## Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation *Dei Verbum*

### Prologue

**The Intent of the Council**

The Sacred Council, attentively listening to the Word of God proclaimed with confidence, embraces the words of St. John: “We proclaim to you the life which was with the Father and which appeared to us: we announce what we have seen and heard, so that you also may share our communion, and our communion be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:2-3). Therefore, in accordance with the teachings of the Council of Trent and Vatican I, it intends to propose the genuine doctrine on divine revelation and its transmission, so that the whole world, hearing, may believe in the message of salvation, believing may hope, and hoping may love (1).

### Chapter I

**The Revelation Itself**

**Nature and Object of Revelation**

It pleased God, out of his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will (Ephesians 1:9), according to which men, through Christ, the incarnate Word, have access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and become partakers of divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through this revelation, God, who is invisible (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17), speaks to men as friends (Exodus 33:11; John 15:14-15) and associates with them (Baruch 3:38), inviting and admitting them into communion with him. This “economy” of revelation is carried out through actions and words intimately connected, in such a way that the works performed by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the doctrine and realities signified by the words. And the words, in turn, declare the works and clarify the mystery contained therein. However, the profound truth regarding both God and the salvation of men is revealed to us through this revelation in Christ, who is simultaneously the mediator and fullness of all revelation (2).

**Preparation for the Evangelical Revelation**

# The Revelation of God and the Christian Economy

## 3. God’s Eternal Testimony and the Path to Salvation

God, in creating and preserving all things through the Word (John 1:3), offers a perpetual witness of Himself in creation (Romans 1:1-20) and, further, deciding to open the path to supernatural salvation, revealed Himself from the beginning to our first parents. Following their fall, He promised redemption, giving them hope for salvation (Genesis 3:15), and continually cared for humanity, aiming to grant eternal life to all who, by persevering in good works, seek salvation (Romans 2:6-7). In due time, He called Abraham to be the father of a great people (Genesis 12:2), a people He later instructed, through Moses and the prophets, to recognize Him as the sole living and true God, a provident Father, and a righteous Judge, and to await the promised Savior. Thus, God prepared the way for the Gospel over time.

## 4. The Consummation and Fulness of Revelation in Christ

Having spoken many times and in various ways through the prophets, God has now spoken to us in these our days, which are the last, through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). He sent His Son, that is, the eternal Word, who illuminates all men, to dwell among men and reveal to them the intimate life of God (John 1:1-18). Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, sent “as a man to men” (3), speaks “the words of God” (John 3:34) and completes the work of salvation that the Father commanded Him to do (John 5:36, 17:4). Therefore, seeing Him is to see the Father (John 14:9), with all His presence and manifestation of His person, in words and works, signs and miracles, and especially through His death and glorious resurrection, finally, by sending the Holy Spirit, He fully completes and confirms with a divine testimony the revelation—that God is with us to liberate us from sin and death and raise us to eternal life.

Thus, Christian economy, as a new and definitive covenant, will never pass away, and no other public revelation is expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 2:13).

## 5. Acceptance of Revelation through Faith

The one who reveals God deserves “obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26; cf. Romans 1:5; 2 Corinthians 10:5-6). Through faith, man submits himself totally and freely to God, offering “to the God who reveals the full obeisance of intelligence and will” (4) and giving voluntary assent to His revelation. To offer this adherence of faith requires prior and concurrent help from divine grace and the interior assistance of the Holy Spirit, who moves and converts hearts to God, opens the eyes of understanding, and gives “to all the suavity in accepting and believing the truth” (5). For a deeper comprehension of revelation, the same Holy Spirit continually perfects faith through His gifts.

## 6. The Necessity of Revelation

Revelation is necessary because human reason alone cannot attain complete knowledge of God or fully comprehend His will. It is through revelation that God communicates His truth and guides humanity toward salvation.

# The Divine Revelation

By divine revelation, God wished to manifest and communicate Himself and the eternal decrees of His will regarding the salvation of humanity, “to make them partakers of divine goods that surpass the capacity of human understanding” (6).

