Constitution on divine revelation.


Constitution

on

Divine

Revelation

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Constitution

on Divine Revelation

This booklet is the text of an English translation relayed from Vatican

City to the Press Department of the National Catholic Welfare Con-

ference, Washington, D.C.

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
BY OUR SUNDAY VISITOR INC.
HUNTINGTON, INDIANA 46750

605



;
/•



Constitution

on Divine Revelation

following is the text of an English translation of the ‘‘Con-
* stitution on Divine Revelation/* promulgated by Pope
Paul VI on Nov. 18, 1965.

PREFACE

1. Hearing the word of God
with reverence and proclaiming
it with faith, the sacred synod
takes its direction from these
words of St. John: “We an-
nounce to you the eternal life
which dwelt with the Father
and was made visible to us.
What we have seen and heard
we announce to you, so that
you may have fellowship with
us and our common fellowship
be with the Father and His Son

Jesus Christ” (I John 1:2-3).
Therefore, following in the
footsteps of the Council of
Trent and of the First Vatican
Council, this present council

wishes to set forth authentic
doctrine on divine revelation
and how it is handed on, so
that by hearing the message of
salvation the whole world may
believe, by believing it may
hope, and by hoping it may
love.

CHAPTER ONE

Revelation Itself

2. In His goodness and wis-
dom God chose to reveal Him-
self and to make known to us
the hidden purpose of His will
(see Eph. 1:9) by which

through Christ, the Word made
flesh, man might in the Holy
Spirit have access to the Father
and come to share in the divine
nature (see Eph. 2:18, 2 Peter

3



1:4). Through this revelation,
therefore, the invisible God
(see Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17) out
of the abundance of His love
speaks to men as friends (see
Ex. 33:11; John 15:14-15) and
lives among them (see Bar. 3:
38), so that He may invite and
take them into fellowship with
Himself. This plan of revela-
tion is realized by deeds and
words having an inner unity:
the deeds wrought by God in
the history of salvation mani-
fest and confirm the teaching
and realities signified by the
words, while the words pro-
claim the deeds and clarify the
mystery contained in them. By
this revelation then, the deep-
est truth about God and the
salvation of man shines out for
our sake in Christ, who is both
the mediator and the fulness of
all revelation.

3. God, who through the
Word creates all things (see
John, 1:3) and keeps them in
existence, gives men an endur-
ing witness to Himself in creat-
ed realities (see Rom. 1:19-20).
Planning to make known the
way of heavenly salvation, He
went further and from the start
manifested Himself to our first
parents. Then after their fall
His promise of redemption
aroused in them the hope of
being saved (see Gen. 3:15) and
from that time on He ceaseless-
ly kept the human race in His
care, to give eternal life to

those who perseveringly do
good in search of salvation (see

Rom. 2:6-7). Then, at the time
He had appointed He called
Abraham in order to make of
him a great nation (see Gen.
12:2). Through the patriarchs,
and after them through Moses
and the prophets. He taught
this people to acknowledge
Himself the one living and true
God, provident father and just
judge, and to wait for the Sav-
ior promised by Him, and in
this manner prepared the way
for the Gospel down through
the centuries.

4. Then, after speaking in
many and varied ways through
the prophets, “now at last in
these days God has spoken to
us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). For
He sent His Son, the eternal
Word, who enlightens all men.
so that He might dwell among
men and tell them of the in-
nermost being of God (see John
1:1-18). Jesus Christ, therefore,

the Word made flesh, was sent
as “a man to men.” He “speaks
the words of God” (John 3:34),
and completes the work of sal-
vation which His Father gave
Him to do (see John 5:36, 17:4).
To see Jesus is to see His Fa-
ther (John 14:9). For this rea-
son Jesus perfected revelation
by fulfilling it through His
whole work of making Himself
present and manifesting Him-
self: through His words and
deeds. His signs and wonders,
but especially through His
death and glorious resurrection
from the dead and final send-
ing of the Spirit of truth. More-

4



over He confirmed with divine
testimony what revelation pro-
claimed, that God is with us to
free us from the darkness of
sin and death, and to raise us
up to life eternal.
The Christian dispensation,

therefore, as the new and defin-
itive covenant, will never pass
away and we now await no fur-
ther new public revelation be-
fore the glorious manifestation
of our Lord Jesus Christ (see I
Tim. 6:14 and Titus 2:13).

5.

