Dei Verbum: Understanding & Comprehending the Word of God - Essay Sample

Introduction

Dei Verbum is a Latin notion that means word of God in English. The Pope and a council of Bishops in the Vatican came together in 1965 and wrote Dei Verbum, a dogmatic constitution of divine revelation. Understanding and comprehending this constitution or the word of God gives believers a chance to understand God and the ability to feel his presence. The Bible is a composition of many stories and books, created and written by several people. A bigger percentage of the books talks about people's relationship with God and other humans. The holy book is very important as it helps Christians understand God and fits into life lessons and gives whoever reads it reasons to trust God.

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The Pope and his council of Bishops had the sole aim of clearing the confusion that may have arisen when people read and tried to understand the word of God. They also wanted to address the misunderstanding of the content and nature of revelation, which was being taught in seminaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The misunderstanding rested on the concepts of a theologian who disagreed with the understanding of Saint Thomas. The theologian believed that God is not disclosed in the book of revelation, but the book comprises specific pieces of information that God himself decided to give out. St. Thomas believed that the things God disclosed brought about faith, but the theologian believed that it's through faith that what is disclosed is confirmed.

Difference Between Nouvelle Theologie and Neo-Scholasticism

Nouvelle Theologie is a term used to refer to a new theology. It is a school of thought brought about by French Theologians in Catholic theology. They wanted to make reforms on the dominant Catholic theology by Neo-Scholasticism. These theologians felt that Neo-Scholasticism had dominated scholarly teachings, criticized modernity, and had a defensive stance on non-Catholics. Nouvelle Theologie acted as the counterpart of Neo-Scholasticism, which had spread widely.

Neo-Scholasticism is a development and revival of the archaic scholasticism in the theology and philosophy of the Roman Catholic. It is characterized by arguments that come from the first principles, systematic investigation, clear terminology, and analytical rigor. Neo-Scholasticism is an improved form of scholasticism that aimed at restoring the doctrines that were embodied in the original scholasticism. Neo-Scholasticism believes that there is the real truth, which is understandable by everyone.

The Word of God

The book of revelation tries to bring out the truth about God through the divine speeches outlined by the author. Theology tries to make the apostolic succession clear to readers by comprehending original stories with more truthful ones. The teaching of Magisterium on the understanding of the scripture lies in two levels. The literal understanding meant by writers and the one that comes due to context within the whole book. Dei Verbum argues that the old testament hides the new testament and the old is manifested in the new.

Nouvelle Theologie

The new theology meant to counter Neo-Scholasticism is based on truths from well-analyzed sources of the scripture. It talks about the personality language and the history of the salvation of God's people. It emphasizes the positive and friendly relations of people though their actions and words.

Conclusion

The word of God reveals that God only reveals what he thinks is important to humans, and believers must have faith to see the presence of God. It is still hard to incorporate nouvelle theologie into Neo-Scholasticism because the new theology does not capture the nature of tradition. These two schools of thought always comprehend each other, although the new theology came as a critic of Neo-Scholasticism.