The Sacred Council affirms that God, the principle and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from creation (cf. Rom. 1:20). However, it also teaches that one must attribute to His revelation “the power so that all men may know with ease, firm certainty, and without any mixture of error, what in divine things is not beyond human reason, even in the present condition of humanity” (7).

## Chapter II: The Transmission of Divine Revelation

### The Apostles and Their Successors, Bearers of the Gospel

God has lovingly provided that all He has revealed for the salvation of all peoples remain intact and be transmitted to every generation. Therefore, Christ Lord, in whom all the revelation of the Most High God is accomplished (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20; 3:16-4:6), commanded the Apostles to preach to all, as the source of all salutary truth and discipline, the Gospel promised beforehand by the prophets and fulfilled and promulgated personally by Him (1). He thus communicated to them divine gifts. This was done faithfully, both by the Apostles who, in their oral preaching, examples, and institutions, transmitted what they had received from Christ’s lips, conduct, and works, as well as what they had learned through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and by those apostles and apostolic men who, under the same Spirit’s inspiration, wrote the message of salvation (2).

However, so that the Gospel would be perpetually preserved intact and alive in the Church, the Apostles left Bishops as their successors, “handing over to them their own office of teaching” (3). Therefore, this sacred Tradition and the Sacred Scripture of both Testaments are like a mirror in which the pilgrim Church on earth contemplates God, from whom all things receive their being, until she is led to see Him face to face as He is (cf. 1 John 3:2).

## The Sacred Tradition

The sacred Tradition

# The Role and Nature of Sacred Tradition in Catholic Theology

Thus, the apostolic preaching, which is particularly expressed in the inspired books, was to be preserved through a continuous succession until the end of time. Therefore, the Apostles, passing on what they themselves received, warn the faithful to observe the traditions they learned either by word or in writing (2 Thessalonians 2:15), and to fight for the faith received from generation to generation (Judas 3). What was transmitted by the Apostles encompasses everything that contributes to the holy life of God’s People and to the growth of their faith. Thus, the Church, in its doctrine, life, and worship, perpetuates and transmits to all generations what it is and what it believes.

This apostolic tradition progresses within the Church under the assistance of the Holy Spirit (5). Indeed, there is a deepening both of understanding and of words transmitted, whether through the contemplation and study of the faithful who meditate on them in their hearts (Luke 2:19, 51), or through intimate communion with spiritual things, or through the preaching of those who, with the succession of bishops, have received the charism of truth. This is to say that the Church, over the centuries, continually moves toward the fullness of divine truth until God’s words are fully realized within her.

The affirmations of the Fathers bear witness to the vivifying presence of this Tradition, whose riches enter into practice and life for the faithful, prayerful Church. Through the same Tradition, the Church knows the entire canon of sacred books, and Sacred Scripture is understood more deeply within her and becomes continually operative. Thus, God, who once spoke, continues without interruption to dialogue with his beloved Son’s bride. The Holy Spirit—by whom the voice of the Gospel resounds in the Church and through the Church in the world—introduces the faithful into full truth and causes Christ’s word to dwell in them richly (Colossians 3:16).

## Relationship Between Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are intimately united and interpenetrated. Indeed, both deriving from the same divine source, they form one thing and share the same end. Sacred Scripture is the word of God as it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sacred Tradition, in turn, transmits integrally to the successors of the Apostles the word of God entrusted by Christ Lord and by the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, so that they, with the light of the Spirit of truth, may preserve, expound, and faithfully spread it through their preaching. Therefore, the Church does not derive its certainty regarding all revealed things solely from Sacred Scripture. Hence, both should be received and revered with an equal spirit of piety and reverence (6).

## Relationship Between These and the Church and Ecclesiastical Magisterium

The relationship between these and the Church and her Magisterium is clear. The Church, as the body of Christ, is the subject of both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. It is through the Church that both are transmitted and interpreted. The Magisterium, as the teaching authority of the Church, has the responsibility to guard, explain, and proclaim these two sources of revelation in a way that ensures their unity and consistency with one another.

