Verbum
Yesterday was Sunday of the Word of God. When Pope Francis instituted the day he wrote, “It is fitting that the life of our people be constantly marked by this decisive relationship with the living word that the Lord never tires of speaking to his Bride, that she may grow in love and faithful witness.” We celebrate this by offering Catholic Bibles for only $0.99 for the rest of the week.
We also commend to you Verbum Domini and the Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology, a collection of essays by leading Catholic Bible scholars and theologians on Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 apostolic exhortation. Pope Benedict challenged the Church to keep theology firmly rooted in the study of Scripture. The essays collected in this book respond thoughtfully and concretely to that charge, together demonstrating that exegesis is essential to the theological task and to faith for scholars, students, and the broader Church.
Scott Carl ends his introduction to the volume thus:
Quoting his own intervention at the synod, Pope Benedict XVI said, “[W]here exegesis is not theology, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, and conversely, where theology is not essentially the interpretation of the Church’s Scripture, such a theology no longer has a foundation” (Verbum Domini 35). Such a union of exegesis and theology is crucial if we are to teach seminarians that “[t]he study of Scripture ought to lead to an increased awareness of the mystery of divine revelation and foster an attitude of prayerful response to the Lord who speaks,” words that Pope Benedict XVI wrote explicitly to address the needs of candidates for Holy Orders (Verbum Domini 82). This volume seeks to address such fundamental challenges directly and practically, helping to form priests who will not only know Sacred Scripture and how to work with it in an exegetical classroom but also find in it a source of renewal for their vocations and offer well-grounded spiritual insight for the good of that portion of Christ’s flock entrusted to their care.
Carl, Scott. 2015. “Introduction.” In Verbum Domini and the Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology, edited by Scott Carl and Christopher J. Thompson, xvi. Catholic Theological Formation Series. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
