ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II 
ON THE CENTENARY OF THE ENCYCLICAL 
«PROVIDENTISSIMUS DEUS» 
AND THE FIFTIENT ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENCYCLICAL 
«DIVINO AFFLANTE SPIRITU»

Friday, April 23, 1993

This address was given on Friday, April 23, 1993, during an audience commemorating the centenary of the Encyclical “Providentissimus Deus” of Leo XIII and the fiftieth anniversary of the Encyclical “Divino afflante Spiritu” of Pius XII, both devoted to biblical questions. 

The audience took place in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, in the presence of members of the College of Cardinals, the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the Professorial Corps of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. 

During the audience, Cardinal J. Ratzinger presented to the Holy Father the document of the Biblical Commission on the interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

Your Eminences,

Heads of Diplomatic Missions,

Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, 

Professors of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, 

1. I thank Cardinal Ratzinger with all my heart for the sentiments he has just expressed in presenting to me the document drawn up by the Pontifical Biblical Commission on the interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

I joyfully welcome this document, the fruit of collegial work undertaken on your initiative, Your Eminence, and carried forward with perseverance for several years. It responds to a concern that is close to my heart, since the interpretation of Sacred Scripture is of capital importance for the Christian faith and for the life of the Church.

“In the sacred books, in fact – as the Council so well reminded us – the Father who is in heaven comes with great love to meet his children and enters into conversation with them; in the word of God there is such efficacy and power that it is the support and strength of the Church, and for the children of the Church it is the strength of faith, food for the soul, a pure and perennial source of spiritual life” ( Dei Verbum , n. 21). 

The way in which biblical texts are interpreted by men and women today has direct consequences on their personal and community relationship with God, and is also closely linked to the mission of the Church. This is a vital problem that deserves your full attention.  

2. Your work concludes at a very opportune moment, because it gives me the opportunity to celebrate with you two significant anniversaries: 

the centenary of the Encyclical Providentissimus Deus ,

and the fiftieth anniversary of the Encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu ,

both devoted to biblical questions.

On 18 November 1893, Pope Leo XIII, who was very attentive to intellectual problems, published his encyclical on the studies of Sacred Scripture, in order, he wrote, “to stimulate and recommend them” and also to “orient them in a manner which will better correspond to the needs of the times” (Enchiridion Biblicum, n. 82).

Fifty years later, Pope Pius XII offered Catholic exegetes, in his encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu , new encouragement and new directives. In the meantime, the papal Magisterium had manifested its constant attention to scriptural problems through numerous interventions. In 1902, Leo XIII created the Biblical Commission; in 1909, Pius X founded the Biblical Institute. In 1920, Benedict XV celebrated the 1500th anniversary of the death of Saint Jerome with an encyclical on the interpretation of the Bible. The lively impulse thus given to biblical studies found full confirmation in the Second Vatican Council so that the whole Church has benefited from it. The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum sheds light on the work of Catholic exegetes and invites Pastors and the faithful to nourish themselves more assiduously with the word of God contained in the Scriptures.  

Today I would like to highlight some aspects of the teaching of these two encyclicals and the continuing validity of their orientation through changing circumstances in order to better benefit from their contribution.   

I. From “Providentissimus Deus” to “Divino afflante Spiritu” 

3. First of all, an important difference can be noted between these two documents. It concerns the polemical part – or, more precisely, the apologetic part – of the two encyclicals. In fact, both of them show a concern to respond to the attacks against the Catholic interpretation of the Bible, but these attacks did not go in the same direction.

Providentissimus Deus , on the one hand, wants above all to protect the Catholic interpretation of the Bible from the attacks of rationalist science; on the other, Divino afflante Spiritu is rather concerned with defending the Catholic interpretation from the attacks that oppose the use of science by exegetes and that want to impose a non-scientific, so-called “spiritual,” interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures.

This radical change of perspective was evidently due to circumstances.

Providentissimus Deus was published in an era marked by strong polemics against the faith of the Church. Liberal exegesis provided these polemics with important support, since it used all the resources of the sciences, from textual criticism to geology, through philology, literary criticism, the history of religions, archaeology and other disciplines. 

