Encyclical letter of Pope Pius XII on promotion of Biblical studies / English translation provided b


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DIVINO AFFLANTE SPIRITU

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
OF

POPE PIUS XII
ON

PROMOTION OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

English Translation Provided

by the Vatican

National Catholic Welfare Conference

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington 5, D. C.



Press of

RANSDELL INC.
Washington, D. C.



ENCYCLICAL LETTER
OF HIS HOLINESS

PIUS XII

BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE

POPE

TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN
PATRIARCHS PRIMATES ARCHBISHOPS BISHOPS

AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES
ENJOYING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE

ON THE MOST OPPORTUNE WAY TO PROMOTE

BIBLICAL STUDIES

VENERABLE BRETHREN
Health and Apostolic Benediction

INTRODUCTION

1. Inspired by the Divine Spirit, the Sacred Writers composed those
books, which God, in His paternal charity towards the human race,
deigned to bestow on them in order “to teach, to reprove, to correct, to
instruct in justice : that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every
good work.” 1 This heaven-sent treasure Holy Church considers as the
most precious source of doctrine on faith and morals. No wonder there-
fore that, as she received it intact from the hands of the Apostles, so she
kept it with all care, defended it from every false and perverse interpreta-
tion and used it diligently as an instrument for securing the eternal

II Tim. Ill, 16 f.

3



salvation of souls, as almost countless documents in every age strikingly
bear witness. In more recent times, however, since the divine origin and
the correct interpretation of the Sacred Writings have been very specially
called in question, the Church has with even greater zeal and care under-
taken their defence and protection. The sacred Council of Trent ordained
by solemn decree that “the entire books with all their parts, as they have
been wont to be read in the Catholic Church and are contained in the old
vulgate Latin edition, are to be held sacred and canonical.” 2 In our own
time the Vatican Council, with the object of condemning false doctrines
regarding inspiration, declared that these same books were to be regarded
by the Church as sacred and canonical “not because, having been com-
posed by human industry, they were afterwards approved by her author-
ity, nor merely because they contain revelation without error, but because,
having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they
have God for their author, and as such were handed down to the Church
herself.” 3 When, subsequently, some Catholic writers, in spite of this
solemn definition of Catholic doctrine, by which such divine authority
is claimed for the “entire books with all their parts” as to secure freedom
from any error whatsoever, ventured to restrict the truth of Sacred Scrip-
ture solely to matters of faith and morals, and to regard other matters,
whether in the domain of physical science or history, as “obiter dicta”
and—as they contended—in no wise connected with faith, Our Prede-
cessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII in the Encyclical Letter Provi-
dentissimus Deus, published on November 18th in the year 1893, justly
and rightly condemned these errors and safe-guarded the studies of the
Divine Books by most wise precepts and rules.

2. Since then it is fitting that We should commemorate the fiftieth
anniversary of the publication of this Encyclical Letter, which is con-
sidered the supreme guide in biblical studies, We, moved by that solicitude
for sacred studies, which We manifested from the very beginning of Our
Pontificate,

4 have considered that this may most opportunely be done by
ratifying and inculcating all that was wisely laid down by Our Prede-
cessor and ordained by His Successors for the consolidating and perfect-
ing of the work, and by pointing out what seems necessary in the present
day, in order to incite ever more earnestly all those sons of the Church
who devote themselves to these studies, to so necessary and so praise-
worthy an enterprise.

2
Sessio IV, deer. 1 ; Ench. Bibl. n. 45.

3
Sessio III, Cap. 2; Ench. Bibl. n. 62.

4 Address to the Ecclesiastical students in Rome (June 24, 1939) ; Acta A{k
Sedis XXXI (1939), p. 245-251.

4



I

HISTORICAL PART

WORK OF LEO XIII AND OF HIS SUCCESSORS
IN FAVOR OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

§
1—Work of Leo XIII

3. The first and greatest care of Leo XIII was to set forth the teach-
ing on the truth of the Sacred Books and to defend it from attack. Hence
with grave words did he proclaim that there is no error whatsoever if the
sacred writer, speaking of things of the physical order “went by what
sensibly appeared” as the Angelic Doctor says,5 speaking either “in
figurative language, or in terms which were commonly used at the time,
and which in many instances are in daily use at this day, even among the
most eminent men of science.” For “the sacred writers, or to speak more
accurately—the words are St. Augustine’s

—

6 the Holy Ghost, Who
spoke by them, did not intend to teach men these things—that is the
essential nature of the things of the universe—things in no way profitable
to salvation

:” 7 which principle “will apply to cognate sciences, and
especially to history,” that is, by refuting, “in a somewhat similar way
the fallacies of the adversaries and defending the historical truth of Sacred
Scripture from their attacks.” 8 Nor is the sacred writer to be taxed with
error, if “copyists have made mistakes in the text of the Bible,” or, “if the
real meaning of a passage remains ambiguous.” Finally it is absolutely
wrong and forbidden “either to narrow inspiration to certain passages of
Holy Scripture, or to admit that the sacred writer has erred,” since
divine inspiration “not only is essentially incompatible with error but

excludes and rejects it as absolutely and necessarily as it is impossible
that God Himself, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true.
This is the ancient and constant faith of the Church.” 9

4. This teaching, which Our Predecessor Leo XIII set forth with
such solemnity, We also proclaim with Our authority and We urge all to
adhere to it religiously. No less earnestly do We inculcate obedience at
the present day to the counsels and exhortations which he, in his day, so

6
Cf. P, q. 70, art. I ad 3.

* De Gen. ad litt. 2, 9, 20; PL. XXXIV, col. 270 s.; CSEL. XXVIII (Sectio
III, pars. 2), p. 46.

7 Leonis XIII Acta XIII, p. 355 ; Ench. Bibl. n. 106.
0
Cf. Benedictus XV, Enc. Spiritus Paraclitus, Acta Ap. Sedis XII (1920),

p. 396; Ench. Bibl. n. 471.
"Leonis XIII Acta XIII, p. 357 sq.

;
Ench. Bibl. n. 109 sq.