## On the Interpretation of Sacred Tradition and Scripture

**10.** The sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form a single sacred deposit of God’s Word entrusted to the Church. Holding fast to this, the whole holy people perseveres in unity with its shepherds in the doctrine of the Apostles and in communion, in breaking bread and in prayer (Acts 2:42), so that there is a special harmony between shepherds and faithful in the preservation, operation, and profession of the faith handed down.

**11.** Yet, the task of authentically interpreting God’s written Word or contained in Tradition has been entrusted solely to the living magisterium of the Church (1), whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This magisterium does not stand above God’s Word but serves it, teaching only what was transmitted, while by divine mandate and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it listens faithfully, guards reverently, and expounds accurately from this unique repository of faith everything it proposes for faith as divinely revealed.

**12.** It is clear, therefore, that sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching of the Church are so united and associated according to God’s most wise design that one without the others cannot stand, and all together, each in its own way, under the action of the same Holy Spirit, contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.

**13.** **Chapter III**

**14.** **The Divine Inspiration of Sacred Scripture and Its Interpretation**

**15.** Nature and Truth of Sacred Scripture

**16.** The things revealed by God, contained and expressed in Sacred Scripture, were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the holy mother Church, according to apostolic faith, considers as holy and canonical all books of both the Old and New Testaments with their respective parts, because, having been written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 20:31; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 3:15-16), they have God as their author and were entrusted to the Church itself (1). Yet, for writing sacred books, God chose and used men endowed with their faculties and capabilities (2) so that, acting through them and in them (3), they might express, as true authors, everything He willed (4).

**17.** Thus, since everything affirmed by the inspired authors or scribes is to be held as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, it must be believed that the books of Scripture teach with certainty, faithfully, and without error the truth which God willed to have recorded in sacred letters for our salvation (5). Therefore, “**all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work**” (2 Timothy 3:7-17).

**18.** **Interpretation of Sacred Scripture**

## On Interpreting Sacred Scripture

**12. How, however, God spoke in sacred scripture through men and in a human way (6), the interpreter of sacred scripture, to know what He wanted to communicate to us, must carefully investigate what the hagiographers actually intended to convey and what pleased God to manifest through His words.**

**13. To discover the intention of the hagiographers, other things being equal, one must also take into account the **”genres littéraires”**. Indeed, truth is proposed and expressed in various ways depending on whether it concerns historical, prophetic, poetic or other genres. Furthermore, the interpreter should seek the meaning that the hagiographer intended to express, under certain circumstances, according to the conditions of his time and culture, and indeed did express by using the literary genres then in use (7). To understand rightly what a sacred author wanted to affirm, one must pay due attention both to the native ways of feeling, speaking or narrating in use during the hagiographer’s time, and to those commonly employed in human relations at that period (8).**

**14. But since Sacred Scripture is to be read and interpreted with the same spirit in which it was written (9), equal attention must be given, in investigating the true meaning of sacred texts, to the context and unity of all Scripture, taking into account the living Tradition of the whole Church and the analogy of faith. It is for exegetes to work, in accordance with these rules, towards a deeper understanding and exposition of Scripture, so that, through this preparatory study, judgment on Scripture may ripen within the Church. Indeed, everything pertaining to the interpretation of Scripture is subject to the final judgment of the Church, which has the divine mandate and ministry to guard and interpret the Word of God (10).**

**15. Therefore, in Sacred Scripture, while always preserving truth and the sanctity of God, the admirable **”condescension”** of eternal wisdom is manifested; “for we learn from it the ineffable benevolence of God and how He spoke with such gentleness, taking care for our nature” (11). The words of God, expressed in human languages, became intimately similar to human language, as formerly the Word of the Eternal Father assumed human flesh from the weakness of humanity.

