The Historical Critical Method in Catholic Exegesis (Tesi Gregoriana, Serie Theologia 50)

This study focuses on the historical critical method as accepted and used according to the principles of Catholic biblical interpretation. The necessity and limits of the method are discussed as they were understood in four periods of Christian history. The sources for the study include selected literature of the early church, and the various ecclesial documents on biblical studies issued since 1893. special attention is given to the «crisis» in biblical interpretation identified in scholarly writings between 1983-1993, the Pontifical Biblical Commission's response in The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, and the discussion following its publication. This study also deals with the terminology of the historical-critical method and of the senses of Scripture.