“The obedience of faith”
(Rom. 13:26; see 1:5; 2 Cor. 10:
5-6) “is to be given to God who
reveals, an obedience by which
man commits his whole self
freely to God, offering the full
submission of intellect and will
to God who reveals,” and freely
assenting to the truth revealed
by Him. To make this act of
faith, the grace of God and the
interior help of the Holy Spirit
must precede and assist, mov-
ing the heart and turning it to
God, opening the eyes of the
mind and giving “joy and ease
to everyone in assenting to the

truth and believing it.” To
bring about an ever deeper
understanding of revelation the
same Holy Spirit constantly
brings faith to completion by
His gifts.

6.

Through divine revelation,
God chose to show forth and
communicate Himself and the
eternal decisions of His will re-
garding the salvation of men.
That is to say. He chose to
share with them those divine
treasures which totally trans-
cend the understanding of the
human mind.
As a sacred synod has af-

firmed, God, the beginning and
end of all things, can be known
with certainty from created re-
ality by the light of human
reason (see Rom. 1:20); but
teaches that it is through His
revelation that those religious
truths which are by their na-
ture accessible to human rea-
son can be known by all men
with ease, with solid certi-
tude and with no trace of error,
even in this present state of the
human race.

CHAPTER TWO

Handing on Divine Revelation

7.

In His gracious goodness,
God has seen to it that what He
had revealed for the salvation
of all nations would abide
perpetually in its full integrity

and be handed on to all gen-
erations. Therefore Christ the
Lord in whom the full revela-
tion of the supreme God is
brought to completion (see

5



Cor. 1:20; 3:13; 4:6), commis-
sioned the Apostles to preach
to all men that Gospel which is
the source of all saving truth
and moral teaching, and to im-
part to them heavenly gifts.
This Gospel had been promised
in former times through the
prophets, and Christ Himself
had fulfilled it and promulgat-
ed it with His lips. This com-
mission was faithfully fulfilled
by the Apostles who, by their
oral preaching, by example,
and by observances handed on
what they had received from
the lips of Christ, from living
with Him, and from what He
did, or what they had learned
through the prompting of the
Holy Spirit. The commission
was fulfilled, too, by those
Apostles and apostolic men
who under the inspiration of
the same Holy Spirit committed
the message of salvation to
writing.

But in order to keep the Gos-
pel forever whole and alive
within the Church, the Apostles
left bishops as their succes-

sors, “handing over” to them
“the authority to teach in their
own place.” This sacred tradi-
tion, therefore, and Sacred
Scripture of both the Old and
New Testaments are like a mir-
ror in which the pilgrim Church
on earth looks at God, from
whom she has received every-
thing, until she is brought fi-
nally to see Him as He is, face
to face (see I John 3:2).

8. And so the apostolic

preaching, which is expressed
in a special way in the inspired
books, was to be preserved by
an unending succession of
preachers until the end of time.
Therefore the Apostles, hand-
ing on what they themselves
had received, warn the faithful
to hold fast to the traditions
which they have learned either
bv word of mouth or by letter
(see 2 Thess. 2:15), and to fight
in defense of the faith handed
on once and for all (see Jud.
3). Now what was handed on
by the Apostles includes every-
thing which contributes toward
the holiness of life and increase
in faith of the people of God;
and so the Church, in her teach-
ing, life and worship, perpetu-
ates and hands on to all gen-
erations all that she herself is,

all that she believes.
This tradition which comes

from the Apostles develops in
the Church with the help of the
Holy Spirit. For there is a
growth in the understanding of
the realities and the words
which have been handed down.
This happens through the con-
templation and study made by
believers, who treasure these
things in their hearts (see Luke,

2:19, 51) through a penetrat-
ing understanding of the spir-
itual realities which they ex-
perience, and through the
preaching of those who have
received through episcopal suc-
cession the sure gift of truth.

For as the centuries succeed
one another, the Church con-

6



stantly moves forward toward
the fulness of divine truth un-
til the words of God reach their
complete fulfillment in her.
The words of the holy fa-

thers witness to the presence of
this living tradition, whose
wealth is poured into the prac-
tice and life of the believing
and praying Church. Through
the same tradition the Church’s
full canon of the sacred books
is known, and the sacred writ-
ings themselves are more pro-
foundly understood and un-
ceasingly made active in her;
and thus God, who spoke of
old, uninterruptedly converses
with the bride of His beloved
Son; and the Holy Spirit,
through whom the living voice
of the Gospel resounds in the
Church, and through her, in the
world, leads unto all truth
those who believe and makes
the word of Christ dwell
abundantly in them (see Col.
3:16).

