Ronnell L.

Macaldo July 2, 2014

Introduction to Sacred Scriptures

Dei Verbum: A Summary

Dei Verbum is a Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation promulgated by His Holiness

Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. It is one of the documents of the Second Vatican council
that is not just prepared for the Clerics but to all the Catholics in the whole world. In this document,
the revelation of God’s love to all of us and how He showed His from the ancient times up until
this modern day through the words that He had revealed through the Prophets of old and through
all the people.
The said document is divided into 6 chapters with its corresponding title in different
categories that best describes the whole revelation of God through His words.
The document started with a quotation from the First Letter of John (1 John 1:2-3) which
says, “We announce 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.” This quotation in the
preface is like the summary of what is being discussed in the Chapters that follows.
The First chapter of the document is entitled, “Revelation Itself.” This talks about His plan
of loving goodness wherein as an invisible God, He chose to first reveal Himself through our first
parents and even though our first parents committed the original sin, He still didn’t surrender in
loving us and continued to give us chances to renew ourselves – to renew the zeal of loving Him
back. He appointed Abraham to be the father of a great nation and through Moses, liberate His
people from the oppression of Egypt and bringing them to the Promised Land. He continued to
reveal Himself through sending His only Son in order to enlighten all men and to speak to us
through Jesus which is the mediator and fullness of all revelation.
The first chapter was followed by a chapter that speaks about the handing of Divine
Revelation. In this chapter, the Apostolic Succession was discussed wherein Jesus Christ
commissioned His apostles to preach orally, by example, and by observances handed on what they
had received from His lips, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they learned
through the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the apostles left bishops as their successors, handing over to
them the authority of teaching in their own place. The bishops also handed over their authority
through their successors who continued the process of handing over up to this day. Through the
same tradition the Church’s full canon of the sacred books is known and the sacred writings are
more profoundly understood. In this way, the certainty about everything that is revealed in the
Church is not from the Sacred Scripture alone but also in the Sacred Tradition. As a result the
entire holy people remain always steadfast in the teaching of the apostles, in the common life, in
the breaking of the bread and in prayers.
The third chapter talks about the Sacred Scripture, Its inspiration and Divine interpretation.
It is discussed in this chapter that the Sacred Scripture is written under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit. The books in the Old and New Testament are sacred and canonical because they have God
as their author. In searching the intention of the writers, attention should also be given to the
literary forms.
The following chapter talks about the Old Testament. It is shown in this chapter that God
chose for Himself a people to whom He would entrust His promises. The first of this people is
Abraham wherein a covenant was made and was continued through Moses in the time of the
Exodus. It was followed by many prophets which made Israel gained a deeper and clearer
understanding of His ways and made them widely known among the nations. The purpose of this
plan was to prepare the people for the coming of Christ. God wisely arranged that the New
Testament be hidden in the Old through the words of God which was spoken by the Prophets.
The fifth chapter follows with the New Testament as its title. This is the part where the
Fullness of the Revelation happened. The preparation of the texts in the Old Testament had its
finality in this part. With the support of the Epistles and other apostolic writings, the Gospels that
was written according to the four evangelists are the witness for the life and teaching of the
incarnate Word, our Savior.
The final chapter talks about the Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church. In this chapter,
it is being discussed that the continuity of the guidance of the Church in the correct understanding
and application in our daily lives – individually or communally – was made possible through the
power of the Holy Spirit. It also addressed the clergy as well as the catechists to hold fast to the
Sacred Scriptures through diligent sacred reading and careful study.
This document is a must-read document for all Christians because this caters the full
explanation of the history of God’s salvation of the humankind.