**CAPITULO IV**

**THE OLD TESTAMENT**

The history of salvation recorded in the books of the Old Testament

## The Importance of the Old Testament for Christians

God, most loving, desiring and preparing with diligent care the salvation of all humanity, chose a particular people to whom He entrusted His promises. Having established an alliance with Abraham (cf. Gen 15:18) and with the people of Israel through Moses (cf. Ex 24:8), God revealed Himself to the chosen people as the one true and living God, in words and deeds, so that Israel could experience firsthand God’s plans for humanity, understand them more deeply and clearly by hearing the same God speak through His prophets, and share them widely among men (cf. Ps 21:28-29, 95:1-3, Is 2:1-4, Jer 3:17). The “economy” of salvation previously announced, narrated, and explained by the sacred authors is found in the books of the Old Testament as true words from God. Therefore, these divinely inspired books hold eternal value: “All that is written for our instruction was written, so that through patience and consolation from Scripture we may have hope” (Rom 15:4).

## The Significance of the Old Testament in Light of Christ

The “economy” of the Old Testament was primarily intended to prepare, prophesize (cf. Lk 24:44, Jn 5:39, 1 Pet 1:10), and symbolize through various figures (cf. 1 Cor 10:11) the coming of Christ as universal redeemer and the messianic kingdom. Yet, the books of the Old Testament, reflecting humanity’s condition before salvation was established by Christ, manifest to all the knowledge of God and man, and the way in which the just and merciful God deals with humans. Although these books contain imperfect and temporary elements, they still reveal true divine pedagogy (1). Therefore, believers should receive these books with devotion, as they express a living sense of God, containing profound doctrines about God, salutary wisdom for human life, and admirable treasures of prayer, all of which ultimately hint at the mystery of our salvation.

## The Unity Between the Old and New Testaments

God, being the inspirer and author of both Testaments, arranged matters so wisely that the New Testament is latent in the Old, and the Old is manifest in the New (2). Although Christ founded a new covenant on His blood (cf. Lk 22:20, 1 Cor 11:25), the books of the Old Testament, when fully integrated into Gospel preaching (3), acquire and reveal their full meaning in the New Testament (cf. Mt 5:17, Lk 24:27, Rom 16:25-26, 2 Cor 3:14-16), which in turn illuminates and explains them.

## Chapter V

### The New Testament

### Excellence of the New Testament

## Superiority of the New Testament

The New Testament surpasses the Old not in value but in its ability to fully reveal God’s plan of salvation, as promised in the Old. It is the fulfillment of all that came before it, bringing to completion the work of redemption and offering a new covenant based on Christ’s blood.

# The Word of God and the New Testament

## Apostolic Origin of the Gospels

No one denies that among all Scriptures, even in the New Testament, the Gospels hold the highest place, serving as the primary testimony to the life and teachings of the incarnate Word, our Savior.

The Church has always defended and continues to defend the apostolic origin of the four Gospels. Indeed, those things which the Apostles, by command of Christ, preached were later, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, committed to writing by them themselves and by other apostolic men as the foundation of faith—the Quadruple Gospel, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (1).

## Historical Character of the Gospels

The holy Mother Church has steadfastly defended that these four Gospels, whose historicity she asserts without hesitation, faithfully transmit what Jesus, the Son of God, truly did and taught during His earthly life for the eternal salvation of men, until the day He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-2). After the Lord’s ascension, the Apostles transmitted to their listeners, with a fuller understanding due to their experience of Christ’s glorious events and illuminated by the Spirit of truth (2), the things He had said and done. The sacred authors then wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things from many that were handed down orally or in writing, synthesizing some, developing others, according to the state of the churches, finally preserving a preaching character but always with the intention of communicating authentic and true things about Jesus (4). Whether they recorded what they remembered and recalled or based themselves on the testimony of those “who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (3), they did so always with the aim that we might know the “truth” about the things for which we have been instructed (Luke 1:2-4).

