Written by Tyler S. Fulcher | Old Testament, Archaeology
As an Old Testament scholar, I am passionate about helping people understand the first 75% of their Bibles.
This week's newsletter offers a summary of an article I read recently. The article itself is a summary of Joseph Ratzinger's (aka Pope Benedict XVI) exegetical approach to the Old Testament.
While there are obvious points of disagreement from a Protestant perspective, the article was quite beneficial to me. I hope you find my summary helpful.
In “Joseph Ratzinger’s Christological-Pneumatological Exegesis of the Old Testament,” Nina Sophie Heereman explains Ratzinger’s understanding of the relationship between Scripture and revelation, defines his Christological-Pneumatological method of exegesis, and offers an illustration of his approach. The result is a beautifully written article that inspires one to read the Old Testament in the light of Christ.
(If you are unfamiliar, Joseph Ratzinger was Pope Benedict XVI. He served as pope from 2005-2013.)
According to Ratzinger, revelation and Scripture, are not synonymous.
Since Jesus is the fullness of God, Scripture and tradition are the mediators of that revelation. The New Testament tells us about the life of Christ and the deeds of the Body of Christ (i.e., the Church).
Thus, Scripture plays a vital role as a witness of God’s revelation, but that revelation took place in the actual events and deeds of God’s interactions with Israel and through the incarnation. Additionally, since the very concept of revelation assumes an audience, the Church as recipient of Scripture also plays a vital part of God’s revelation.
The way the Scripture mediates revelation differs between the Old and New Testaments.
In the Old Testament, Scripture describes God’s activities in and through Israel.
In the New Testament, the Christ-event explains how to understand the Old Testament.
Since the Holy Spirit inspires this re-reading of the Old Testament in light of Christ, Ratzinger labels it a Christological-Pneumatological exegesis.
As the recipient of this revelation and as the Body of Christ, the Church plays a vital role in the interpretation of Scripture. You cannot rightly understand the Bible, especially the Old Testament, outside of the Church.
After distinguishing between Scripture and revelation, Heereman explains Ratzinger’s exegetical approach.
Ratzinger argues that we need both a historical and theological approach to the Bible.
Ratzinger argues that we need both a historical and theological approach to the Bible.
We need the insights of historical criticism because the Bible recounts events in history.
We need theological insights because the Bible is a divine document.
When we do theological exegesis, Ratzinger argues we must do so with three criteria in mind. A faithful interpretation will be attentive to (1) the unity of Scripture, (2) the living tradition of the whole Church, and (3) the analogy of faith.
Additionally, Christological-pneumatological exegesis picks up on, in Ratzinger’s opinion, a theological trajectory previously established by the manner in which the Old Testament books were edited and later books were written as interactions with earlier books (e.g., 1-2 Chronicles ~ 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings).
Ratzinger points to three passages that describe the Christological-Pneumatological interpretive method.
Finally, Heereman illustrates Ratzinger’s approach by highlighting his Mariology.
If you are a Protestant, like me, this section of the article can be the most challenging to read. Yet even here, there is much to commend of Ratzinger’s desire to insist and describe the unity between the Old and New Testaments.
Ratzinger taught that Mary was the hinge between the Old and New Testaments. He is helpfully attentive to the way the Old Testament uses women as symbolic of the entire nation. Ratzinger contends that Mary is the reality these women symbolized. She is the faithful representative of Israel who responds to YHWH positively.
Ratzinger sees Mary as the embodiment of the Church’s axiom that Christ is hidden in the OT and the OT is revealed in Christ. Similarly, the Son of God was hidden within her womb and revealed through birth.
Thus, according to Ratzinger, Mary physically embodies the unity of Scripture.
In sum, this explanation of Ratzinger’s exegetical method is riveting. While it obviously presupposes certain Catholic doctrines that Protestants might “protest”, there is much to be commended, admired, and emulated in Ratzinger’s approach to Scripture.
Ratzinger’s work rightly insists on the historic Christian belief that all of Scripture finds its fulfillment in Christ.
Protestants would do well to recapture the beauty and necessity of re-reading the Old Testament in the light of the Christ event.
“The New Testament, taken as Scripture, has become ‘the instrument for opening up the old dispensation into the spacious sphere of the Christ-event.’” (Heereman, 106)
“In order to recognize the way in which the Old Testament is on its way towards a future fulfillment, the exegete must make the passage from letter to spirit which was effected by the Christ-Event and towards which the entire Old Testament tended of its own inner dynamism.” (Heereman, 115)
“The point Ratzinger emphasizes in this passage is that Luke 24 is not merely an account of what happened once on the day of the resurrection, but also and primarily the pattern of a path that must ‘always be sought and traveled’ by any disciple truly desirous of understanding the Scriptures.” (Heereman, 116)
What do you find compelling or frustrating about Ratzinger's approach to Scripture?
How do you think about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?
Tyler S. Fulcher writes about the Bible, Theology, and Church History. He is a biblical scholar based in Springfield, MO. Click here to contact.