This document's purpose is to spell out the Church's understanding of the nature of revelation--the process whereby God communicates with human beings. It touches upon questions about Scripture, tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church. The major concern of the document is to proclaim a Catholic understanding of the Bible as the "word of God." Key elements include: Trinitarian structure, roles of apostles and bishops, and biblical reading in a historical context.

Dei Verbum (in Italian the Word of God, often abbreviated as DV) is a dogmatic constitution issued by the Second Vatican Council concerning "Divine Revelation" and Sacred Scripture. It is one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council; it would be the foundation, according to the auxiliary bishop of Westminster Christopher Butler, an influential conciliar father. The constitution was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965, following the approval of the bishops gathered in assembly with 2,344 votes in favor and 6 against. The title is a reference both to the Holy Scriptures (literally, the "Word of God"), and to Jesus Christ himself (the Word of God) and is taken from the incipit of the document, as is customary in the most important official documents of the Catholic church.

The Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation is universally acclaimed as one of the council’s most important documents. Published in 1965 after a long and circuitous route throughout all four years of the council, Dei Verbum sets forth the Catholic Church’s official teaching about divine revelation and the complex interrelationship between Scripture and Tradition. With the approach of the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution, this book—intended for general audiences—summarizes the history and principal teaching of this groundbreaking document. Accompanying the text of The Word of God at Vatican II is a paragraph-by-paragraph commentary and an exploration of the impact the constitution has had in the church’s life. Readers will be amazed at how influential Dei Verbum continues to be, even today.

This book describes the history of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, its content, its importance, and how it has helped to direct the future of Roman Catholic biblical studies.

Challenged by the teaching of Vatican II about the "seeds of the Word" in non-Christian religions, this book investigates the sacred character of the Saddharmapuṇḍarika Sūtra and its relation to the fundamental theological category of scriptural inspiration. In applying the methods of modern exegesis, the Sūtra in its ingenious composition is disclosed as a religious drama about the inspirational experience of the Buddha. The draft of a theology of inspiration along the guide lines of the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum of Vatican II elaborates a 'christology of the Word' as its core, which allows an extension of inspiration in analogical manner to non-Biblical scriptures. The contrast of Christ, the "Word incarnate", and Buddha, the "Inspired One", offers a new contribution to an inter- religious dialogue.

For fruitful discussion within the Church, for a meaningful dialogue with other Christians, for the renewal of the theology of preaching--for these and many other reasons, we need a new understanding of the nature of revelation. The usual apologetical treatment of revelation, bent on proving its existence, touches but the fringe of the reality. Our day and age needs a theology of revelation which probes the nature, depths and dimensions of the mystery. Father Latourelle's study is a significant contribution in this unfurrowed field, and may well be recognized as a landmark for years to come. His treatment of scriptural data on the notion of revelation is grounded on the advances of twentieth century exegesis. He admirably handles the multifaceted Old Testament notion of revelation; and his detailed study of the Synoptics, Acts, Paul, and John heightens the point that the Old Testament's revelation foreshadowed the New, and the New is only intelligible against the background of the Old. His summary of the patristic idea of revelation is erudite and stimulating, and probes the thoughts of twenty writers from the Apostolic Fathers to Augustine. The richness of patristic insight contrasts sharply with later theological studies of the nature of revelation. His study of the theological thought of the scholastic and neo-scholastic schools is critical and informative. Their approach culminated in overstressing the apologetical aspects of revelation--a course which modern theology is abandoning to re-discover a theology of revelation that is Christ-centered, Scriptural, historical and interpersonal. In treating of the magisterium, the author presents a splendid analysis of official documents from Trent to Vatican II, and his summary underscores the point that the Church documents present a view of revelation that closely resembles that of the biblical and patristic sources. The author's personal reflections enable us to view many aspects of revelation in a new light. He draws on the insights of modern linguistics to give a new dimension to revelation's traditional definition, locutio Dei. He elucidates the point that revelation is neither event alone nor word alone--its structure is sacramental and consists of events interpreted by word . . . In dealing with preaching, miracles and other themes, Father Latourelle combines wide erudition and lucidity, and his work stands as a major contribution to modern theological thought.