On the contrary, Divino afflante Spiritu was published shortly after a completely different polemic, conducted, especially in Italy, against the scientific study of the Bible. An anonymous pamphlet had been widely distributed to warn against what it described as a “very grave danger for the Church and for souls: the critical-scientific system in the study and interpretation of Sacred Scripture, its disastrous deviations and aberrations.”

4. In both cases, the reaction of the Magisterium was significant, since, instead of adhering to a purely defensive response, it went to the heart of the problem and thus manifested – let us note this immediately – the Church’s faith in the mystery of the Incarnation.  

Against the attacks of liberal exegesis, which presented its affirmations as conclusions based on data acquired by science, one could have reacted by launching an anathema on the use of science in the interpretation of the Bible and ordering Catholic exegetes to adhere to a “spiritual” explanation of the texts.  

Providentissimus Deus does not take this path. On the contrary, the encyclical insistently invites Catholic exegetes to acquire authentic scientific competence in order to surpass their adversaries on their own ground. “The first” mode of defense, it says, “is found in the study of the ancient languages ​​of the East as well as in the exercise of scientific criticism” (EB 118). The Church does not fear scientific criticism. She is only wary of preconceived opinions that claim to be based on science but which, in reality, subtly take science out of its field.

Fifty years later, in Divino afflante Spiritu , Pope Pius XII could note the fruitfulness of the directives offered by Providentissimus Deus : «Thanks to a better knowledge of the biblical languages ​​and of all that concerns the East, … a good number of questions raised at the time of Leo XIII against the authenticity, antiquity, integrity and historical value of the Sacred Books … have today been resolved» (EB 546). The work of Catholic exegetes, «who have made correct use of the intellectual instruments employed by their adversaries» (n. 562), had borne fruit. And it is precisely for this reason that Divino afflante Spiritu appears less concerned than Providentissimus Deus with attacks against the positions of rationalist exegesis.

5. But it had become necessary to respond to the attacks from the supporters of a so-called “mystical” exegesis (n. 552), who sought to have the Magisterium condemn the efforts of scientific exegesis. How does the encyclical respond? It could have limited itself to emphasising the usefulness and even the necessity of these efforts for the defence of the faith, which would have favoured a sort of dichotomy between scientific exegesis, intended for external use, and spiritual interpretation, reserved for internal use. In Divino afflante Spiritu , Pius XII deliberately avoided proceeding in this direction. On the contrary, he claimed the close union between the two procedures, on the one hand emphasising the “theological” scope of the literal sense, methodically defined (EB 551), on the other, affirming that, in order to be recognised as the sense of a biblical text, the spiritual sense must present guarantees of authenticity. A simple subjective inspiration is not sufficient. It must be possible to demonstrate that it is a meaning “willed by God himself”, a spiritual meaning “given by God” to the inspired text (EB 552-553). The determination of the spiritual meaning therefore also belongs to the field of exegetical science.

We thus note that, despite the great diversity of the difficulties to be faced, the two encyclicals are perfectly reunited at the deepest level. They both reject the rupture between the human and the divine, between scientific research and the gaze of faith, between the literal sense and the spiritual sense. On this point they show themselves to be fully in harmony with the mystery of the Incarnation.

II. Harmony between Catholic exegesis and the mystery of the Incarnation 

6. The close relationship that unites the inspired biblical texts with the mystery of the Incarnation has been expressed by the encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu in the following terms: “Just as the substantial Word of God has become like men in all respects except sin, so the words of God, expressed in human languages, have become like human language in all respects except error” (EB 559). Taken almost literally from the conciliar Constitution Dei Verbum (n. 13), this affirmation highlights a parallelism rich in meaning.

It is true that putting the words of God into writing, thanks to the charism of scriptural inspiration, constituted a first step towards the Incarnation of the Word of God. These written words constituted, in fact, a lasting means of communication and communion between the chosen people and their one Lord. On the other hand, it is thanks to the prophetic aspect of these words that it was possible to recognise the fulfilment of God’s plan, when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” ( Jn 1:14).

After the heavenly glorification of the humanity of the Word made flesh, it is still thanks to written words that his passage among us remains attested in a lasting way. United with the inspired writings of the First Covenant, the inspired writings of the New Covenant constitute a verifiable means of communication and communion between the believing people and God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This means certainly cannot be separated from the river of spiritual life that flows from the Heart of Jesus crucified and that is propagated thanks to the sacraments of the Church. It nevertheless has its own consistency, that of a written text, which is authoritative.