# The Role of Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church

## The Church’s Veneration of Sacred Scripture

The Church reverences the Sacred Scriptures as it does the very Body of the Lord. It never ceases, especially during sacred Liturgy, to offer and distribute to the faithful the bread of life from both the table of God’s Word and the table of Christ’s Body. The Church has always considered, and continues to consider, the Sacred Scriptures, along with sacred Tradition, as the supreme rule of its faith. For they are inspired by God and written once and for all, remaining unchangingly the word of God himself, and through the words of the prophets and apostles, the voice of the Holy Spirit is heard. Therefore, every ecclesiastical preaching and the very Christian religion should be nourished and governed by Sacred Scripture. Indeed, in sacred books, the Father in heaven lovingly meets his children, conversing with them. And the power and virtue of God’s word are so great that they serve as a strong support for the Church, a foundation of faith for its children, food for the soul, and a pure and perpetual source of spiritual life. Thus, the words apply especially to Sacred Scripture: “The word of God is alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12), “able to build up and give inheritance to all the sanctified” (Acts 20:32; see also 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

## Translations of Sacred Scripture

It is necessary for the faithful to have easy access to Sacred Scripture. For this reason, the Church early adopted the very ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. It has always highly regarded other translations, both Eastern and Latin, especially the Vulgate. However, since God’s word should be accessible to all, the Church diligently seeks to provide suitable and faithful translations in various languages, particularly from the original texts of sacred books. If, however, these translations are made with due opportunity and approved by the authority of the Church, they can be used by all Christians when done in collaboration with separated brothers.

# Biblical Investigation

The Church, as the spouse of the incarnate Word, guided by the Holy Spirit, strives for a deeper understanding of Sacred Scripture to continually nourish its children with divine teachings. This involves fostering the study of the holy Fathers from both the East and West, as well as sacred liturgies. Catholic exegetes and theologians must collaborate closely under the guidance of the sacred magisterium to interpret and explain the Divine Letters effectively, ensuring that a maximum number of ministers can provide the People of God with the nourishing scriptural food that illuminates the spirit, strengthens wills, and ignites hearts with love for God (1). The Council encourages biblical scholars to continue their happy endeavor, revitalizing their efforts according to the Church’s sense.

# Importance of Sacred Scripture in Theology

Sacred theology rests on the written word of God and sacred tradition as its eternal foundation, solidifying and continually rejuvenating itself by investigating all truth contained in the mystery of Christ in the light of faith. The Scriptures contain the word of God, and being inspired, they are truly the word of God. Therefore, studying these sacred texts is the very soul of theology (3). Pastoral ministry, including preaching, catechesis, and all forms of Christian instruction, benefits and is sanctified by the Word of Scripture, with liturgical homilies playing a primary role.

# On the Promotion of Scriptural Studies

## Introduction

It is imperative that all clergy, especially priests of Christ and other ministers like deacons and catechists, maintain intimate contact with Scripture through diligent reading and serious study to avoid becoming “vain and superficial preachers of God’s word, not hearing it from within” (4). They have a duty to communicate the profound riches of divine Scripture, particularly in sacred Liturgy, to those entrusted to their care. Similarly, the Sacred Council strongly encourages all the faithful, especially religious, to frequently read the Divine Scriptures, as “ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” (5). Let them delightfully engage with the sacred text through Liturgy rich in divine words, spiritual reading, or other means that are increasingly praised and promoted throughout the Church. Remember, however, that biblical reading should be accompanied by prayer to facilitate dialogue between God and man: “We speak to Him when we pray; we hear Him when we read His divine oracles” (6).

## The Role of Pastors

It is the duty of sacred shepherds, as “depositaries of apostolic doctrine” (7), to teach the faithful under their care how to use the divine books rightly, especially the New Testament and above all, the Gospels. This should be done through biblical translations accompanied by necessary and sufficient explanations so that children of the Church may securely and profitably familiarize themselves with Sacred Scripture and imbibe its spirit.

## Editions for Non-Christians

Additionally, editions of the Sacred Scriptures with appropriate annotations should be produced for non-Christian use and adapted to their conditions. Both shepherds of souls and Christians of all states should zealously and prudently distribute these editions.