9. Hence there exists a close
connection and communication
between sacred tradition and
sacred Scripture. For both of
them, flowing from the same
divine wellspring, in a certain

way merge into a unity and
tend toward the same end. For
Sacred Scripture is the word
of God inasmuch as it is con-
signed to writing under the in-
spiration of the divine Spirit,
while sacred tradition takes the
word of God entrusted by
Christ the Lord and the Holy
Spirit to the Apostles, and

hands it on to their successors
in its full purity, so that led

by the light of the Spirit of
truth, they may in proclaiming
it preserve this word of God
faithfully, explain it, and make
it more widely known. Conse-
quently it is not from Sacred
Scripture alone that the Church
draws her certainty about ev-
erything which has been re-
vealed. Therefore both sacred
tradition and Sacred Scripture
are to be accepted and vener-
ated with the same sense of
loyalty and reverence.

10. Sacred tradition and sa-
cred Scripture form one sacred
deposit of the word of God,
committed to the Church.
Holding fast to this deposit the
entire holy people united with
their shepherds remain always
steadfast in the teaching of the
Apostles, in the common life,
in the breaking of the bread
and in prayers (see Acts 2, 42,
Greek text), so that holding to,
practicing and professing the
heritage of the faith, it becomes
on the part of the bishops and
faithful a single common ef-
fort.

But the task of authentically
interpreting the word of God,
whether written or handed on,
has been entrusted exclusively
to the living teaching office of
the Church, whose authority is
exercised in the name of Jesus
Christ. This teaching office is
not above the word of God, but
serves it, teaching only what

7



has been handed on, listening
to it devoutly, guarding it
scrupulously and explaining it
faithfully in accord with a di-
vine commission and with the
help of the Holy Spirit; it
draws from this one deposit of
faith everything which it pre-
sents for belief as divinely re-

vealed.

It is clear, therefore, that sa-

cred tradition, sacred Scripture
and the teaching authority of
the Church, in accord with
God’s most wise design, are so
linked and joined together that
one cannot stand without the
others, and that all together
and each in its own way under
the action of the one Holy
Spirit contribute effectively to
the salvation of souls.

CHAPTER THREE

Sacred Scripture, Its Inspiring

and Divine Interpretation

11. Those divinely revealed
realities which are contained
and presented in sacred Scrip-
ture have been committed to
writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. For holy
mother Church, relying on the
belief of the Apostles (see
John, 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2
Peter 1:19-20, 3:15-16), holds
that the books of both the Old
and New Testaments in their
entirety, with all their parts, are
sacred and canonical because
written under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, they have
God as their author and have
been handed on as such to the
Church herself. In composing
the sacred books, God chose
men and while employed by

Him they made use of their
powers and abilities, so that
with Him acting in them and
through them, they, as true
authors, consigned to writing
everything and only those
things which He wanted.

Therefore since everything
asserted by the inspired au-
thors or sacred writers must be
held to be asserted by the Holy
Spirit, it follows that the books
of Scripture must be acknowl-
edged as teaching solidly, faith-
fully and without error that
truth which God wanted put
into the sacred writings for the

sake of our salvation. There-
fore “all Scripture is divinely

inspired and has its use for
teaching the truth and refuting

8



error, for reformation of man-
ners and discipline in right liv-
ing, so that the man who be-
longs to God may be efficient
and equipped for good work of
every kind” (2 Tim. 3:16-17,
Greek text).

12. However, since God
speaks in sacred Scripture
through men in human fashion,
the interpreter of sacred Scrip-
ture, in order to see clearly
what God wanted to communi-
cate to us, should carefully in-
vestigate what meaning the sa-
cred writers really intended,
and what God wanted to mani-
fest by means of their words.
To search out the intention of

the sacred writers, attention
should be given, among other
things, to “literary forms.” For
truth is set forth and expressed
differently in texts which are
variously historical, prophetic,
poetic, or of other forms of dis-
course. The interpreter must
investigate what meaning the
sacred writer intended to ex-
press and actually expressed in
particular circumstances by
using contemporary literary
forms in accordance with the
situation of his own time and
culture. For the correct under-
standing of what the sacred au-
thor wanted to assert, due at-
tention must be paid to the
customary and characteristic
styles of feeling, speaking and
narrating which prevailed at
the time of the sacred writer,
and to the patterns men nor-
mally employed at that period

in their everyday dealings with
one another.

