1. INTRODUCTION

The Battle of the Exegetes has been raging for the past three hundred years, since the French Catholic Oratorian scholar Richard Simon (1638-1712) published his Histoire critique da Vieux Testament (Paris 1678). Because of the publication of this book later ages gave Simon the title of "father of modern critical exegesis", but in his own age this book caused his expulsion from the Congregation of the Oratory. (1) First used by a Catholic scholar, this type of exegesis soon became the characteristic domain of liberal Protestant scholarship. However, if Richard Simon were to return today among us he would probably find himself comfortably at home in the exegetical atmosphere officially accepted by the Catholic Church.

Does this mean that the Catholic Church has gone over to the liberal Protestant side? Does it mean that Richard Simon himself was a crypto-Protestant of liberal persuasions? Is liberal critical exegesis a viable form of understanding the Word of God? Can one be a critical exegete and at the same time a faithful Christian believer? My reflection on the relationship of critical exegesis and Christian faith has been stimulated by the recent publication in English of a book by two distinguished German exegetes, H. Conzelmann and A. Lindemann, Arbeitsbuch zum Neuen Testament (Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1985, 8th revised edition; English translation by Siegfried S. Schatzmann: Interpreting the New Testament: An Introduction to the Principles and Methods of N. T. Exegesis, Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1988). The book is a mine of reference material regarding critical exegesis. It is divided into five parts, which read as follows: Part One: Methodology; Part Two: Contemporary History of the NT - The Environment of Primitive Christianity; Part Three: The New Testament Writings - An Overview; Part Four: Jesus of Nazareth; Part Five: History of Early Christianity. Part Three is a detailed historical-critical presentation of all NT books; Part Four begins with the birth and ends with the death of Jesus (the resurrection is left completely out of the picture); in Part Five, the chapter entitled "The Rise of the Christian Church" mentions the faith of the disciples in the resurrection of Jesus.

The reading of this book has posed for me in the strongest possible terms the challenge of critical scholarship to a traditional understanding of the Christian faith. I felt challenged, even though, or perhaps just because, the two authors in the preface assert that they "began with the assumption that the historical-critical interpretation of the NT cannot be an end in itself but is to contribute especially to the clarification of what is Christian belief". While reflecting on the implications of standpoints of this book, I was happy to hear of the publication of an important document of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, entitled The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (April 15, 1993). The present paper is the result of the interaction of my reflection with the reading of these two influential publications.

1. cf. P. Auvray, "Simon, Richard" in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967.