## The Impact of Scriptural Renewal

Thus, through reading and studying sacred texts, “the word of God will be spread and shine” (2 Thessalonians 3:1), filling hearts with the treasure of revelation entrusted to the Church. Just as the life of the Church grows from frequent participation in the Eucharist, so too can we expect a new impulse of spiritual life by fostering reverence for the word of God, which “endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8; cf. 1 Peter 1:23-25).

## Conclusion

In Rome, on November 18, 1965,

Pope Paul VI

# Chapter II

## References to Support the Doctrine

1. See Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15; the Council of Trent, Decr. De canonicis Scripturis: Denz. 783 (1501).
2. Council of Trent, I; Council of Vatican I, Sess. III, Const. dogmatica De fide catholica, Dei Filius, cap. 2: Denz. 1787 (3006).
3. St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. III, 3, 1: PG 7, 848; Harvey, 2, p. 9.
4. See the Second Council of Nicaea, Denz. 303 (602); and the Fourth Council of Constantinople, Sess. X, can. 1: Denz. 336 (650-652).
5. Council of Vatican I, Const. dogm. De fide catholica, Dei Filius, cap. 4: Denz. 1800 (3020).
6. Council of Trent, Decr. De canonicis Scripturis: Denz. 783 (1501).
7. Pius XII, Const. apost. Munificentissimus Deus, 1 Nov. 1950: AAS 4B8r3B4p7yhRXuBWLqsQ546WR43cqQwrbXMDFnBi6vSJBeif8tPW85a7r7DM961Jvk4hdryZoByEp8GC8HzsqJpRN4FxGM9povo, joined to the priest and the flock to its shepherd.”
8. Council of Vatican I, Const. dogmatica De fide catholica, Dei Filius, cap. 3: Denz. 1792 (3011).
9. Pius XII, Enciclica Humani generis, 12 Aug. 1950: AAS 42 (1950) 568-569; Denz. 2314 (3886).

# Chapter III

# Mariology, Angelology, Demonology, and Josephology

## Chapter IV

– Pius XI, Encyclical *Mit brennender Sorge*, March 14, 1937: AAS 29 (1937) 151.
– St. Augustine, *Quaest. in Hept.* 2, 73: PL 34, 623.
– St. Irenaeus, *Adversus Haereses* III, 21, 3: PG 7, 950 (25, 1: Harvey 2, p. 115). St. Cyril of Jerusalem, *Catecheses* 4, 35: PG 33, 497. Theodore of Mopsuestia, *In Soph.* 1, 4-6: PG 66, 452 D-453 A.

## Chapter V

– St. Irenaeus, *Adversus Haereses* III, 11, 8: PG. 7, 885. Ed. Sagnard, p. 194.
– John 14:26, 16:13; 2:22, 12:16 (according to 14:26, 16:12-13, 7:39).
– Instruction *Sancta Mater Ecclesia* of the Pontifical Biblical Commission: AAS 56 (1964) 715.

## Chapter VI

– Pius XII, Encyclical *Divino afflante Spiritu*, September 30, 1943: EB 551, 553, 567. Pontifical Biblical Commission, *Instructio de S. Scriptura in Clericorum seminariis et Religiosorum Collegiis recte docenda*, May 13, 1950: AAS 42 (1950) 495-505.
– Pius XII, *Divino afflante*: EB 569.
– Leo XIII, *Providentissimus Deus*: EB 114. Benedict XV, *Spiritus Paraclitus*, September 15, 1920: EB 483.
– St. Augustine, *Sermon* 179, 1: PL 38, 966.
– St. Jerome, *Commentary on Isaiah Prol.*: PL 24, 17.
– Pius XII, *Divino afflante*: EB 544.
– St. Ambrose, *De officiis ministrorum* I, 20, 88: PL 16, 50.
– St. Irenaeus, *Adversus Haereses* IV, 32, 1: PG 7, 1071 (49, 2), Harvey, 2, p. 255.