Providentissimus Deus

The encyclical Providentissimus Deus (In the Providence of God) belongs to the so-called Bible encyclicals, it was published on November 18, 1893 by Pope Leo XIII. released. Her topic is dealing with the Holy Scriptures as understood by the Roman Catholic Church .

background

It was the first time that a Catholic church leader took a position on biblical studies. The origin was the dispute with the interpretation of the Bible, but also the attacks on the Catholic interpretation of the Bible.

Structure and content

The encyclical is divided into three main parts:

Value and Use of the Bible
Exegetical demands
Authority and Credibility of the Biblical Scriptures

Statements, demands and status of the text

Leo XIII. emphasizes the peculiarity of the Holy Scriptures, which results from the divine inspiration of both the Old and the New Testament. He attached great importance to exegesis .

In the encyclical important exegetical demands are formulated, including:

Training of suitable teachers of biblical studies
Knowledge of the ancient oriental languages
Familiarity with text-critical work ("low criticism")
Rejection of internal literary criticism ("higher criticism")
Examination of the natural sciences

literature

Carl Andresen , Georg Denzler : dtv dictionary of church history . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-423-03245-6 .
Rudolf Fischer-Wollpert: Do you know? Lexicon of religious and ideological questions . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 1982, ISBN 3-7917-0738-8 .

Web links

Text of the encyclical (German)