From the Anti-Reformist Method of the Documents of the Council of Trent to the Pastoral Methods of the Second Vatican Council
From the Anti-Reformist Method of the Documents of the Council of Trent to the Pastoral Methods of the Second Vatican Council

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes the approaches to interpreting Revelation found in the documents of the last three councils: Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II. The analysis was carried out using the following methods: comparative, historical-hermeneutical (Formgeschichte/Formkritik). In contrast to the scholastic, polemical, and apologetic methods of earlier councils, the Second Vatican Council departed from the dogmatic style of teaching, emphasizing a positive description of the Church, its self-understanding, and its relationship with the world, while avoiding condemnation and negation. An analysis of the conciliar texts reveals two great ecclesial traditions: legal (Tridentine, Vatican I) and pastoral-dialogical invitation (Vatican II). What we are dealing with here is an organic process of development in the understanding of the doctrine of faith.

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