5



wisely enjoined. For whereas there arose new and serious difficulties
and questions, from the wide-spread prejudices of rationalism and more
especially from the discovery and investigation of the antiquities of the
East, this same Our Predecessor, moved by zeal of the apostolic office,
not only that such an excellent source of Catholic revelation might be
more securely and abundantly available to the advantage of the Christian
flock, but also that he might not suffer it to be in any way tainted, wished
and most earnestly desired “to see an increase in the number of the
approved and persevering laborers in the cause of Holy Scripture

;
and

more especially that those whom Divine Grace has called to Holy Orders,
should day-by-day, as their state demands, display greater diligence and
industry in reading, meditating and explaining it.” 10

Impulse given to biblical studies

5. Wherefore the same Pontiff, as he had already praised and ap-
proved the school for biblical studies, founded at St. Stephen’s, Jerusalem,
by the Master General of the Sacred Order of Preachers—from which,
to use his own words, “biblical science itself had received no small ad-
vantage, while giving promise of more” 11—so in the last year of his life
he provided yet another way, by which these same studies, so warmly
commended in the Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Deus, might daily
make greater progress and be pursued with the greatest possible security.
By the Apostolic Letter Vigilantiae, published on October 30 in the year
1902, he founded a Council or Commission, as it is called, of eminent
men, “whose duty it would be to procure by every means that the sacred
texts may receive everywhere among us that more thorough exposition
which the times demand, and be kept safe not only from every breath of
error, but also from all inconsiderate opinions.” 12 Following the example
of Our Predecessors, We also have effectively confirmed and amplified
this Council using its good offices, as often before, to remind commen-
tators of the Sacred Books of those safe rules of Catholic exegesis, which
have been handed down by the Holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church,
as well as by the Sovereign Pontiffs themselves.18

10 Leonis XIII Acta XIII, p. 328; Ench . Bibl. n. 67 sq.
11
Apostolic Letter Hierosolymae in coenobio, Sept. 17, 1892 ; Leonis XIII Acta

XII, pp. 239-241 ; v. p. 240.
u

Cf. Leonis XIII Acta XXII, p. 232 ss.
;
Ench. Bibl. n. 130-141

;
v. nn. 130,

132.
13
Letter of the Pontifical Biblical Commission to their Excellencies the Arch-

bishops and Bishops of Italy, Aug. 20, 1941; Acta Ap. Sedis XXXIII (1941),
pp. 465-472.

6



§
2

—

Work of the Successors of Leo XIII
6. It may not be out of place here to recall gratefully the principal

and more useful contributions made successively by Our Predecessors
towards this same end, which contributions may be considered as the
complement or fruit of the movement so happily initiated by Leo XIII.
And first of all Pius X, wishing “to provide a sure way for the prepara-
tion of a copious supply of teachers, who, commended by the seriousness
and the integrity of their doctrine, might explain the Sacred Books in
Catholic schools ...” instituted “the academic degrees of licentiate and
doctorate in Sacred Scripture . .

.

;

to be conferred by the Biblical Commis-
mission”

;

14 he later enacted a law “concerning the method of Scripture
studies to be followed in Clerical Seminaries” with this end in view viz

:

that students of the sacred sciences “not only should themselves fully

understand the power, purpose and teaching of the Bible, but should also
be equipped to engage in the ministry of the Divine Word with elegance
and ability and repel attacks against the divinely inspired books”

;

15

finally “in order that a center of higher biblical studies might be estab-
lished in Rome, which in the best way possible might promote the study
of the Bible and all cognate sciences in accordance with the mind of the
Catholic Church” he founded the Pontifical Biblical Institute, entrusted
to the care of the illustrious Society of Jesus, which he wished endowed
“with a superior professorial staff and every facility for biblical research”

;

he prescribed its laws and rules, professing to follow in this the “salutary
and fruitful project” of Leo XIII.16

Pius XI : Academic degrees prescribed

7. All this in fine Our immediate Predecessor of happy memory
Pius XI brought to perfection, laying down among other things “that no
one should be appointed professor of Sacred Scripture in any Seminary,
unless, having completed a special course of biblical studies, he had in
due form obtained the academic degrees before the Biblical Commission
or the Biblical Institute.” He wished that these degrees should have
the same rights and the same effects as the degrees duly conferred in
Sacred Theology or Canon Law

;
likewise he decreed that no one should

receive “a. benefice having attached the canonical obligation of expound-

14 Apostolic Letter Scripturae Sanctae, Feb. 23, 1904; Pii X Acta I, pp. 176-179;
Ench. Bibl. nn. 142-150; v. nn. 143-144.

15
Cf. Apostolic Letter Quoniam in re biblica, March 27, 1906; Pii X Acta III,

pp. 72-76; Ench. Bibl. nn. 155-173; v. n. 155.
16
Apostolic Letter Vinea electa, May 7, 1909; Acta Ap. Sedis I (1909), pp.

447-449
;
Ench. Bibl. nn. 293-306

;
v. nn. 296 et 294.

7



ing the Sacred Scripture to the people, unless, among other things, he
had obtained the licentiate or doctorate in biblical science.” And having
at the same time urged the Superiors General of the Regular Orders and
of the religious Congregations, as well as the Bishops of the Catholic

world, to send the more suitable of their students to frequent the schools
of the Biblical Institute and obtain there the academical degrees, he con-
firmed these exhortations by his own example, appointing out of his
bounty an annual sum for this very purpose.17

8. Seeing that, in the year 1907, with the benign approval of Pius X
of happy memory, “to the Benedictine monks had been committed the
task of preparing the investigations and studies on which might be based
a new edition of the Latin version of the Scriptures, commonly called the
Vulgate,18 the same Pontiff, Pius XI, wishing to consolidate more firmly
and securely this “laborious and arduous enterprise,” which demands
considerable time and great expense, founded in Rome and lavishly en-
dowed with a library and other means of research, the monastery of St.
Jerome, to be devoted exclusively to this work.

19

§
3—Solicitude of Sovereign Pontiffs

9. Nor should We fail to mention here how earnestly these same
Our Predecessors, when the opportunity occurred, recommended the
study or preaching or in fine the pious reading and meditation of the

Sacred Scriptures. Pius X most heartily commended the society of St.
Jerome, which strives to promote among the faithful—and to facilitate
with all its power—the truly praise-worthy custom of reading and medi-
tating on the holy Gospels ; he exhorted them to persevere in the enter-

prise they had begun, proclaiming it “a most useful undertaking, as well

as most suited to the times,” seeing that it helps in no small way “to
dissipate the idea that the Church is opposed to or in any way impedes
the reading of the Scriptures in the vernacular.”

20 And Benedict XV,
on the occasion of the fifteenth centenary of the death of St. Jerome, the

greatest Doctor of the Sacred Scriptures, after having most solemnly

inculcated the precepts and examples of the same Doctor, as well as the

principles and rules laid down by Leo XIII and by himself, and having

17
Cf. Motu proprio Bibliorum scientiam, April 27, 1924; Acta Ap. Sedis XVI

(1924), pp. 180-182; Ench. Bibl. nn. 518-525.
“ Letter to the Most Rev. Abbot Aidan Gasquet, Dec. 3, 1907 ; Pn X Acta IV,

pp. 117-119; Ench. Bibl. n. 285 sq.
18 Apostolic Constitution Inter praecipuas, June 15, 1933; Acta Ap. Sedis XXVI

Letter to the Most Eminent Cardinal Cassetta Qui piam, Jan. 21, 1907 ; Pn X
Acta IV, pp. 23-25.