But, since holy Scripture
must be read and interpreted in
the same spirit in which it was
written, no less serious atten-
tion must be given to the con-
tent and unity of the whole of
Scripture if the meaning of the
sacred texts is to be correctly
worked out. The living tradi-
tion of the whole Church must
be taken into account along
with the harmony which exists
between elements of the faith.
It is the task of exegetes to
work accojrding to these rules
toward a better understanding
and explanation of the meaning
of sacred Scripture, so that
through preparatory study the
judgment of the Church may
mature. For all of what has
been said about the way of in-
terpreting Scripture is subject
finally to the judgment of the
Church, which carries out the
divine commission and ministry
of guarding and interpreting
the word of God.

13. In sacred Scripture,
therefore, while the truth and
holiness of God always remains
intact, the marvelous “conde-
scension” of eternal wisdom is
clearly shown, “that we may
learn the gentle kindness of
God, which words cannot ex-
press, and how far He has gone
in adapting His language with
thoughtful concern for our
weak human nature.” For the
words of God, expressed in hu-

9



man language, have been made
like human discourse, just as
the word of the eternal Father,

when He took to Himself the
flesh of human weakness, was
in every way made like men.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Old Testament

14. In carefully planning
and preparing the salvation of
the whole human race the God
of infinite love, by a special
dispensation, chose for Himself
a people to whom He would en-
trust His promises. First He en-
tered into a covenant with
Abraham (see Gen. 15:18) and,
through Moses, with the people
of Israel (see Ex. 24:8). To this
people which He had acquired
for Himself, He so manifested
Himself through words and
deeds as the one true and liv-
ing God that Israel came to
know by experience the ways
of God with men. Then, too,
when God Himself spoke to
them through the mouth of the
prophets, Israel daily gained a
deeper and clearer understand-
ing of His ways and made them
more widely known among the
nations (see Ps. 21:29; 95:1-3;

Is. 2:1-5; Jer. 3:17). The plan
of salvation foretold by the sa-
cred authors, recounted and ex-
plained by them, is found as the
true word of God in the books
of the Old Testament: these
books, therefore, written under

divine inspiration, remain per-
manently valuable. “For all
that was written for our in-
struction, so that by steadfast-
ness and the encouragement of
the Scriptures we might have
hope” (Rom. 15:4).

15. The principal purpose to
which the plan of the old cove-
nant was directed was to pre-
pare for the coming of Christ,
the redeemer of all and of the
messianic kingdom, to ^nnounce
this coming by prophecy (see
Luke 24:44, John 5:39; 1 Peter
1:10), and to indicate its mean-
ing through various types (see
I Cor. 10:12). Now the books
of the Old Testament, in accord-
ance with the state of mankind
before the time of salvation es-
tablished by Christ, reveal to
all men the knowledge of God
and of man and the ways in
which God, just and merciful,
deals with men. These books,
though they also contain some
things which are incomplete
and temporary, nevertheless
show us true divine pedagogy.
These same books, then, give
expression to a lively sense of

10



God, contain a store of sublime
teachings about God, sound
wisdom about human life, and a
wonderful treasury of prayers,
and in them the mystery of our
salvation is present in a hidden
way. Christians should receive
them with reverence.

16.

God, the inspirer and
author of both Testaments,
wisely arranged that the New
Testament be hidden in the Old
and the Old be made manifest

in the New. For, though Christ
established the new covenant
in His blood (see Luke 22:20;
1 Cor. 11:25), still the books
of the Old Testament with all
their parts, caught up into the
proclamation of the Gospel, ac-
quire and show forth their full
meaning in the New Testament
(see Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:27;
Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Cor. 14:16)
and in turn shed light on it and
explain it.

CHAPTER FIVE

The New Testament

17.

The word of God, which
is the power of God for the sal-
vation of all who believe (see
Rom. 1:16), is set forth and
shows its power in a most ex-
cellent way in the writings of
the New Testament. For when
the fulness of time arrived (see
Gal. 4:4), the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us in His
fulness of graces and truth (see
John 1:14). Christ established
the kingdom of God on earth,
manifested His Father and Him-
self by deeds and words, and
completed His work by His
death, resurrection and glorious
Ascension and by the sending of
the Holy Spirit. Having been
lifted up from the earth. He

draws all men to Himself (see
John 12:32, Greek text). He
who alone has the words of
eternal life (see John 6:68).
This mystery had not been
manifested to other generations
as it was now revealed to His
holy Apostles and prophets in
the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 3:4-6,
Greek text), so that they might
preach the Gospel, stir up faith
in Jesus, Christ and Lord, and
gather together the Church. Now
the writings of the New Testa-
ment stand as a perpetual and
divine witness to these reali-

ties.

