By Dr. Scott Hahn
This summer I've been reading the first sermons and writings of our new Pope Benedict XVI.
I'm amazed at how even his short talks and letters brim with biblical quotes and allusions.
We knew he was one of the world's finest biblical theologians. But now we're seeing him apply the fruits of his study to the universal Church's pastoral and spiritual needs. The results are beautiful and profound.
For instance, at the end of his first meeting with the priests of Rome, he delivered a long, impromptu reflection based on St. Peter's first letter. Those who proclaim the Gospel, he said, must have "their soul open to Christ, interiorly listening to His Word so that it is assimilated and transformed and forms [their] being."
Since the time of Peter and Paul, the Church's greatest pastoral and spiritual teachers have also been some of her greatest students and scholars of God's Word.
The apostles' writings reflect their prayerful study of Scripture. It's the same with Augustine, Aquinas, Gregory the Great, and many more. The Word they study so deeply is the same Word they pray and live by.
One of the great problems today, our current pope once said, is that biblical scholarship has become a "science of the specialists," far removed from the needs of pastors, ordinary believers, and other "non-experts."
With our new journal, Letter & Spirit, we're trying to bridge that gap. We want priests, seminarians, scholars, and teachers to share in the fruits of the authentic Catholic biblical renewal that's going on in seminaries, colleges, and even in the chair of St. Peter.
Our recently released high-school textbook, Understanding the Scriptures, aims to inspire the next Catholic generation - our future priests and lay people - to fall in love with Scripture. Letter & Spirit will ensure that their love remains strong and true throughout their lives.
Check out our new website - www.letterandspirit.org - to read more about the distinguished scholars who contributed to our inaugural issue. They are part of a new breed of faithful scholars. They know, as our new Pope knows, that there's no conflict between serious literary and historical study of the Bible and our worship of the God revealed in its pages. On the contrary, when you read the Bible from the heart of the Church, you are led deeper into the mysteries of sacred history and sacred Scripture.
As Benedict has said, Scripture study should help us to know, love, and serve Jesus. With Letter & Spirit we're promoting this kind of life-transforming scholarship. We want to show how the written text becomes living Word in the liturgy - for every believer.
August 2005