8



recommended other things highly opportune and never to be forgotten
in this connection, exhorted “all the children of the Church, especially

clerics, to reverence the Holy Scripture, to read it piously and meditate
it constantly”

;
he reminded them “that in these pages is to be sought that

food, by which the spiritual life is nourished unto perfection,” and “that
the chief use of Scripture pertains to the holy and fruitful exercise of the
ministry of preaching” ; he likewise once again expressed his warm
approval of the work of the society called after St. Jerome himself, by
means of which the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are being so
widely diffused, “that there is no Christian family any more without
them and that all are accustomed to read and meditate them daily.” 21

§
4—Fruits of Manifold Initiative

10. But it is right and pleasing to confess openly that it is not only
by reason of these initiatives, precepts and exhortations of Our Prede-
cessors that the knowledge and use of the Sacred Scriptures have made
great progress among Catholics; for this is also due to the works and
labors of all those who diligently cooperated with them, both by medi-
tating, investigating and writing, as well as by teaching and preaching
and by translating and propagating the Sacred Books. For from the
schools in which are fostered higher studies in theological and biblical
science, and especially from Our Pontifical Biblical Institute, there have
already come forth, and daily continue to come forth, many students of
Holy Scripture who, inspired with an intense love for the Sacred Books,
imbue the younger clergy with this same ardent zeal and assidiously
impart to them the doctrine they themselves have acquired. Many of
them also, by the written word, have promoted and do still promote, far
and wide, the study of the Bible

;
as when they edit the sacred text cor-

rected in accordance with the rules of textual criticism or expound, ex-
plain, and translate it into the vernacular; or when they propose it to
the faithful for their pious reading and meditation

;
or finally when they

cultivate and seek the aid of profane sciences which are useful for the
interpretation of the Scriptures. From these therefore and from other
initiatives which daily become more wide-spread and vigorous, as, for
example, biblical societies, congresses, libraries, associations for medita-
tion on the Gospels, We firmly hope that in the future reverence for, as
well as the use and knowledge of, the Sacred Scriptures will everywhere
more and more increase for the good of souls, provided the method of
biblical studies laid down by Leo XIII, explained more clearly and

21 Encyclical Letter Spiritus Paraclitus, Sept. 15, 1920; Acta Ap. Sedis XII
(1920), pp. 385-422; Ench. Bibl. nn. 457-508; v. nn. 457, 495, 497, 491.

9



perfectly by his Successors, and by Us confirmed and amplified—which
indeed is the only safe way and proved by experience—be more firmly,
eagerly and faithfully accepted by all, regardless of the difficulties which,
as in all human affairs, so in this most excellent work will never be
wanting.

II

DOCTRINAL PART
BIBLICAL STUDIES AT THE PRESENT DAY

11. There is no one who cannot easily perceive that the conditions
of biblical studies and their subsidiary sciences have greatly changed
within the last fifty years. For, apart from anything else, when Our
Predecessor published the Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Deus,
hardly a single place in Palestine had begun to be explored by means of
relevant excavations. Now, however, this kind of investigation is much
more frequent and, since more precise methods and technical skill have
been developed in the course of actual experience, it gives us information

at once more abundant and more accurate. How much light has been
derived from these explorations for the more correct and fuller under-
standing of the Sacred Books all experts know, as well as all those who
devote themselves to these studies. The value of these excavations is
enhanced by the discovery from time to time of written documents, which
help much towards the knowledge of the languages, letters, events,
customs, and forms of worship of most ancient times. And of no less
importance is the discovery and investigation, so frequent in our times,
of papyri which have contributed so much to the knowledge of letters
and institutions, both public and private, especially of the time of Our
Saviour.

12. Moreover ancient codices of the Sacred Books have been found
and edited with discerning thoroughness ; the exegesis of the Fathers of
the Church has been more widely and thoroughly examined ; in fine the
manner of speaking, relating and writing in use among the ancients is
made clear by innumerable examples. All these advantages which, not
without a special design of Divine Providence, our age has acquired, are

as it were an invitation and inducement to interpreters of the Sacred
Literature to make diligent use of this light, so abundantly given, to
penetrate more deeply, explain more clearly and expound more lucidly
the Divine Oracles. If, with the greatest satisfaction of mind, We per-
ceive that these same interpreters have resolutely answered and still con-
tinue to answer this call, this is certainly not the last or least of the

10



fruits of the Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Dcus, by which Our
Predecessor Leo XIII, foreseeing as it were this new development of
biblical studies, summoned Catholic exegetes to labor and wisely defined
the direction and the method to be followed in that labor.

13. We also, by this Encyclical Letter, desire to insure that the work
may not only proceed without interruption, but may also daily become
more perfect and fruitful; and to that end We are specially intent on
pointing out to all what yet remains to be done, with what spirit the
Catholic exegete should undertake, at the present day, so great and

noble a work, and to give new incentive and fresh courage to the laborers
who toil so strenuously in the vineyard of the Lord.

§
1—Recourse to Original Texts

14. The Fathers of the Church in their time, especially Augustine,
warmly recommended to the Catholic scholar, who undertook the investi-
gation and explanation of the Sacred Scriptures, the study of the ancient
languages and recourse to the original texts.22 However, such was the
state of letters in those times, that not many,—and these few but imper-
fectly—knew the Hebrew language. In the middle ages, when Scholastic
Theology was at the height of its vigor, the knowledge of even the Greek
language had long since become so rare in the West, that even the
greatest Doctors of that time, in their exposition of the Sacred Text, had
recourse only to the Latin version, known as the Vulgate.

15. On the contrary in this our time, not only the Greek language,
which since the humanistic renaissance has been, as it were, restored to
new life, is familiar to almost all students of antiquity and letters, but
the knowledge of Hebrew also and of other oriental languages has spread
far and wide among literary men. Moreover there are now such abun-
dant aids to the study of these languages that the biblical scholar, who
by neglecting them would deprive himself of access to the original texts,
could in no wise escape the stigma of levity and sloth. For it is the duty
of the exegete to lay hold, so to speak, with the greatest care and rever-
ence of the very least expressions which, under the inspiration of the
Divine Spirit, have flowed from the pen of the sacred writer, so as to
arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of his meaning.

16. Wherefore let him diligently apply himself so as to acquire
daily a greater facility in biblical as well as in other oriental languages
and to support his interpretation by the aids which all branches of phil-
ology supply. This indeed St. Jerome strove earnestly to achieve, as

22
Cf. ex. gr. St. Jerome, Praef. in IV Evang. ad Damasum; PL. XXIX, cob

526-527; St. Augustine, De Doctr. christ. II, 16; PL. XXXIV, col. 42-43.

11



far as the science of his time permitted
;
to this also aspired with untiring

zeal and no small fruit not a few of the great exegetes of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, although the knowledge of languages then was
much less than at the present day. In like manner therefore ought we
to explain the original text which, having been written by the inspired
author himself, has more authority and greater weight than any even the
very best translation, whether ancient or modern; this can be done all
the more easily and fruitfully, if to the knowledge of languages be joined
a real skill in literary criticism of the same text.

Importance oj textual criticism

17. The great importance which should be attached to this kind of
criticism was aptly pointed out by Augustine, when, among the precepts
to be recommended to the student of the Sacred Books, he put in the first
place the care to possess a corrected text. “The correction of the codices”
—so says this most distinguished Doctor of the Church—“should first
of all engage the attention of those who wish to know the Divine Scrip-
ture so that the uncorrected may give place to the corrected.” 23 In the
present day indeed this art, which is called textual criticism and which is
used with great and praiseworthy results in the editions of profane
writings, is also quite rightly employed in the case of the Sacred Books,
because of that very reverence which is due to the Divine Oracles. For
its very purpose is to insure that the sacred text be restored, as perfectly

as possible, be purified from the corruptions due to the carelessness of the
copyists and be freed, as far as may be done, from glosses and omissions,
from the interchange and repetition of words and from all other kinds of
mistakes, which are wont to make their way gradually into writings
handed down through many centuries.

18. It is scarcely necessary to observe that this criticism, which
some fifty years ago not a few made use of quite arbitrarily and often
in such wise that one would say they did so to introduce into the sacred
text their own preconceived ideas, today has rules so firmly established
and secure, that it has become a most valuable aid to the purer and more
accurate editing of the sacred text and that any abuse can easily be dis-
covered. Nor is it necessary here to call to mind—since it is doubtless
familiar and evident to all students of Sacred Scripture—to what extent
namely the Church has held in honor these studies in textual criticism
from the earliest centuries down even to the present day.

19. Today therefore, since this branch of science has attained to such

28 De doctr. christ. II, 21 ; PL. XXXIV, col. 40.

12



high perfection, it is the honorable, though not always easy, task of
students of the Bible to procure by every means that as soon as possible
may be duly published by Catholics editions of the Sacred Books and
of ancient versions, brought out in accordance with these standards, which,

that is to say, unite the greatest reverence for the sacred text with an
exact observance of all the rules of criticism. And let all know that this
prolonged labor is not only necessary for the right understanding of

the divinely-given writings, but also is urgently demanded by that piety
by which it behooves us to be grateful to the God of all providence, Who
from the throne of His majesty has sent these books as so many paternal
letters to His own children.

Meaning of Tridentine decree
20. Nor should anyone think that this use of the original texts, in

accordance with the methods of criticism, in any way derogates from
those decrees so wisely enacted by the Council of Trent concerning the
Latin Vulgate.24 It is historically certain that the Presidents of the

Council received a commission, which they duly carried out, to beg, that
is, the Sovereign Pontiff in the name of the Council that he should have
corrected, as far as possible, first a Latin, and then a Greek, and Hebrew
edition, which eventually would be published for the benefit of the Holy
Church of God.25 If this desire could not then be fully realized owing to
the difficulties of the times and other obstacles, at present it can, We
earnestly hope, be more perfectly and entirely fulfilled by the united
efforts of Catholic scholars.

21. And if the Tridentine Synod wished “that all should use as
authentic” the Vulgate Latin version, this, as all know, applies only to
the Latin Church and to the public use of the same Scriptures

;
nor does

it, doubtless, in any way diminish the authority and value of the original
texts. For there was no question then of these texts, but of the Latin
versions, which were in circulation at that time, and of these the same
Council rightly declared to be preferable that which “had been approved
by its long-continued use for so many centuries in the Church.” Hence
this special authority or as they say, authenticity of the Vulgate was not
affirmed by the Council particularly for critical reasons, but rather
because of its legitimate use in the Churches throughout so many cen-
turies

;
by which use indeed the same is shown, in the sense in which the

Church has understood and understands it, to be free from any error

24
Deer, de editione et usu Sacrorum Librorum; Cone. Trid. ed. Soc. Goerres,

t. V, p. 91 s.
26

lb., t. X, p. 471 ; cf. t. V, pp. 29, 59, 65 ; t. X, p. 446 sq.

13



whatsoever in matters of faith and morals
;
so that, as the Church herself

testifies and affirms, it may be quoted safely and without fear of error
in disputations, in lectures and in preaching; and so its authenticity is
not specified primarily as critical, but rather as juridical.

22. Wherefore this authority of the Vulgate in matters of doctrine
by no means prevents—nay rather today it almost demands—either the
corroboration and confirmation of this same doctrine by the original
texts or the having recourse on any and every occasion to the aid of
these same texts, by which the correct meaning of the Sacred Letters
is everywhere daily made more clear and evident. Nor is it forbidden
by the decree of the Council of Trent to make translations into the vulgar
tongue, even directly from the original texts themselves, for the use and
benefit of the faithful and for the better understanding of the divine word,
as We know to have been already done in a laudable manner in many
countries with the approval of the Ecclesiastical authority.

§
2

—

Interpretation of Sacred Books

23. Being thoroughly prepared by the knowledge of the ancient
languages and by the aids afforded by the art of criticism, let the Catholic
exegete undertake the task, of all those imposed on him the greatest,
that namely of discovering and expounding the genuine meaning of the
Sacred Books. In the performance of this task let the interpreters bear

in mind that their foremost and greatest endeavor should be to discern
and define clearly that sense of the biblical words which is called literal.
Aided by the context and by comparison with similar passages, let them
therefore by means of their knowledge of languages search out with all
diligence the literal meaning of the words; all these helps indeed are
wont to be pressed into service in the explanation also of profane writers,
so that the mind of the author may be made abundantly clear.

24. The commentators of the Sacred Letters, mindful of the fact that
here there is question of a divinely inspired text, the care and interpreta-
tion of which have been confided to the Church by God Himself, should
no less diligently take into account the explanations and declarations of
the teaching authority of the Church, as likewise the interpretation given

by the Holy Fathers, and even “the analogy of faith” as Leo XIII most
wisely observed in the Encyclical Letter Providentissimus Deus.2Q With
special zeal should they apply themselves, not only to expounding exclu-
sively these matters which belong to the historical, archeological, philo-
logical and other auxiliary sciences—as, to Our regret, is done in certain

26 Leonis XIII Acta XIII, pp. 345-346; Ench. Bibl. n. 94-96.

14



commentaries,—but, having duly referred to these, in so far as they may
aid the exegesis, they should set forth in particular the theological

doctrine in faith and morals of the individual books or texts so that their
exposition may not only aid die professors of theology in their explana-
tions and proofs of the dogmas of faith, but may also be of assistance
to priests in their presentation of Christian doctrine to the people, and
in fine may help all the faithful to lead a life that is holy and worthy of
a Christian.

Right use of spiritual sense

25. By making such an exposition, which is above all, as We have
said, theological, they will efficaciously reduce to silence those who,
affirming that they scarcely ever find anything in biblical commentaries
to raise their hearts to God, to nourish their souls or promote their
interior life, repeatedly urge that we should have recourse to a certain
spiritual and, as they say, mystical interpretation. With what little
reason they thus speak is shown by the experience of many, who, assidu-
ously considering and meditating the word of God, advanced in perfection
and were moved to an intense love for God

;
and this same truth is clearly

proved by the constant tradition of the Church and the precepts of the
greatest Doctors. Doubtless all spiritual sense is not excluded from the
Sacred Scripture.

26. For what was said and done in the Old Testament was ordained
and disposed by God with such consummate wisdom, that things past pre-
figured in a spiritual way those that were to come under the new dispen-
sation of grace. Wherefore the exegete, just as he must search out and
expound the literal meaning of the words, intended and expressed by the
sacred writer, so also must he do likewise for the spiritual sense, pro-
vided it is clearly intended by God. For God alone could have known
this spiritual meaning and have revealed it to us. Now Our Divine
Saviour Himself points out to us and teaches us this same sense in the
Holy Gospel

;
the Apostles also, following the example of the Master,

profess it in their spoken and written words
;
the unchanging tradition

of the Church approves it
;
finally the most ancient usage of the liturgy

proclaims it, wherever may be rightly applied the well-known principle :
“The rule of prayer is the rule of faith.”

27. Let Catholic exegetes then disclose and expound this spiritual
significance, intended and ordained by God, with that care which the
dignity of the divine word demands; but let them scrupulously refrain
from proposing as the genuine meaning of Sacred Scripture other figu-
rative senses. It may indeed be useful, especially in preaching, to illus-

15



trate and present the matters of faith and morals by a broader use of the
Sacred Text in the figurative sense, provided this be done with modera-
tion and restraint; it should, however, never be forgotten that this use
of the Sacred Scripture is, as it were, extrinsic to it and accidental, and
that, especially in these days, it is not free from danger, since the faithful,
in particular those who are well-informed in the sciences sacred and
profane, wish to know what God has told us in the Sacred Letters rather
than what an ingenious orator or writer may suggest by a clever use of
the words of Scripture. Nor does “the word of God, living and effectual
and more piercing than any two-edged sword and reaching unto the
division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” 27 need artificial
devices and human adaptation to move and impress souls

;
for the Sacred

Pages, written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, are of them-
selves rich in original meaning

;
endowed with a divine power, they have

their own value
;
adorned with heavenly beauty, they radiate of themselves

light and splendor, provided they are so fully and accurately explained
by the interpreter, that all the treasures of wisdom and prudence, therein
contained, are brought to light.

Study of Holy Fathers

28. In the accomplishment of this task the Catholic exegete will find
invaluable help in an assiduous study of those works, in which the Holy
Fathers, the Doctors of the Church and the renowned interpreters of past
ages have explained the Sacred Books. For, although sometimes less
instructed in profane learning and in the knowledge of languages than
the scripture scholars of our time, nevertheless by reason of the office
assigned to them by God in the Church, they are distinguished by a
certain subtle insight into heavenly things and by a marvellous keenness
of intellect, which enables them to penetrate to the very innermost mean-
ing of the divine word and bring to light all that can help to elucidate
the teaching of Christ and promote holiness of life.

29. It is indeed regrettable that such precious treasures of Christian

antiquity are almost unknown to many writers of the present day, and
that students of the history of exegesis have not yet accomplished all
that seems necessary for the due investigation and appreciation of so
momentous a subject. Would that many, by seeking out the authors
of the Catholic interpretation of Scripture and diligently studying their
works and drawing thence the almost inexhaustible riches therein stored

87 Hebr. IV, 12.

16



up, might contribute largely to this end, so that it might be daily more
apparent to what extent those authors understood and made known the
divine teaching of the Sacred Books, and that the interpreters of today
might thence take example and seek suitable arguments.

30. For thus at long last will be brought about the happy and
fruitful union between the doctrine and spiritual sweetness of expression
of the ancient authors and the greater erudition and maturer knowledge
of the modern, having as its result new progress in the never fully
explored and inexhaustible field of the Divine Letters.

§
3—Special Tasks of Interpreters

31. Moreover we may rightly and deservedly hope that our times
also can contribute something towards the deeper and more accurate
interpretation of Sacred Scripture. For not a few things, especially in
matters pertaining to history, were scarcely at all or not fully explained
by the commentators of past ages, since they lacked almost all the infor-
mation, which was needed for their clearer exposition. How difficult
for the Fathers themselves, and indeed well nigh unintelligible, were
certain passages is shown, among other things, by the oft-repeated efforts
of many of them to explain the first chapters of Genesis

;
likewise by the

reiterated attempts of St. Jerome so to translate the Psalms that the
literal sense, that, namely, which is expressed by the words themselves,
might be clearly revealed.

32. There are, in fine, other books or texts, which contain difficulties
brought to light only in quite recent times, since a more profound knowl-
edge of antiquity has given rise to new questions, on the basis of which
the point at issue may be more appropriately examined. Quite wrongly
therefore do some pretend, not rightly understanding the conditions of
biblical study, that nothing remains to be added by the Catholic exegete
of our time to what Christian antiquity has produced

;
since, on the con-

trary, these our times have brought to light so many things, which call
for a fresh investigation and a new examination, and which stimulate
not a little the practical zeal of the present-day interpreter.

Character of sacred writer

33. As in our age indeed new questions and new difficulties are
multiplied, so, by God’s favor, new means and aids to exegesis are also
provided. Among these it is worthy of special mention that Catholic
theologians, following the teaching of the Holy Fathers and especially of
the Angelic and Common Doctor, have examined and explained the
nature and effects of biblical inspiration more exactly and more fully

17



than was wont to be done in previous ages. For having begun by ex-
pounding minutely the principle that the inspired writer, in composing
the sacred book, is the living and reasonable instrument of the
Holy Spirit, they rightly observe that, impelled by the divine motion,
he so uses his faculties and powers, that from the book composed by him
all may easily infer “the special character of each one and, as it were,
his personal traits.” 28 Let the interpreter then, with all care and with-
out neglecting any light derived from recent research, endeavor to deter-
mine the peculiar character and circumstances of the sacred writer, the
age in which he lived, the sources written or oral to which he had
recourse and the forms of expression he employed.

34. Thus can he the better understand who was the inspired author,
and what he wishes to express by his writings. There is no one indeed
but knows that the supreme rule of interpretation is to discover and
define what the writer intended to express, as St. Athanasius excellently
observes : “Here, as indeed is expedient in all other passages of Sacred
Scripture, it should be noted, on what occasion the Apostle spoke; we
should carefully and faithfully observe to whom and why he wrote, lest,
being ignorant of these points, or confounding one with another, we miss
the real meaning of the author.” 29

Importance of mode of writing

35. What is the literal sense of a passage is not always as obvious
in the speeches and writings of the ancient authors of the East, as it is
in the works of the writers of our own time. For what they wished to
express is not to be determined by the rules of grammar and philology
alone, nor solely by the context; the interpreter must, as it were, go
back wholly in spirit to those remote centuries of the East and with
the aid of history, archaeology, enthnology and other sciences, accurately
determine what modes of writing, so to speak, the authors of that ancient
period would be likely to use, and in fact did use.

36. For the ancient peoples of the East, in order to express their
ideas, did not always employ those forms or kinds of speech, which we
use today

;
but rather those used by the men of their times and countries.

What those exactly were the commentator cannot determine as it were
in advance, but only after a careful examination of the ancient literature

of the East. The investigation, carried out, on this point, during the past

28
Cf. Benedict XV, Encyclical Spiritus Paraclitus; Acta Ap. Sedis XII (1920),

p. 390; Ench. Bibl. n. 461.
20 Contra Arianos I, 54; PG. XXVI, col. 123.

18



forty or fifty years with greater care and diligence than ever before, has
more clearly shown what forms of expression were used in those far off
times, whether in poetic description or in the formulation of laws and
and rules of life or in recording the facts and events of history. The
same inquiry has also clearly shown the special preeminence of the
people of Israel among all the other ancient nations of the East in their
mode of compiling history, both by reason of its antiquity and by reason
of the faithful record of the events

;
qualities which may well be attributed

to the gift of divine inspiration and to the peculiar religious purpose of
biblical history.

37. Nevertheless no one, who has a correct idea of biblical inspira-
tion, will be surprised to find, even in the Sacred Writers, as in other

ancient authors, certain fixed ways of expounding and narrating, certain
definite idioms, especially of a kind peculiar to the Semitic tongues, so-
called approximations, and certain hyperbolical modes of expression, nay,
at times, even paradoxical, which help to impress the ideas more deeply
on the mind. For of the modes of expression which, among ancient
peoples, and especially those of the East, human language used to express
its thought, none is excluded from the Sacred Books, provided the way
of speaking adopted in no wise contradicts the holiness and truth of God,
as, with his customary wisdom, the Angelic Doctor already observed in
these words : “In Scripture divine things are presented to us in the
manner which is in common use amongst men. ,, 30 For as the substantial
Word of God became like to men in all things, “except sin,” 31 so the
words of God, expressed in human language, are made like to human
speech in every respect, except error. In this consists that “condescen-

sion” of the God of providence, which St. John Chrysostom extolled
with the highest praise and repeatedly declared to be found in the Sacred
Books.32

38. Hence the Catholic commentator, in order to comply with the
present needs of biblical studies, in explaining the Sacred Scripture and
in demonstrating and proving its immunity from all error, should also
make a prudent use of this means, determine, that is, to what extent the
manner of expression or the literary mode adopted by the sacred writer
may lead to a correct and genuine interpretation

;
and let him be con-

vinced that this part of his office cannot be neglected without serious

detriment to Catholic exegesis. Not infrequently—to mention only one
30 Comment ad Hebr. cap. I, lectio 4.
81 Hebr. IV, 15.
32

Cf. v. gr. In Gen

.

I, 4 (PG. LIII, col. 34-35) ; In Gen. II, 21 (ib. col. 121) ;
In Gen. Ill, 8 (ib. col. 135) ; Horn. 15 in Joan., ad. I, 18 (PG. LIX, col. 97 sq.).

19



instance—when some persons reproachfully charge the Sacred Writers
with some historical error or inaccuracy in the recording of facts, on
closer examination it turns out to be nothing else than those customary
modes of expression and narration peculiar to the ancients, which used to
be employed in the mutual dealings of social life and which in fact were
sanctioned by common usage.

39. When then such- modes of expression are met with in the
sacred text, which, being meant for men, is couched in human language,
justice demands that they be no more taxed with error than when they
occur in the ordinary intercourse of daily life. By this knowledge and
exact appreciation of the modes of speaking and writing in use among
the ancients can be solved many difficulties, which are raised against the
veracity and historical value of the Divine Scriptures, and no less effica-
ciously does this study contribute to a fuller and more luminous under-
standing of the mind of the Sacred Writer.

Studies of biblical antiquities

40. Let those who cultivate biblical studies turn their attention with
all due diligence towards this point and let them neglect none of those
discoveries, whether in the domain of archaeology or in ancient history
or literature, which serve to make better known the mentality of the
ancient writers, as well as their manner and art of reasoning, narrating
and writing. In this connection Catholic laymen also should consider
that they will not only further profane science, but moreover will render
a conspicuous service to the Christian cause if they devote themselves

with all due diligence and application to the exploration and investigation
of the monuments of antiquity and contribute, according to their abilities,
to the solution of questions hitherto obscure.

41. For all human knowledge, even the non-sacred, has indeed its
own proper dignity and excellence, being a finite participation of the
infinite knowledge of God, but it acquires a new and higher dignity and,
as it were, a consecration, when it is employed to cast a brighter light
upon the things of God.

§
4

—

Way of Treating More Difficult Questions
42. The progressive exploration of the antiquities of the East,

mentioned above, the more accurate examination of the original text
itself, the more extensive and exact knowledge of languages both biblical
and oriental, have with the help of God, happily provided the solution
of not a few of those questions, which, in the time of Our Predecessor
Leo XIII of immortal memory, were raised by critics outside or hostile

20



to the Church against the authenticity, antiquity, integrity and historical
value of the Sacred Books. For Catholic exegetes, by a right use of
those same scientific arms, not infrequently abused by the adversaries,
proposed such interpretations, which are in harmony with Catholic doc-
trine and the genuine current of tradition, and at the same time are seen
to have proved equal to the difficulties, either raised by new explorations
and discoveries, or bequeathed by antiquity for solution in our time.

43. Thus has it come about that confidence in the authority and
historical value of the Bible, somewhat shaken in the case of some by so
many attacks, today among Catholics is completely restored

;
moreover

there are not wanting even non-Catholic writers, who by serious and
calm inquiry have been led to abandon modern opinion and to return, at
least in some points, to the more ancient ideas. This change is due in
great part to the untiring labor, by which Catholic commentators of
the Sacred Letters, in no way deterred by difficulties and obstacles of all
kinds, strove with all their strength to make suitable use of what learned
men of the present day, by their investigations in the domain of archae-
ology or history or philology, have made available for the solution of
new questions.

