Fifty Years of Scripture Studies: Providentissimus Deus to Divino afflante Spiritu

Extract

The present Holy Father wrote his biblical encyclical in 1943 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Leo XIII’s great encyclical Providentissimus Deus, which is such a landmark in modern biblical studies. Pius XII starts with a retrospect, a review of the work done under papal aegis during that half-century, and it is with pride that we Dominicans have noticed that he calls attention to the fact that before ever Leo XIII launched his encyclical he had already in 1892 commended by Brief the Dominican Ecole Biblique at Jerusalem, founded with papal approbation two years before. This foundation was due to the efforts of P&re Marie-Joseph Lagrange, O.P. (+10 March, 1938), and here the pioneer work of scientific scholarship had already begun and the famous Revue Biblique had already been started. Next year, in 1893, Providentissimus Deus appeared.

Pius XII goes on to describe the present state of biblical studies and to prescribe the equipment necessary to the modern Catholic exegete. Not only does he develop the ideas of the preceding encyclicals, but several times he gives more precise definitions of the attitude of the Catholic scholar.

He concludes with a reiteration of his predecessors’ call for zeal for scriptural study, with a special urgency “in these unhappy times” when ignorance of Christ is so widespread in the world.