18.

It is common knowledge
that among all the Scriptures,
even those of the New Testa-

11



ment, the Gospels have a spe-
cial preeminence, and rightly
so, for they are the principal
witness for the life and teach-
ing of the incarnate Word, our
savior.

The Church has always and
everywhere held and continues
to hold that the four Gospels
are of apostolic origin. For
what the Apostles preached in
fulfillment of the commission
of Christ, afterwards they
themselves and apostolic men,
under the inspiration of the di-
vine Spirit, handed on to us in
writing: the foundation of faith,
namely, the fourfold Gospel, ac-
cording to Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John.

19. Holy Mother Church has
firmly and with absolute con-
stancy held, and continues to
hold, that the four Gospels just
named, whose historical charac-
ter the Church unhesitatingly
asserts, faithfully hand on what
Jesus Christ, while living among
men, really did and taught for
their eternal salvation until the

day He was taken up into heav-
en (see Acts 1:1). Indeed, after
the ascension of the Lord the
Apostles handed on to their
hearers what He had said and
done. This they did with that
clearer understanding which
they enjoyed after they had
been instructed by the glori-
ous events of Christ’s life and
taught by the light of the Spirit
of truth. The sacred authors
wrote the four Gospels, select-
ing some things from the many

which had been handed on by
word of mouth or in writing,
reducing some of them to a syn-
thesis, explaining some things
in view of the situation of their
churches, and preserving the
form of proclamation but al-
ways in such fashion that they
told us the honest truth about
Jesus. For their intention in
writing was that either from
their own memory and recol-
lections, or from the witness of
those who “themselves from the
beginning were eye-witnesses
and ministers of the Word” we
might know “the truth” con-
cerning those matters about
which we have been instruct-
ed (see Luke 1:2-4).

20. Besides the four Gospels,

the canon of the New Testament
also contains the epistles of St.

Paul and other apostolic writ-
ings, composed under the inspi-
ration of the Holy Spirit, by
which according to the wise
plan of God, those matters
which concern Christ the Lord
are confirmed. His true teaching

is more and more fully stated,
the saving power of the divine
work of Christ is preached, the
story is told of the beginnings

of the Church and its marvelous
growth, and its glorious fulfill-
ment is foretold.

For the Lord Jesus was with
His apostles as He had promised
(see Matt. 28:20) and sent them
the advocate Spirit who would
lead them into the fulness of
truth (see John 16:13).

12



CHAPTER SIX

Sacred Scripture

in the Life of the Church
21.

The Church has always
venerated the divine Scriptures
just as she venerates the body
of the Lord, since, especially in

the sacred liturgy, she unceas-
ingly receives and offers to
the faithful the bread of life
from the table both of God’s
word and of Christ’s body. She
has always maintained them,
and continues to do so, together
with sacred tradition, as the
supreme rule of faith, since, as
inspired by God and committed
once and for all to writing,
they impart the word of God
Himself without change, and
make the voice of the Holy Spir-
it resound in the words of the
prophets and Apostles. There-
fore, like the Christian religion

itself, all the preaching of the
Church must be nourished and
regulated by sacred Scripture.
For in the sacred books, the Fa-
ther who is in heaven meets His
children with great love and
speaks with them; and the force
and power in the word of God
is so great that it stands as the
support and energy of the
Church, the strength of faith
for her sons, the food of the
soul, the pure and everlasting
source of spiritual life. Conse-
quently these words are per-
fectly applicable to sacred

Scripture: “For the word of
God is living and active” (Heb.
4:12) and “it has power to
build you up and give you your
heritage among all those who
are sanctified” (Acts 20:32; see
I Thess. 2:13).

22. Easy access to sacred
Scripture should be provided
for all the Christian faithful.

That is why the Church from
the very beginning accepted as
her own that very ancient
Greek translation of the Old
Testament which is called the
septuagint; and she has always
given a place of honor to other
Eastern translations and Latin
ones, especially the Latin trans-
lation known as the vulgate. But
since the word of God should be
accessible at all times, the

Church by her authority and
with maternal concern sees to it
that suitable and correct trans-
lations are made into different
languages, especially from the
original texts of the sacred

books. And should the opportu-
nity arise and the Church au-
thorities approve, if these
translations are produced in co-
operation with the separated
brethren as well, all Christians
will be able to use them.

