Historically, the Catholic Church has defended itself from attacks, both real and imagined, from enemies of the faith, and this defensiveness also extended to Biblical studies. The twentieth century saw a relaxing of this defensiveness, culminating in the decree Dei Verbum pronounced by Vatican II, encouraging Catholic scholars to use more modern methods of interpreting the Scriptures, under the guidance of the Vatican office, the Pontifical Biblical Commission. In 1994 the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued the decree, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, signed by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. This is more readable than the typical Vatican document. We highly encourage that you study this decree for yourself, especially if you are not familiar with the history of biblical criticism. Vatican decrees are written both for guidance to bishops and to instruct the church as a whole, and this decree also discusses a few arcane interpretation methods, you can skip over these sections. We will also discuss: • The Vatican II Constitution, Dei Verbum. • The Historical-critical method. • Lower or textual biblical criticism and higher or literary biblical criticism; and also Form criticism, Genre criticism, Tradition criticism, and Redaction criticism. • Dead Sea Scrolls and rabbinical commentary. • Liberation theology and feminist theology, and the preferential option for the poor. • Pope Francis and his Decree of Gaudete et Exultate, On the Call To Holiness in Today’s World, and Latin American Bishops Conference held in 2007 called Aparecida. • Interesting critique on fundamentalism and Sola Scriptura, aka Scripture Alone. • Patristic exegesis, or the writings of the Apostolic Church Fathers, and the role of allegory. YouTube Script: https://youtu.be/6jwUNScn_sM See our blog: http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/interpretation-of-the-bible-in-the-church/ Please support our channel by purchasing the books we discuss from Amazon, we receive a small associate’s commission: Trent: What Happened at the Council, by John W. O'Malley https://amzn.to/3B748US , Kindle: https://amzn.to/2XVjFZF , Lectures: https://amzn.to/3I27KLX What Happened at Vatican II Paperback, by John W. O'Malley https://amzn.to/3lY5xJb , Kindle: https://amzn.to/2XVjFZF Lectures: https://amzn.to/3gJEuNY Catechism of the Catholic Church, UCSSB Bishop's Edition https://amzn.to/3kca1sT A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church https://amzn.to/2W4cxK2 Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church https://amzn.to/37UXEMm Gospel, Catechesis, Catechism: Sidelights on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger