• Vatican II, Dei Verbum (1965)


• Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (1893)


• Pope Pius XII, Divino afflante spiritu (1943)


• Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini (2010)


• Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993)


• Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible (2003)

The links above take you further down this page to resources for each of these major documents (online versions of the full English text, references to print sources for the document, and discussions of the document). To the right of each title is an aqua book icon which is linked (or soon will be) to an outline of the contents of the document.

In addition to the online and print resources listed below for each document, there is a single anthology in print that reproduces all of the documents from the Council of Trent (1546) through the Pontifical Biblical Commission's "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church" (1993):

Béchard, Dean P., ed. and trans.  The Scripture Documents: An Anthology of Official Catholic Teachings.   Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2002.

Lysik, David.  The Bible Documents: A Parish Resource.   Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2007; original 2001

Rome and the Study of Scripture: A Collection of Papal Enactments on the Study of Holy Scripture together with the Decisions of the Biblical Commission, 7th ed.  St. Meinrad, Indiana: Abbey Press, 1964.

Daley, Brian E.  "Old Books and Contemporary Faith: The Bible, Tradition and the Renewal of Theology."  In Ancient Faith for the Church's Future (ed. Mark Husbands and Jeffrey P. Greenman; Downer's Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2008) 53-68.

Donahue, John R., S. J.  "Between Jerusalem and Athens: The Changing Shape of Catholic Biblical Scholarship."  In Hermes and Athena: Biblical Exegesis and Philosophical Theology (ed. Eleanor Stump and Thomas P. Flint; Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995) 285-313.

--------.  "The Bible in Roman Catholicism since Divino Afflante Spiritu."   Word & World 13:4 (1993) 404-413.

--------.  "Biblical Authority Permeates Council Teaching."   National Catholic Reporter 48:26 (11 October 2012) .

--------.  "A Journey Remembered: Catholic Biblical Scholarship 50 Years after Divino Afflante Spiritu."  America 169:7 (18 September 1993) 6-11.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A.  "Scripture in the Catholic Tradition."  In Living Traditions of the Bible: Scripture in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Practice (ed. James E. Bowley; St. Louis: Chalice, 1999) 145-61.

Fogarty, Gerald P., S.J.  American Catholic Biblical Scholarship: A History from the Early Republic to Vatican II.  New York: Harper & Row, 1989.

Griffiths, Paul J.  "Which Are the Words of Scripture?"   Theological Studies 72 (2011) 703-722.

Harrington, Daniel J., S.J.  How Do Catholics Read the Bible?   Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

Martin, Francis.  "The Influence of Biblical Studies on Ecclesial Self-awareness since Vatican II, a Contribution of Dei Verbum."  In Called to Holiness and Communion: Vatican II on the Church (ed. Steven C. Boguslawski and Robert L. Fastiggi; Scranton, Pennsylvania: University of Scranton Press, 2009) 339-65.

Prior, Joseph G.   The Historical Critical Method in Catholic Exegesis, Tesi gregoriana, Serie teologia 50.  Rome: Pontifial Gregorian University, 1999.

Schneiders, Sandra M.  "Biblical Interpretation: The Soul of Theology."   Australian Biblical Review 58 (2010) 72-82.

Schramm, Brooks.  "The State of the Bible in North America: A Response to Donald Senior, OP."  Seminary Ridge Review 10:2 (2008) 46-58.

Senior, Donald.  "The State of the Bible in North America and Its Significance for Communities of Faith."  Currents in Theology and Mission 35:1 (2008) 32-44.

Viviano, Benedict.  "The Normativity of Scripture and Tradition in Recent Catholic Theology."  In Scripture's Doctrine and Theology's Bible: How the New Testament Shapes Christian Dogmatics (ed. Markus N. A. Bockmuehl and Alan J. Torrance; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2008) 125-40.

Wcela, Emil A.  "What is Catholic about a Catholic Translation of the Bible?"  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 71:2 (2009) 247-63.

For an additional resource on the history of New Testament research in the broader academy, see:

Baird, William.  History of New Testament Research, 3 vols.  Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992-2013.

The first volume covers the period from Deism to the rise of the Tübingen school in Germany (1700–1870), the second volume surveys scholarship from Jonathan Edwards to Rudolf Bultmann (1870–1940), and a third volume due out in 2013, will cover from C. H. Dodd (1884–1973) to Hans Dieter Betz (1940–  ).

You might also be interested in recent discussions of "theological biblical exegesis":

Johnson, Luke Timothy and William S. Kurz, S.J.  The Future of Catholic Biblical Scholarship: A Constructive Conversation.   Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2002.

