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Traditions and reception: interpreting Vatican
II's ‘Declaration on the Church's Relation
to Non‐Christian Religions’
Author(s) -
D'Costa Gavin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
new blackfriars
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-2005
pISSN - 0028-4289
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-2005.2010.01364.x
Subject(s) - declaration , hermeneutics , relation (database) , interpretation (philosophy) , holy see , closure (psychology) , philosophy , catholic theology , theology , epistemology , sociology , christian tradition , religious studies , law , political science , linguistics , database , computer science
I examine the question of how tradition is received and passed on within the Church's Councils with specific attention to the problems of continuity and discontinuity. I use the example of Vatican II's ‘Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non‐Christian Religions’ to explore the question of hermeneutics in both receiving and passing on the teachings of the Church. By looking at the historical development of this document I try to show that three important factors at work: first, the question of biblical interpretation; second, the question of determining which elements of tradition are authoritative and which not; and third, the influence of non‐theological factors upon theological articulations. Through examining these factors, I argue for one particular approach to Council hermeneutics that is able to include and correct three other approaches. I argue that correct interpretations of Council documents do not represent the closure of tradition, but the opening up of tradition to future reception and re‐formulation.