Second Vatican Council on Authority of Scripture
Scripture with tradition and church teaching office
Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church.
THE POSITION
Dei Verbum holds that tradition and Scripture together form one deposit of the word of God, both to be received "with the same sense of loyalty and reverence." Interpreting that deposit authentically belongs to the church's living teaching office. The council adds a sentence Trent did not have: "This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it."
12 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Met in St Peter's Basilica in four autumn sessions, opened by John XXIII and closed under Paul VI. It issued sixteen documents (four constitutions, nine decrees and three declarations) on revelation, the church, the liturgy, ecumenism, religious freedom and the church in the modern world. It set out to renew how the church teaches rather than to define new dogma, and issued no anathemas. The Catholic Church counts it the twenty-first ecumenical council. Quoted from the English translations on vatican.va; the official text is Latin.
Cite this page
"Second Vatican Council on Authority of Scripture", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/vatican-2/scripture-authority (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/vatican-2/scripture-authority).