7. Consequently, the two encyclicals require Catholic exegetes to remain in full harmony with the mystery of the Incarnation, the mystery of the union of the divine and the human in an absolutely determined historical existence. The earthly existence of Jesus is not defined only by places and dates at the beginning of the first century in Judea and Galilee, but also by its roots in the long history of a small people of the ancient Near East, with its weaknesses and its greatness, with its men of God and its sinners, with its slow cultural evolution and its political changes, with its defeats and its victories, with its aspirations for peace and the kingdom of God. The Church of Christ takes the realism of the Incarnation seriously and it is for this reason that she attributes great importance to the “historical-critical” study of the Bible. Far from reproving it, as the supporters of “mystical” exegesis would have liked, my predecessors have vigorously approved it. « Artis criticie disciplinam – wrote Leo XIII – quippe percipiendae penitus hagiographorum sentencentiae perutilem, Nobis vehementer probantibus, nostri (exegetae, scilicet, catholici) excolant » (Apostolic Letter Vigilantiae , for the foundation of the Biblical Commission, 30 October 1902, EB 142).

The same “vehemence” in approval, the same adverb (vehementer) is found in the Divino afflante Spiritu regarding research into textual criticism (cf. EB 548).  

8. Divino afflante Spiritu , as is known, particularly recommended to exegetes the study of the literary genres used in the sacred books, going so far as to affirm that the Catholic exegete must “acquire the conviction that this part of his task cannot be neglected without grave damage to Catholic exegesis” (EB 560). This recommendation is based on the concern to understand the meaning of the texts with all possible exactitude and precision and, therefore, in their historical cultural context. A false idea of ​​God and of the Incarnation pushes a certain number of Christians to take an opposite orientation. They tend to believe that, since God is the absolute Being, each of his words has an absolute value, independent of all the conditioning of human language. There is therefore no room, according to them, to study these conditionings in order to make distinctions that would relativise the scope of the words. But this means deluding oneself and actually rejecting the mysteries of scriptural inspiration and the Incarnation, by referring to a false notion of the Absolute.

The God of the Bible is not an absolute Being who, crushing everything he touches, would suppress all differences and all nuances. On the contrary, he is the creator God, who created the astonishing variety of beings “each according to its own kind”, as the Genesis account affirms and reports (cf. Gen. , chap. 1). Far from annulling differences, God respects and values ​​them (cf. 1 Cor 12:18, 24, 28). When he expresses himself in human language, he does not give each expression a uniform value, but uses its possible nuances with extreme flexibility, and also accepts its limitations. This is what makes the task of exegetes so complex, so necessary and so exciting! None of the human aspects of language can be overlooked. Recent advances in linguistic, literary and hermeneutical research have led biblical exegesis to add many other points of view (rhetorical, narrative, structuralist) to the study of literary genres; other human sciences, such as psychology and sociology, have also been welcomed to give their contribution.

To all this can be applied the instruction that Leo XIII entrusted to the members of the Biblical Commission: “That they consider nothing foreign to their competence that the industrious research of modern people has discovered new; on the contrary, they should keep their spirit alert to adopt without delay whatever each moment brings of utility to biblical exegesis” ( Vigilantiae , EB 140). The study of the human conditioning of the word of God must be pursued with an incessantly renewed interest.

9. However, this study is not enough. To respect the coherence of the faith of the Church and the inspiration of Scripture, Catholic exegesis must be careful not to stick to the human aspects of biblical texts.

It must also and above all help the Christian people to perceive more clearly the word of God in these texts, so as to welcome it better, to live fully in communion with God.  

To this end it is evidently necessary that the exegete himself perceive the divine word in the texts, and this is only possible if his intellectual work is supported by an impetus of spiritual life.

Without this support, exegetical research remains incomplete; it loses sight of its main purpose and confines itself to secondary tasks.

It can also become a sort of escape.

The scientific study of only the human aspects of the texts can make us forget that the word of God invites everyone to go out of themselves to live in faith and charity.

The encyclical Providentissimus Deus recalled, in this regard, the particular character of the Sacred Books and the resulting need for their interpretation:

«The Sacred Books – it declared – cannot be assimilated to ordinary writings, but, since they were dictated by the Holy Spirit himself and have a content of extreme gravity, mysterious and difficult in many respects, we always need, in order to understand and explain them, the coming of the Holy Spirit himself, or of his light and his grace, which we must certainly ask for in humble prayer and preserve through a sanctified life» (EB 89).

