tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post3764283451865214105..comments2024-03-22T18:43:00.710-04:00Comments on Unam Sanctam Catholicam: DictationBonifacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10672810254075072214noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-79747146086606007322008-02-04T12:34:00.000-05:002008-02-04T12:34:00.000-05:00In reading the documents that I mentioned, there w...In reading the documents that I mentioned, there was also clear teaching on the full freedom of the human authors. I think is where we can distinguish between a slavish Moslem dictation theory in which the writer is nothing more than a human pen in God's hand, and the Catholic theory of dictation in which God does indeed dictate what is to be written, but in such a way as to preserve the freedom and individual character of the author.<BR/><BR/>In other words, if you can handle the Catholic position on human cooperation with divine grace, you can handle this. I think they are analogous.<BR/><BR/>Unlike Protestantism we can understand that when God moves the will, he moves it to act freely. The more God moves the will the freer and more personal is the act of the will. This should allow one to see that the more God dictates to the will of the author what he wants written, the more does the human author write as a fully free and uniquely personal human author.<BR/><BR/>100% God and still 100% human. But God is the primary author, the men are secondary authors.<BR/><BR/>St. Jerome, by the way, uses the word dictation constantly as you can see by reading Spiritus Paraclitus.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-34775334603801896512008-02-04T09:38:00.000-05:002008-02-04T09:38:00.000-05:00Right; when a prophet spoke "Thus says the Lord: '...Right; when a prophet spoke "Thus says the Lord: '...'", I think we can be certain he was acting as a mouthpiece of God in the most literal sense imaginable. The documents cited above quote, among others, St. Augustine and Pope St. Gregory the Great:<BR/><BR/>"His members executed what their Head dictated." (Augustine, De consensu Evangel. 1. I, c. 35)<BR/><BR/>"He wrote it Who dictated it for writing; He wrote it Who inspired its execution." (Greg I., Praef. in Job, n. 2)<BR/><BR/>But the question of just what "dictation" means when it comes from God is a matter for (orthodox) theologians. St. Augustine tackles this issue in his <I>De consensu Evangelistarum</I>, esp. <A HREF="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106.vi.v.xxii.html" REL="nofollow">book II, ch. 21</A>Jeffrey Pinyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08758581112217835988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-89681277019259632002008-02-04T09:24:00.000-05:002008-02-04T09:24:00.000-05:00Japhy-I have always understood Scriptural dictatio...Japhy-<BR/><BR/>I have always understood Scriptural dictation to mean that the Holy Spirit inspired everything the authors said, not just in the content or theme of what was written, but in the actual way in which it was communicated. I do not think, however, that this dictation is in the manner of the Muslim verbaitm dictation; ie, Gabriel talks to Muhammad and the sayings are recorded like a secretary recording a memo from her boss. <BR/><BR/>However, if you read the commentaries on inspiration from such sources as the NAB, they have such a watered down version of it that they end up saying that all that is inspired in the Isrealites'"search for truth" and that the Old Testament is a recording of their inspired search. What the hell does that mean?<BR/><BR/>I think Anselm has done well in demonstrating that, at least from Trent and I'm sure going back to the Fathers, the nature of the Scriptures has been understood in a way that approaches dictation, although I do not think we have to affirm actual verbatim dictation in all of the Scriptures (though this clearly happened in some cases, as with the prophets).Bonifacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10672810254075072214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-2944324475510180332008-02-03T13:59:00.000-05:002008-02-03T13:59:00.000-05:00I have read HG and PD and Dei Filius and DAS. The...I have read HG and PD and Dei Filius and DAS. They've allowed me to read the later documents (such as DV and Sancta Mater Ecclesiae) in the right light.<BR/><BR/>What's baffling is that the ITC had this to say in 1993: "The basic problem with fundamentalist interpretation of this kind is that ... it refuses to admit that the inspired word of God has been expressed in human language and that this word has been expressed, under divine inspiration, by human authors possessed of limited capacities and resources. For this reason, <B>it tends to treat the biblical text as if it had been dictated word for word by the Spirit</B>."<BR/><BR/>I've been <A HREF="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=187288" REL="nofollow">looking for an explanation</A> of the actual teaching of the Church on the nature of Scripture's inspiration and transmission.Jeffrey Pinyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08758581112217835988noreply@blogger.com