H
HagiaSophia
Guest
From John Allen’s column today:
"…Coalitions that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, most notably between evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics, are now routine.
That point was thrown into relief anew in Rome June 23-25, during the 8th International Consultation of a group called the “Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar,” composed of Biblical scholars and other academics who seek a “kneeling exegesis,” a combination of rigorous academic investigation with deep faith in the Bible as the revealed Word of God.
In various ways, these scholars, both Protestant and Catholic, are committed to something known as the “canonical approach,” meaning the study of the Bible not just in terms of discrete literary units or layers of tradition, but as a coherent text meant to be understood in its final form. Such understanding, moreover, is not just historical but theological.
The main sponsors of the seminar come from the Anglo-Saxon Protestant world – the British Foreign Bible Society, the University of Gloucestshire in the U.K., Baylor University in the States and Redeemer University College in Canada. Yet the choice to hold the meeting in Rome reflected strong Catholic participation, which included layman Scott Hahn and Cistercian Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy of the University of Dallas; Mary Healy of Christendom College; Fr. Matthew Lamb of Ave Maria University; Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche movement; and Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City and Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Nova Scotia, in Canada. Most of the working sessions were held at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.
“Faith is a basic principle to the scientific character of exegesis,” Ouellet told a panel entitled “Catholics and Protestants together” on Friday evening, June 24. The session was held at the Villa Aurelia, where most participants stayed.
“If we exclude faith, we are not being rigorous, we are misunderstanding the book,” he said. “This point has to be made in the academy.”
Ouellet endorsed what he said seemed the prime directive of this group: “You may not leave your faith at the door.”
“When I see what is happening in my country with secularization, how even within theology faculties Scripture is disappearing, we are losing even the notion of the Word of God,” Ouellet said. “We have to move, we have to help each other come home to Scripture in the spiritual sense.”
As a Vatican official back in 1997, Ouellet organized a symposium at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Scriptural exegesis. He said he saw a “convergence” between the concerns of that gathering and the “Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar.”
Vanier gave a presentation on “Lectio Divina,” or “divine reading,” referring to the use of Scripture in prayer and devotion, and its connection to Christian exegesis of the Bible. Hahn spoke on the liturgical reading of Scripture.
More information about the seminar can be found at sahs-info.org/
nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
"…Coalitions that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, most notably between evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics, are now routine.
That point was thrown into relief anew in Rome June 23-25, during the 8th International Consultation of a group called the “Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar,” composed of Biblical scholars and other academics who seek a “kneeling exegesis,” a combination of rigorous academic investigation with deep faith in the Bible as the revealed Word of God.
In various ways, these scholars, both Protestant and Catholic, are committed to something known as the “canonical approach,” meaning the study of the Bible not just in terms of discrete literary units or layers of tradition, but as a coherent text meant to be understood in its final form. Such understanding, moreover, is not just historical but theological.
The main sponsors of the seminar come from the Anglo-Saxon Protestant world – the British Foreign Bible Society, the University of Gloucestshire in the U.K., Baylor University in the States and Redeemer University College in Canada. Yet the choice to hold the meeting in Rome reflected strong Catholic participation, which included layman Scott Hahn and Cistercian Abbot Denis Farkasfalvy of the University of Dallas; Mary Healy of Christendom College; Fr. Matthew Lamb of Ave Maria University; Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche movement; and Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City and Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Nova Scotia, in Canada. Most of the working sessions were held at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.
“Faith is a basic principle to the scientific character of exegesis,” Ouellet told a panel entitled “Catholics and Protestants together” on Friday evening, June 24. The session was held at the Villa Aurelia, where most participants stayed.
“If we exclude faith, we are not being rigorous, we are misunderstanding the book,” he said. “This point has to be made in the academy.”
Ouellet endorsed what he said seemed the prime directive of this group: “You may not leave your faith at the door.”
“When I see what is happening in my country with secularization, how even within theology faculties Scripture is disappearing, we are losing even the notion of the Word of God,” Ouellet said. “We have to move, we have to help each other come home to Scripture in the spiritual sense.”
As a Vatican official back in 1997, Ouellet organized a symposium at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Scriptural exegesis. He said he saw a “convergence” between the concerns of that gathering and the “Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar.”
Vanier gave a presentation on “Lectio Divina,” or “divine reading,” referring to the use of Scripture in prayer and devotion, and its connection to Christian exegesis of the Bible. Hahn spoke on the liturgical reading of Scripture.
More information about the seminar can be found at sahs-info.org/
nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/