23. The bride of the incarnate
Word, the Church taught by the

13



Holy Spirit, is concerned to
move ahead toward a deeper
understanding of the sacred
Scriptures so that she may in-
creasingly feed her sons with
the divine words. Therefore, she
also encourages the study of the
holy Fathers of both East and
West and of sacred liturgies.
Catholic exegetes then and oth-
er students of sacred theolo-

gy, working diligently together
and using appropriate means,
should devote their energies,
under the watchful care of the
sacred teaching office of the
Church, to an exploration and
exposition of the divine writ-
ings. This should be so done
that as many ministers of the
divine word as possible will be
able effectively to provide the
nourishment of the Scriptures
for the people of God, to en-
lighten their minds, strengthen
their wills, and set men’s hearts
on fire with the love of God.
The sacred synod encourages
the sons of the Church and Bib-
lical scholars to continue ener-
getically, following the mind of
the Church, with the work they
have so well begun, with a con-
stant renewal of vigor.

24. Sacred theology rests on
the written word of God, to-
gether with sacred tradition, as
its primary and perpetual foun-
dation. By scrutinizing in the
light of faith all truth stored
up in the mystery of Christ,
theology is most powerfully
strengthened and constantly re-
juvenated by that word. For the

sacred Scriptures contain the
word of Gk)d and since they are
inspired really are the word of
God; and so the study of the sa-
cred page is, as it were, the soul
of sacred theology. By the same
word of Scripture the ministry
of the word also, that is, pasto-
ral preaching, catechetics and
all Christian instruction, in
which the liturgical homily
must hold the foremost place, is
nourished in a healthy way and
flourishes in a holy way.

25. Therefore, all the clergy
must hold fast to the sacred
Scriptures through diligent sa-
cred reading and careful study,
especially the priests of Christ

and others, such as deacons and
catechists who are legitimately
active in the ministry of the
word. This is to be done so that
none of them will become ‘‘an
empty preacher of the word of
God outwardly, who is not a lis-
tener to it inwardly” since
they must share the abundant
wealth of the divine word with
the faithful committed to them,
especially in the sacred liturgy.

The sacred synod also earnest-
ly and especially urges all the
Christian faithful, especially

Religious, to learn by frequent
reading of the divine Scriptures
the “excellent knowledge of Je-
sus Christ” (Phil. 3:8). “For ig-
norance of the Scriptures is ig-
norance of Christ.” Therefore,
they should gladly put them-
selves in touch with the sacred
text itself, whether it be
through the liturgy, rich in the

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divine word, or through devo-
tional reading, or through in-
structions suitable for the pur-
pose and other aids which, in
our time, with approval and ac-
tive support of the shepherds
of the Church, are commendably
spread everywhere. And let
them remember that prayer
should accompany the reading
of sacred Scripture, so that God
and man may talk together; for
“we speak to Him when we
pray; we hear Him when we
read the divine saying.”

It devolves on sacred bishops
“who have the apostolic teach-
ing” to give the faithful en-
trusted to them suitable instruc-
tion in the right use of the di-
vine books, especially the New
Testament and above all the
Gospels. This can be done
through translations of the sa-
cred texts, which are to be pro-
vided with the necessary and
really adequate explanations so
that the children of the Church
may safely and profitably be-
come conversant with the sa-

cred Scriptures and be pene-
trated with their spirit.
Furthermore, editions of the

sacred Scriptures, provided
with suitable footnotes, should
be prepared also for the use of
non-Christians and adapted to
their situation. Both pastors of
souls and Christians generally
should see to the wise distribu-
tion of these in one way or an-
other.

26. In this way, therefore,
through the reading and study
of the sacred books “the word
of God may spread rapidly and
be glorified” (2 Thess. 3:1) and
the treasure of revelation, en-
trusted to the Church, may
more and more fill the hearts
of men. Just as the life of the
Church is strengthened through
more frequent celebration of
the Eucharistic mystery, simi-
larly we may hope for a new
stimulus for the life of the Spir-

it from a growing reverence for
the word of God, which “lasts
forever” (Is. 40:8; see I Peter

1:23-25).

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