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Adult Education Series 4-Pack, July 27, 2006
Presented by Dr. Alan Mitchell, associate professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Georgetown University, to more than 60 attendees from St. Charles, St. Anthony's and St. Ann's parishes

Dr. Mitchell provided a fast-paced and engaging tour through the last hundred-plus years of papal instructions, encyclicals, and council statements that have moved the Catholic Church from a very cautious tolerance of scientific biblical criticism to a position of scholarly competence which has informed and expanded our understanding of Sacred Scripture. Starting with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Providentissimus Deus in 1893 and the formation of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1902, the Church gradually explored and embraced the methods of biblical criticism which had originated with Reform Tradition scholars as well as with those who would dismiss any inspired merit in Sacred Scripture.

By the time Pius XII issued the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu in 1943, Catholic endeavor in scientific study of scripture was being challenged (from within) as a threat to the "spiritual" meaning of the Bible. This encyclical deftly asserted that scientific criticism was of distinct merit and not a threat to the inspired Word preserved in the sacred texts. Dei Verbum, the Constitution on Sacred Scripture of Vatican Council II, was grounded in both encyclicals and provided further clarification and encouragement for critical Biblical study and interpretation.

Dr. Mitchell offered several concepts which the Church accepts as maxims for biblical study

• Scripture is the Word of God -- expressed in human words
• The authors of Scripture wrote for their day and their religious communities
• Though Scripture is inspired text, the words were not dictated to the human authors
• As we come to know more about the Ancient Near East, we acquire a better understanding of th literal text
• The literal meaning a text converyed to its original is not to be confused with the literalist or rigid interpretation espoused by some current evangelicals
• Bible study and interpretation is a community endeavor, not meant for isolated pursuit.