In a shorter formula, borrowed from St. Augustine, the Divino afflante Spiritu expressed the same need: « Orent ut intellegant! » (EB 569) [pray in order to understand].

Yes, to arrive at a fully valid interpretation of the words inspired by the Holy Spirit, we ourselves must be guided by the Holy Spirit, for this, we must pray, pray a lot, ask in prayer for the interior light of the Spirit and accept this light docilely, ask for love, which alone makes us capable of understanding the language of God, who “is love” ( 1 John 4:8, 16). During the work of interpretation itself, we must remain as much as possible in the presence of God.

10. Docility to the Holy Spirit produces and strengthens another disposition, necessary for the correct orientation of exegesis: fidelity to the Church.

The Catholic exegete does not nourish the individualistic illusion that leads to believing that, outside the community of believers, one can better understand the biblical texts. The opposite is true, since these texts were not given to individual researchers “to satisfy their curiosity or to provide them with subjects for study and research” ( Divino afflante Spiritu , EB 566); they were entrusted to the community of believers, to the Church of Christ, to nourish faith and guide the life of charity. Respect for this purpose conditions the validity of the interpretation. Providentissimus Deus recalled this fundamental truth and observed that, far from hindering biblical research, respect for this fact favours its authentic progress (cf. EB 108-109). It is comforting to note that recent studies in hermeneutic philosophy have confirmed this vision of things, and that exegetes of different confessions have worked from similar perspectives, emphasising, for example, the need to interpret each biblical text as part of the Canon of Scripture recognised by the Church, or being more attentive to the contributions of patristic exegesis.

To be faithful to the Church, in fact, means to place oneself resolutely in the current of the great Tradition which, under the guidance of the Magisterium, assured of the special assistance of the Holy Spirit, has recognised the canonical writings as the word addressed by God to his people, and has never ceased to meditate on them and to discover their inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council reiterated this: “For everything concerning the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which fulfills the divine mandate and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God” ( Dei Verbum , n. 12).

And it is no less true – it is still the Council that supports it, taking up an affirmation of Providentissimus Deus – that «it is the task of exegetes to contribute (…) to a deeper understanding and exposition of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that, through studies which are in some way preparatory, the judgment of the Church may mature» ( Dei Verbum , n. 12: cf. Providentissimus Deus , EB 109: « ut, quasi praeparato studio, judicium Ecclesiae maturetur »).

11. In order to better fulfill this very important ecclesial task, exegetes will take care to remain close to the preaching of the word of God, both by devoting a part of their time to this ministry, and by maintaining relationships with those who exercise it and by helping them with publications of pastoral exegesis (cf. Divino afflante Spiritu , EB 551). In this way they will avoid getting lost in the meanders of an abstract scientific research that would distance them from the true meaning of the Scriptures. In fact, this meaning is not separable from their purpose, which is to put believers in a personal relationship with God.

III. The new document of the Biblical Commission 

12. In these perspectives – Providentissimus Deus affirmed – «a vast field of research is open to the personal work of each exegete» (EB 109). Fifty years later, Divino afflante Spiritu renewed, in different terms, the same stimulating observation: «there remain many points, some very important, in the discussion and explanation of which the depth of spirit and the talent of Catholic exegetes can and must be freely expressed» (EB 565).

What was true in 1943 remains true today, as the progress of research has brought solutions to some problems and, at the same time, new questions to be examined. In exegesis, as in other sciences, the further one advances the frontier of the unknown, the wider the field to be explored. Less than five years after the publication of Divino afflante Spiritu , the discovery of the Qumran manuscripts shed new light on a great number of biblical problems and opened up other fields of research. Since then, many discoveries have been made and new methods of research and analysis have been developed.  

13. It is this change of situation that has made a new examination of the problems necessary. The Pontifical Biblical Commission has returned to this task and today presents the fruit of its work, entitled The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

What will strike you at first glance in this document is the open-mindedness with which it is conceived. The methods, approaches and readings used today in exegesis are examined and, despite some sometimes serious reservations that must be expressed, it is admitted, in almost all of them, the presence of valid elements for a complete interpretation of the biblical text.