Difficulties not yet solved

44. Nevertheless no one will be surprised, if all difficulties are not
yet solved and overcome; but that even today serious problems greatly
exercise the minds of Catholic exegetes. We should not lose courage
on this account; nor should we forget that in the human sciences the
same happens as in the natural world; that is to say, new beginnings
grow little by little and fruits are gathered only after many labors.
Thus it has happened that certain disputed points, which in the past
remained unsolved and in suspense, in our days, with the progress of
studies, have found a satisfactory solution. Hence there are grounds
for hope that those also will by constant effort be at last made clear,
which now seem most complicated and difficult.

45. And if the wished-for solution be slow in coming or does not
satisfy us, since perhaps a successful conclusion may be reserved to
posterity, let us not wax impatient thereat, seeing that in us also is rightly
verified what the Fathers, and especially Augustine,33 observed in their
time viz: God wished difficulties to be scattered through the Sacred
Books insipired by Him, in order that we might be urged to read and

” Cf. St. Augustine, Epist. 149 ad Paulinum, n. 34 (PL. XXXIII, col. 644) ;
De diversis quaestionibus, q. 53, n. 2 (ib. XL, col. 36) ; Enarr. in Ps. 146, n. 12
(ib. XXXVII, col. 1907).

21



scrutinize them more intently, and, experiencing in a salutary manner
our own limitations, we might be exercised in due submission of mind.
No wonder if of one or other question no solution wholly satisfactory
will ever be found, since sometimes we have to do with matters obscure
in themselves and too remote from our times and our experience; and
since exegesis also, like all other most important sciences, has its secrets,
which, impenetrable to our minds, by no efforts whatsoever can be
unravelled.

Definite solutions sought

46. But this state of things is no reason why the Catholic com-
mentator, inspired by an active and ardent love of his subject and sin-
cerely devoted to Holy Mother Church, should in any way be deterred
from grappling again and again with these difficult problems, hitherto
unsolved, not only that he may refute the objections of the adversaries,
but also may attempt to find a satisfactory solution, which will be in full
accord with the doctrine of the Church, in particular with the traditional
teaching regarding the inerrancy of Sacred Scripture, and which will at
the same time satisfy the indubitable conclusions of profane sciences.

47. Let all the other sons of the Church bear in mind that the efforts
of these resolute laborers in the vineyard of the Lord should be judged
not only with equity and justice, but also with the greatest charity; all
moreover should abhor that intemperate zeal which imagines that what-
ever is new should for that very reason be opposed or suspected. Let
them bear in mind above all that in the rules and laws promulgated by
the Church there is question of doctrine regarding faith and morals

;
and

that in the immense matter contained in the Sacred Books—legislative,
historical, sapiential and prophetical—there are but few texts whose
sense has been defined by the authority of the Church, nor are those
more numerous about which the teaching of the Holy Fathers is unani-
mous. There remain therefore many things, and of the greatest impor-
tance, in the discussion and exposition of which the skill and genius of
Catholic commentators may and ought to be freely exercised, so that
each may contribute his part to the advantage of all, to the continued
progress of the sacred doctrine and to the defense and honor of the
Church.

48. This true liberty of the children of God, which adheres faithfully
to the teaching of the Church and accepts and uses gratefully the contribu-
tions of profane science, this liberty, upheld and sustained in every way by
the confidence of all, is the condition and source of all lasting fruit and
of all solid progress in Catholic doctrine, as Our Predecessor of happy

22



memory Leo XIII rightly observes, when he says: “Unless harmony
of mind be maintained and principles safeguarded, no progress can he
expected in this matter from the varied studies of many/’ 84

§
5—Use of Scripture in Instruction of Faithful

49. Whosoever considers the immense labors undertaken by Catholic
exegetes during well nigh two thousand years, so that the word of God,
imparted to men through the Sacred Letters, might daily be more deeply
and fully understood and more intensely loved, will easily be convinced
that it is the serious duty of the faithful, and especially of priests, to make
free and holy use of this treasure, accumulated throughout so many cen-
turies by the greatest intellects. For the Sacred Books were not given
by God to men to satisfy their curiosity or to provide them with material
for study and research, but, as the Apostle observes, in order that these
Divine Oracles might “instruct us to salvation, by the faith which is in
Christ Jesus” and “that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to
every good work.” 35

50. Let priests therefore, who are bound by their office to procure
the eternal salvation of the faithful, after they have themselves by diligent
study perused the sacred pages and made them their own by prayer and
meditations assiduously distribute the heavenly treasures of the divine

word by sermons, homilies and exhortations
;
let them confirm the Chris-

tian doctrine by sentences from the Sacred Books and illustrate it by
outstanding examples from sacred history and in particular from the
Gospel of Christ Our Lord

;
and—avoiding with the greatest care those

purely arbitrary and far-fetched adaptations, which are not a use, but
rather an abuse of the divine word—let them set forth all this with such
eloquence, lucidity and clearness that the faithful may not only be moved
and inflamed to reform their lives, but may also conceive in their hearts
the greatest veneration for the Sacred Scripture.

51. The same veneration the Bishops should endeavor daily to
increase and perfect among the faithful committed to their care, encourag-
ing all those initiatives by which men, filled with apostolic zeal, laudably
strive to excite and foster among Catholics a greater knowledge of and
love for the Sacred Books. Let them favor therefore and lend help to
those pious associations whose aim it is to spread copies of the Sacred
Letters, especially of the Gospels, among the faithful, and to procure by
every means that in Christian families the same be read daily with piety

84
Apostolic Letter Vigilantiae; Leonis XIII Acta XIII, p. 237; Ench. Bibl.

n. 136.
86

Cf. II Tim. Ill, 15, 17.

23



and devotion; let them efficaciously recommend by word and example,
whenever the liturgical laws permit, the Sacred Scriptures translated,
with the approval of the Ecclesiastical authority, into modern languages

;

let them themselves give public conferences or dissertations on biblical
subjects, or see that they are given by other public orators well versed in
the matter.

52. Let the ministers of the Sanctuary support in every way possible
and diffuse in fitting manner among all classes of the faithful the period-
icals which so laudably and with such heartening results are published
from time to time in various parts of the world, whether to treat and
expose in a scientific manner biblical questions, or to adapt the fruits of
these investigations to the sacred ministry, or to benefit the faithful. Let
the ministers of the Sanctuary be convinced that all this, and whatsoever
else an apostolic zeal and a sincere love of the divine word may find
suitable to this high purpose, will be an efficacious help to the cure of
souls.

Curriculum in Seminaries

53. But it is plain to everyone that priests cannot duly fulfil all
this, unless in their Seminary days they have imbibed a practical and
enduring love for the Sacred Scriptures. Wherefore let the Bishops,
on whom devolves the paternal care of their Seminaries, with all diligence
see to it that nothing be omitted in this matter which may help towards
the desired end. Let the professors of Sacred Scripture in the Seminaries

give the whole course of biblical studies in such a way, that they may
instruct the young aspirants to the Priesthood and to the ministry of the
divine word with that knowledge of the Sacred Letters and imbue them
with that love for the same, without which it is vain to hope for copious
fruits of the apostolate.

54. Hence their exegetical explanation should aim especially at the
theological doctrine, avoiding useless disputations and omitting all that
is calculated rather to gratify curiosity than to promote true learning and
solid piety. The literal sense and especially the theological let them pro-
pose with such definiteness, explain with such skill and inculcate with
such ardor that in their students may be in a sense verified what hap-
pened to the disciples on the way to Emmaus, when, having heard the
words of the Master, they exclaimed : “Was not our heart burning within
us, whilst He opened to us the Scriptures?” 36

55. Thus the Divine Letters will become for the future priests of the
Church a pure and never-failing source for their own spiritual life, as

89 Luke XXIV, 32.

24



well as food and strength for the sacred office of preaching which they
are about to undertake. If the professors of this most important matter
in the Seminaries accomplish all this, then let them rest joyfully assured
that they have most efficaciously contributed to the salvation of souls, to
the progress of the Catholic faith, to the honor and glory of God, and

that they have performed a work most closely connected with the
apostolic office.

Value of divine word

56. If these things which We have said, Venerable Brethren and
beloved sons, are necessary in every age, much more urgently are they
needed in our sorrowful times, when almost all peoples and nations are
plunged in a sea of calamities, when a cruel war heaps ruins upon ruins
and slaughter upon slaughter, when, owing to the most bitter hatred
stirred up among the nations, We perceive with greatest sorrow that in
not a few has been extinguished the sense not only of Christian modera-
tion and charity, but also of humanity itself. Who can heal these mortal
wounds of the human family if not He, to Whom the Prince of the
Apostles, full of confidence and love, addresses these words : “Lord, to
whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” 37

57. To this Our most merciful Redeemer we must therefore bring
all back by every means in our power : for He is the divine consoler of
the afflicted; He it is Who teaches all, whether they be invested with
public authority or are bound in duty to obey and submit, true honesty,
absolute justice and generous charity; it is He in fine, and He alone, Who
can be the firm foundation and support of peace and tranquillity : “For
other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid : which is Christ
Jesus.”

38 This the author of salvation, Christ, will men more fully
know, more ardently love and more faithfully imitate in proportion as
they are more assiduously urged to know and meditate the Sacred Letters,
especially the New Testament, for, as St. Jerome the Doctor of Stridon
says: “To ignore the Scripture is to ignore Christ;” 39 and again: “If
there is anything in this life which sustains a wise man and induces him
to maintain his serenity amidst the tribulations and adversities of the
world, it is in the first place, I consider, the meditation and knowledge
of the Scriptures.”

40

58. There those who are wearied and oppressed by adversities and

37 John VI, 69.
38

1 Cor. Ill, 11.
30

St. Jerome, In Isaiam, prologus; PL. XXIV col. 17.
40

Id., In Ephesios, proloqus; PL. XXVI, col. 439.

25



afflictions will find true consolation and divine strength to suffer and bear
with patience; there—that is in the Holy Gospels—Christ, the highest
and greatest example of justice, charity and mercy, is present to all;
and to the lacerated and trembling human race are laid open the foun-
tains of that divine grace without which both peoples and their rulers
can never arrive at, never establish, peace in the state and unity of heart

;

there in fine will all learn Christ, “Who is the head of all principality and
power” 41 and “Who of God is made unto us wisdom and justice and
sanctification and redemption.”42

CONCLUSION

Exhortation to all those who cultivate biblical studies

59. Having expounded and recommended those things which are
required for the adaptation of Scripture studies to the necessities of the

day, it remains, Venerable Brethren and beloved sons, that to biblical
scholars who are devoted sons of the Church and follow faithfully her
teaching and direction. We address with paternal affection, not only Our
congratulations that they have been chosen and called to so sublime an
office, but also Our encouragement to continue with ever renewed
vigor, with all zeal and care, the work so happily begun. Sublime office,
We say; for what is more sublime than to scrutinize, explain, propose to
the faithful and defend from unbelievers the very word of God, com-
municated to men under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost ?

60. With this spiritual food the mind of the interpreter is fed and
nourished “to the commemoration of faith, the consolation of hope, the
exhortation of charity.” 43 “To live amidst these things, to meditate
these things, to know nothing else, to seek nothing else, does it not seem
to you already here below a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom ?” 44 Let
also the minds of the faithful be nourished with this same food, that they
may draw from thence the knowledge and love of God and the progress
in perfection and the happiness of their own individual souls. Let, then,
the interpreters of the Divine Oracles devote themselves to this holy

practice with all their heart. “Let them pray, that they may under-
stand ;” 45 let them labor to penetrate ever more deeply into the secrets

41
Col. II, 10.

42
1 Cor. I, 30.

43
Cf. St. Augustine, Contra Faustum XIII, 18; PL. XLII, col. 294; CSEL.

XXV, p. 400. '
44

St. Jerome, Ep. 53, 10; PL. XXII, col. 549; CSEL, LIV, p. 463.
46

St. Augustine, de doctr. christ. Ill, 56 ; PL. XXXIV, col. 89.

26



of the Sacred Pages
;

let them teach and preach, in order to open to
others also the treasures of the word of God.

61. Let the present-day commentators of the Sacred Scripture emu-
late, according to their capacity, what those illustrious interpreters of
past ages accomplished with such great fruit

;
so that, as in the past, so

also in these days, the Church may have at her disposal learned doctors
for the expounding of the Divine Letters

;
and, through their assiduous

labors, the faithful may comprehend all the splendor, stimulating lan-
guage, and joy contained in the Holy Scriptures. And in this very
arduous and important office let them have “for their comfort the Holy
Books,” 46 and be mindful of the promised reward : since “they that
are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that
instruct many unto justice, as stars for all eternity.” 47

62. And now, while ardently desiring for all sons of the Church,
and especially for the professors in biblical science, for the young clergy
and for preachers, that, continually meditating on the divine word, they
may taste how good and sweet is the spirit of the Lord

;

48 as a presage

of heavenly gifts and a token of Our paternal good-will, We impart to
you one and all, Venerable Brethren and beloved sons, most lovingly in
the Lord, the Apostolic Benediction.

63. Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, on the 30th of September, the
feast of St. Jerome, the greatest Doctor in the exposition of the Sacred
Scriptures, in the year 1943, the fifth of Our Pontificate.

POPE PIUS XII

“ I Mach. XII, 9.
47 Dan. XII, 3.
“ Cf. Wisd. XII, 1.

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