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The scholarly spadework that lies behind these new translations has appeared in topflight technical journals — such as the Catholic Biblical Quarterly in the U.S. and Revue Biblique put out by the Ecole Biblique — which are read and respected by scholars of all faiths. Protestant Bible students have high regard for the work of such men as Catholic University's Semitics expert, Monsignor Patrick Skehan, Father David Stanley of the State University of Iowa, Jesuit John McKenzie of Loyola University of Chicago. Says W. D. Davies, professor of Biblical Theology at Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary: "I wouldn't dream of undertaking a scholarly work without studying what Catholics have done first." Catholics and Protestants still disagree on the theological interpretation of many Scriptural texts—for example, Jesus' words in Matthew (16: 16-19), which Catholics say define the primacy of Peter among the Apostles. But, notes Father Roland Murphy, editor of the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, "Catholics and Protestant scholars have found a common bond —the task of explaining the Word of God in its historical perspective." Today Scriptural criticism may be the most ecumenical of all pursuits. "I'm working in the closest understanding with every good Protestant scholar," says Dominican Father Roland de Vaux, head of the Ecole Biblique and world-famed as one of the editors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. "We don't agree on everything, but the more we study, the more we discover, the more we understand—and the more we agree." This agreement is now going beyond the sharing of manuscripts and archaeological finds to a more exciting task: the creation of a Bible translation common to all Christians. In France and Germany, Protestant and Catholic scholars have jointly begun work on new translations of the New Testament; Catholics are working on an interdenominational Bible now being edited by Presbyterian Scholars William F. Albright and David Noel Freedman.
The Bishops Agree. Will attacks by Roman conservatives block this ecumenical encounter? The Biblical scholars ar dently hope not; but the battle is not over. On their side, the scholars point to the willingness of many dogmatic and moral theologians to accept their findings, the new understanding of Biblical research among the hierarchy. At the Vatican Council, a majority of bishops voted against a schema on the sources of revelation, prepared by Holy Office theologians, that would have rigorously distinguished between Scripture and tradition; Biblical scholars and most "liberal" theologians see them as a single source of dogma. In December the members of a theological commission assigned to formulate the schema on Scripture rejected a proposal signed by 19 conservative cardinals to impose new restrictions on Bible scholars. "Criticism can always be expected in any church," concludes Father de Vaux. "But honest study of the Bible can only bring together all faiths and people who base their religious inspiration and beliefs on the Bible. And this means all Christians. Ultimately, full understanding of the Bible will mean full agreement among all Christian confessions."