Pope Leo XIV cautioned against fundamentalist or spiritualist interpretations of Scripture during his weekly General Audience. The Pope continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council, focusing on the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum on Divine Revelation. Scripture offers a privileged space for encounter where God speaks to people across all times, enabling them to know and love Him. Biblical texts were written in human languages, reflecting God's love in choosing to communicate through human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit.
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Pope Leo XIV delivered his fourth catechesis on the Second Vatican Council's Dei Verbum during the February 4, 2026, Wednesday General Audience in the Paul VI Hall.1 2 4
He emphasized Sacred Scripture as a privileged space where God speaks to people of every era, read within the Church's living Tradition.1 3
God chooses human languages to communicate, mirroring the Incarnation where the eternal Word became like humanity.1 2 4
Biblical texts are not in a heavenly language but express divine mercy and closeness through human discourse.3
Various authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are "true authors" alongside God as principal author, rejecting views of them as mere passive tools.1 4
Proper interpretation requires considering the historical environment and literary forms of Scripture.1 2
Neglecting these risks fundamentalist or spiritualist readings that betray its meaning.2 3
Conversely, ignoring divine origin reduces Scripture to mere human text or historical relic.1 4
The Church must proclaim God's Word in language embodying history, touching human hopes and sufferings.1 2
Incomprehensible or anachronistic proclamation is ineffective; it must reach hearts and enlighten daily decisions.3
Liturgical reading, guided by the inspiring Spirit, nourishes believers' charity and points to eternal life in Jesus, beyond mere social messages.1 4
Scripture fosters love of God and neighbor, as St. Augustine taught; misinterpretations fail this test.1 4
Pope Leo urged gratitude for this nourishment and prayer that lives reflect Scripture's love.2
He appealed for Ukraine amid bombings and hoped for renewal of the US-Russia nuclear treaty to prevent arms races.3
How does Dei Verbum define Scripture as God’s word in human language?
Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, articulates a profound understanding of Sacred Scripture as the Word of God conveyed through human language, highlighting divine condescension to bridge the gap between eternal wisdom and human frailty. This definition underscores Scripture's dual nature: fully divine in truth and holiness, yet authentically human in expression, ensuring accessibility while preserving inerrancy.
At the heart of this teaching is paragraph 13, which vividly portrays God's adaptation to human limitations:
In Sacred Scripture, therefore, while the truth and holiness of God always remains [sic] intact, the marvelous "condescension" of eternal wisdom is clearly shown, "that we may learn the gentle kindness of God, which words cannot express, 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 human 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.
This passage, drawing from St. John Chrysostom's homily on Genesis, emphasizes that God, as the true author of Scripture, chooses to "speak" through human words and idioms, mirroring the Incarnation where the divine Word assumes human flesh. The result is a sacred text where God's message is not abstract or ethereal but incarnated in "human discourse"—complete with the styles, idioms, and limitations of its human writers—without compromising divine truth.
This definition builds on earlier sections that affirm the human authors as "true authors" under divine inspiration. Dei Verbum §11 declares the books of Scripture sacred because "written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author." Yet §12 clarifies: "God speaks in Sacred Scripture through men in human fashion." Here, the Council synthesizes inspiration with genuine human agency: the sacred writers used their faculties, talents, and literary forms, allowing God's word to permeate human expression organically. This human mediation ensures Scripture is not a dictation but a collaborative act, where divine truth is clothed in the "language, poetry, or narrative style" proper to each era and culture.
Dei Verbum integrates this linguistic dimension into the broader unity of divine revelation, where Scripture and Tradition form a single "deposit of faith" flowing from the same divine source. Just as God's deeds and words in salvation history exhibit "inner unity," Scripture—expressed in human language—enters into living dialogue with Tradition, mediated by the Church's Magisterium. This conversation occurs in human language, underscoring why the Vulgate, as the Church's longstanding Latin expression, retains juridical authenticity for doctrinal purposes, even as original texts aid deeper exegesis.
This formulation echoes and advances Pius XII's Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943), which stressed studying Scripture in original languages to grasp its "least expressions" under inspiration, recognizing language as intrinsic to revelation. Dei Verbum fulfills this by prioritizing critical authenticity alongside the Vulgate's doctrinal reliability, as evidenced by the Council's near-exclusive quotation of the Vulgate in the document itself.
In summary, Dei Verbum defines Scripture as God's infallible Word stooping to human language through inspired authors, ensuring its truth shines through familiar human forms. This safeguards revelation's integrity while inviting deeper study, affirming the Church's role in its living interpretation.