Since Catholic exegesis does not have its own exclusive method of interpretation, but, starting from the historical-critical basis, free from philosophical or other presuppositions contrary to the truth of our faith, it benefits from all current methods, seeking in each of them the “seed of the Word”.

14. Another characteristic feature of this synthesis is its balance and moderation. In its interpretation of the Bible it knows how to harmonize diachrony and synchrony, recognising that both complement each other and are indispensable to bring out the whole truth of the text and to meet the legitimate needs of the modern reader.  

And it is even more important that Catholic exegesis does not turn its attention only to the human aspects of biblical revelation, which is sometimes the fault of the historical-critical method, nor to the divine aspects only, as fundamentalism would have it; it strives to highlight both, united in the divine “condescension” ( Dei Verbum , 13), which is at the basis of all Scripture.  

15. Finally, we can perceive the emphasis placed in this document on the fact that the active biblical Word is addressed universally, in time and space, to all humanity. If “the words of God (…) have been made similar to the language of men” ( Dei Verbum , 13), it is to be understood by all. They must not remain “too” high “for you, nor too” distant “from you. (…) Indeed, this word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to put it into practice” ( Dt 30:11. 14).  

This is the purpose of the interpretation of the Bible. If the main task of exegesis is to reach the authentic meaning of the sacred text or its different meanings, it must then communicate this meaning to the recipient of Sacred Scripture, who is, if possible, every human person.  

The Bible exercises its influence throughout the centuries. A constant process of updating adapts interpretation to contemporary mentality and language. The concrete and immediate character of biblical language greatly facilitates this adaptation, but its rootedness in an ancient culture causes many difficulties. It is therefore necessary to constantly retranslate biblical thought into contemporary language, so that it is expressed in a manner suited to the listeners. This translation must, however, be faithful to the original, and cannot force the texts to adapt them to a reading or approach in vogue at a given time. It is necessary to show all the splendor of the word of God, even when expressed “in human words” ( Dei Verbum , n. 13).  

The Bible is spread today on all continents and in all nations. But for its action to be profound, there must be an inculturation according to the specific genius of each people. Perhaps the nations less marked by the deviations of modern Western civilization will understand the biblical message more easily than those that are already almost insensitive to the action of the word of God because of secularisation and the excesses of demythologization. In our age, a great effort is needed, not only on the part of the wise and preachers, but also on the part of the disseminators of biblical thought: they must use all possible means – and there are many today – so that the universal scope of the biblical message is widely recognized and so that its salvific efficacy can be manifested everywhere.  

Thanks to this document, the interpretation of the Bible in the Church will be able to find a new impetus, for the good of the entire world, to make the truth shine and to exalt charity on the threshold of the third millennium.

Conclusion 

16. In conclusion, I have the joy of being able to offer, like my predecessors Leo XIII and Pius XII, both thanks and encouragement to Catholic exegetes, and in particular to you, members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission. I thank you cordially for the excellent work that you carry out in the service of the word of God and of the people of God: the work of research, teaching and publication; the help you bring to theology, to the liturgy of the Word and to the ministry of preaching; initiatives that foster ecumenism and good relations between Christians and Jews; participation in the efforts of the Church to respond to the aspirations and difficulties of the modern world. To this I add my warm encouragement for the new stage to be undertaken. The growing complexity of the task requires the efforts of all and a broad interdisciplinary collaboration. In a world where scientific research is assuming ever greater importance in many fields, it is indispensable that exegetical science be placed at an adequate level. And it is one of the aspects of the inculturation of faith that is part of the mission of the Church, in harmony with the acceptance of the mystery of the Incarnation.  

May Christ Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, guide you in your research, he who opened the minds of his disciples to the understanding of the Scriptures ( Lk 24:45)! May the Virgin Mary serve as a model for you not only for her generous docility to the word of God, but also, first and foremost, for her way of receiving what He had said! Saint Luke tells us that Mary pondered in her heart the divine words and the events that were taking place, ” symballousa en tê kardia autês ” (Lk 2:19). Because of her acceptance of the Word, she is the model and mother of the disciples (cf. Jn 19:27). May she teach you to fully welcome the word of God, not only through intellectual research, but also in your whole life!  

So that your work and your action may contribute ever more to making the light of the Scriptures shine, I wholeheartedly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing.