Scott CARL (ed.), Verbum Domini and the Complementarity of Exegesis and Theology. Saint Paul, MN: Saint Paul Seminary Press, 2021. xvi + 176 pages, pb, $34.95. ISBN 978-1-953936-01-1. Reviewed by Thomas SIMMONS, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota 57069-2307.

Verbum Domini, Pope Benedict XVI’s 2010 apostolic exhortation, insisted that theology be firmly rooted in Scripture. In it, the Holy Father revisited the work of the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2008, which had as its theme “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.” The Church, he emphasized (in para. 3), “is built upon the word of God; she is born from and lives by that word.” As a result, the faithful enjoy a personal relationship with the Word of God. See John 1:1.

This book was originally published in 2015 and reprinted in 2021. It is part of the Catholic Theological Formation series published by Saint Paul Seminary Press. It is comprised of eleven essays, the first five which consider the book’s theme – the complementarity of theology and exegesis – and the last six which are framed under the heading “The Word of God in the Formation of Seminarians.”

The main thrust of the essays is to debunk false dichotomies in the study of Biblical texts. Rather than theology and exegesis existing in separate spheres, they should be complementary to each other. Brant Pitre identifies the false dichotomy of scientific exegesis and spiritual interpretation. Michael Magee advocates combining synchronic methodology with diachronic methodology to better sift the divine unity of the Pentateuch. And inspiration, Denis Farkasfalvy stresses, should be applied both in a subjective sense to inspired authors and in an objective sense to inspired texts. The authors consistently call for a synthesis rather than a dichotomies.

Pablo Gadenz’s essay is one of the longer submissions. It adheres closest to Verbum Domini as well as Joseph Ratzinger’s earlier comments such as this one: “[I]n the realm of Catholicism … there is now a total hiatus between exegesis and dogma” (41). Despite the utility of historical criticism, Gadenz notes, its adherents have often favored a critical approach where Scripture is “emancipated” (42) from theology. The historical-literary approach and the spiritual-theological approach should not be at loggerheads but rather complement each other, he insists.

The essays aimed at seminarian curriculum content concerns are similarly lively. I especially enjoyed Kelly Anderson’s proposal to teach the notoriously-difficult-to-teach Psalms by examining them within the context of the Liturgy of the Hours and adding a healthy dose of modern research scholarship to the mix. She writes: “Such a method accentuates the role of the psalms in the liturgy and provides the seminarian a means of cultivating his spiritual life” (162).

As the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops insisted, “[e]xegetical knowledge must … weave itself indissolubly with spiritual and theological tradition so that the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ and Scripture is not broken” (160). This is no small feat. Verbum Domini’s reorientation is both “a tall task” (11) and “a tall order” (60). But this slim collection of essays skillfully highlights several paths for doing so