifical commission in 1994

Verbum Domini an exhortation entitled The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church in 2008

"Dei Verbum" however was an encyclical and remains the most important document of all even though it is a very brief and concise document.

The following commentary on "Dei Verbum" was a part in the Journey Bible Study course. It formed a separate section in each of Lessons 4 to 10 of that series. We have assembled all the parts in this book and hope that it will help all of those who have a desire to understand the teaching of the Church on the interpretation of scripture.

General Introduction

The People of God today, that is, the Church, has within it leaders who are empowered to teach with authority on matters which affect the life of the People. These leaders are the bishops of the Church, led by the Pope, the bishop of Rome. Since the Bible is in a special way the Book of the People of God, and since it is so necessary to the life of the People, its appointed leaders have both the duty and the right to guide the People in the understanding and use of the Bible.

During the Second Council of the Vatican, the bishops, gathered from all over the world, prepared and issued a statement on the Bible. This was Dei Verbum- The Word of God. It was approved of and signed by Pope Paul VI and the bishops and made public on November 18, 1965. This document had been hotly debated from 1962 to 1965.