Levering, Matthew.  "Principles of Exegesis: Toward a Participatory Biblical Exegesis."  Pro Ecclesia 17:1 (2008) 35-51.

O'Collins, Gerald and Daniel Kendall.  The Bible for Theology: Ten Principles for the Theological use of Scripture.  New York: Paulist, 1997.

Granados García, Carlos and Luis A. Sánchez Navarro, eds.  Opening Up the Scriptures: Joseph Ratzinger and the Foundations of Biblical Interpretation.  Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2008.

Mangina, Joseph L.  "Benedict's Bible: An Anglican Response to the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini."  Ecumenism 182 (Summer 2011) 22-5.

Marshall, Bruce D.  "Reading the Gospels with Benedict XVI."  First Things (October 2011) 35-40.

Vatican II Documents
Dei Verbum: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 18 November 1965. Full text in English, The Holy See Republished in Béchard, The Scripture Documents, 19-33. Commentary and Discussion Witherup, Ronald D.  Scripture: Dei Verbum, Rediscovering Vatican II.  Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist, 2006.
Papal Encyclicals
Pope Leo XIII.  "Providentissimus Deus."  Acta Apostolicae Sedis 26 (1893-1894) 269-92; promulgated 18 November 1893. Full text in English, hosted by the Holy See. Republished in Béchard, The Scripture Documents, 37-61, and in Rome and the Study of Scripture, §81-134. Commentary and Discussion Cotter, A. C.  "The Antecedents of the Encyclical Providentissiumus Deus."  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 5 (1943) 117-24. Murphy, R. T.  "The Teachings of the Encyclical Providentissiumus Deus."  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 5 (1943) 125-40. Hartdegen, S.  "The Influence of the Encyclical Providentissiumus Deus on Subsequent Scripture Study."  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 5 (1943) 141-59.
Pope Pius XII.  "Divino afflante Spiritu."  Acta Apostolicae Sedis 35 (1943) 297-325; promulgated 30 September 1943. Full text in English, hosted by the Holy See. Republished in Béchard, The Scripture Documents, 115-39, and in Rome and the Study of Scripture, §538-69. Commentary and Discussion Ahern, B.  "Textual Directives of the Encyclical Divino afflante Spiritu."  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 7 (1945) 340-47. Hamilton, G. J.  "Divino afflante Spiritu: Catholic Interpretation of Scripture."  Canadian Catholic Review 6 (1988) 171-6.
Apostolic Exhortations
Pope Benedict XVI.  "Verbum Domini." Promulgated 30 September 2010. Full text in English, hosted by the Holy See. Commentary and Discussion Mangina, Joseph L.  "Benedict's Bible: An Anglican Response to the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini."  Ecumenism 182 (Summer 2011) 22-5.
Pontifical Biblical Commission Documents
"The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church."   Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1996; original 15 April 1993. Full text in English, hosted by the Eternal Word Television Network, Global Catholic Network. Republished in Béchard, The Scripture Documents, 244-317. Commentary and Discussion Fitzmyer, Joseph A., S.J.  The Biblical Commission's Document "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church": Text and Commentary, Subsidia Biblica 18.  Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1995. --------.  "’The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.’"   America 169 (27 November 1993) 12-15. Williamson, Peter S.  Catholic Principles for Interpreting Scripture: A Study of the Pontifical Biblical Commission's "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church", Subsidia Biblica 22.  Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 2001.
"The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible."  Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1996; original 24 May 2001. Full text in English, hosted by The Holy See Commentary and Discussion Bemporad, Jack.  "The Pontifical Biblical Document The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the New Testament: A Jewish Perspective."  Centro Pro Unione Bulletin 63 (Spring 2003) 3-7. Hütter, Reinhard.  "'In': Some Incipient Reflections on The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible."  Pro Ecclesia 13:1 (2004) 13-24. Levine, Amy-Jill.  "Roland Murphy, the Pontifical Biblical Commission, Jews, and the Bible."  Biblical Theology Bulletin 33 (3 2003) 104-113. Murphy, Roland E.  "The Biblical Commission, the Jews, and Scriptures."  Biblical Theology Bulletin 32:3 (2002) 145-9.
"The Bible and Morality: Biblical Roots of Christian Conduct." 11 May 2008. Full text in English, hosted by The Holy See Commentary and Discussion Grech, Prosper, Cardinal.  "Reading through the P.B.C. Document: 'The Bible and Morality.'"  In "Percé stessero con Lui": Scritti in onore di Klemens Stock SJ, nel suo 75o compleanno (ed. Lorenzo de Santos and Santi Grasso; Rome: Gregorian and Biblical Press, 2010) 17-25.