March 2025 Print

By Michael J. Miller

In the popular imagination of the English-speaking world, the Protestant Reformation was a much-needed return to Bible-based Christianity. The Reformers dismissed the subtleties of Scholastic theology as useless disputes about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. The image of a Bible chained to a podium in a Gothic cathedral was held up as an emblem of the Catholic Church’s attempt to imprison the written word of the Lord.

The wealth of medieval commentaries on individual books of the Bible testifies that the Church neither neglected nor downplayed Sacred Scripture. There was some truth in the first criticism, though, that there was a period of stale disputes. “With the beginning of the fourteenth century the creative and classical period of early Scholasticism came to an end. In the next two centuries what had been achieved to date was not lost, but neither was it essentially increased and further developed.” It was merely repeated and reworked as the doctrine of various schools (Dominican, Franciscan, Augustinian), while bad philosophy (Nominalism), endless academic speculation, and false mysticism diminished its practical value.¹

During the decades leading up to and following the Council of Trent (1545–1563), Catholic scholars made great progress in the study of Sacred Scripture. This article describes the historical setting for this development and illustrates it with biographical sketches of three Jesuit exegetes.

Historical Setting

Our guide to the pre-conciliar period and the Counter-Reformation will be Matthias Joseph Scheeben, a nineteenth-century German priest and seminary professor. In Book One, Part Two of his Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, he gives a masterly survey of the history of Catholic theology. The following passages are quoted from Section C on “The modern period since the outbreak of the Reformation.”

“The further development of theology since the late fifteenth and the early sixteenth century was prepared and defined in its peculiar character chiefly by three circumstances: the invention of the art of printing books, the revival of ancient classical studies, and the radical battle of the Reformers against the entire historical heritage of the Church. Because of these circumstances, indeed, a more careful and more fruitful treatment of the biblical-historical side of theology became both possible and necessary.”²

In the “preparatory period” from 1500 to 1570, “promising beginnings … were made in the theological-philological exegesis of Sacred Scripture.”³ In other words, key biblical texts were studied scientifically, with close attention to the historical meanings of the words, in order to determine more precisely their doctrinal meaning.

The next phase of this development, approximately from 1570-1660, “the real heyday…began immediately after the conclusion of the Council of Trent, which gave rise to it through the deliberations conducted at it no less than through its Decrees; no other period in Church history has anything like the wealth and variety of its achievements.”⁴

During the Counter-Reformation, the older religious communities, “the heirs of the theology of the thirteenth century, did appear again with rejuvenated strength; the lion’s share, nevertheless, fell to the newly founded Jesuit Order [1540], which in all fields of theology, but especially in exegetical [i.e. Scriptural] and historical theology, had the greatest influence, and sought to develop further the speculative theology of the Middle Ages in a free, eclectic manner and in a form corresponding to the needs and the advances of the time…Instead of [Peter] Lombard’s Sentences, from now on the most mature fruit of the thirteenth century, the Summa [Theologiae] of Saint Thomas, was made the basic textbook, after it had been displayed at the Council beside Sacred Scripture and the Corpus iuris canonici [Code of Canon Law] as the most trustworthy expression of the Church’s theological consciousness.”⁵

“Generally the Jesuits at that time, especially the Spanish ones, raised the academic study of Scripture to its highest perfection.”⁶ Fr. Scheeben mentions more than a dozen Jesuit exegetes from all over Western Europe. This article will highlight the first and the last on the list, who are still well known today: Francisco Ribera and Cornelius a Lapide. First, however, we will look at the life and work of St. Robert Bellarmine, who is listed further on (par. 1088) among the controversialists of the Counter-Reformation. Scheeben remarks: “The dogmatic application and utilization of Sacred Scripture can…be pursued in multiple ways…3) for the specific purpose of proving dogmatically individual doctrines disputed by heretics in the controversy with them (as in the works of Bellarmine…).”⁷

St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J.

Robert Bellarmine was born in 1542 in Montepulciano (Tuscany) of an old noble family; his mother was the sister of Pope Marcellus II. He joined the Society of Jesus in Rome in 1560 and studied philosophy at the Roman College 1560-1563. He was ordained a priest in Louvain in 1570 and became the first Jesuit to hold a professorial chair in theology at the University of Louvain (1570-1576). With great tact he refuted the heretical errors of Baius. Gregory XIII called him to Rome to be professor of controversial theology (1576-1588). His lectures were the basis of his major work Disputations about matters of faith that are controversial at this time, which caused a sensation throughout Europe. The Protestants forbade reading it and established professorships at their universities to respond to Bellarmine’s arguments.⁸

In his Disputationes, Bellarmine systematically treated “the main questions of the day in three main groups:” 1) Scripture and Tradition, Christ, the Church, and the authority of Councils; 2) grace and freedom, sin and justification; 3) the nature of sacrifice and the Sacraments as means of grace. “The erudition, clarity, concision, and solidity on display in this work are acknowledged even by its opponents, and for a long time it was the point on which the controversy between Catholics and Protestants hinged.”⁹

Bellarmine became Rector of the Roman College (1594–1597) and was elected Jesuit Provincial in Naples. Pope Clement VIII called him to be his personal theologian and in 1602 created him a cardinal. The Jesuit diplomatically ended the heated debate between Thomists and Molinists over the relation between grace and free will, advising the Pope not to decide in favor of either party, but simply to command peace and mutual respect. He was similarly tactful in dealing with the mishaps that occurred during the revision of the Vulgate Bible, which was finally published under Clement VIII.

Cardinal Bellarmine also “assumed the leading role” in “coming to terms with Copernicus” and the theory of heliocentrism.¹⁰ He had to perform a delicate balancing act of defending the Church’s authority to declare the meaning of Scripture (e.g. the creation account in the Book of Genesis), while respecting the autonomy of the natural sciences. He himself had taught astronomy during his scholasticate. Later, he had a run-in with the Inquisition because of his “novel” interpretation of the limits on the Pope’s temporal authority (although the next pope promptly vindicated him). Therefore, the legends about the persecution of Galileo notwithstanding, Bellarmine was broadminded and treated the astronomer respectfully. His verdict: that Galileo could teach heliocentrism as one hypothesis that explains celestial observations, but not as a proven fact, was exactly correct, given the insufficient data available at that time.

Cardinal Bellarmine wrote a commentary on the entire Psalter, initially as a personal spiritual exercise, but also to help priests and religious recite the Divine Office with greater understanding.¹¹ He was canonized in 1930.

Francisco de Ribera, S.J.

Francisco de Ribera was born in 1537 in Villacastin near Segovia. He became a Jesuit in 1570, then taught for sixteen years as professor of exegesis at the Jesuit College in Salamanca. He published a Scriptural commentary on the twelve Minor Prophets and also historical commentaries on those same books of the Bible. He was a father confessor of St. Teresa of Avila and composed her first biography, La Vida de la Madre Teresa de Jesús (1590), which has been in print ever since. He died in 1591 in Salamanca.¹²

The facts of Ribera’s life are few, but Fr. Scheeben explains the historic importance of his scholarship and that of his confreres. “Since the early sixteenth century, the new development of theology on a grand scale…proceeded from that country which in the Middle Ages had been most backward [because of its relative poverty], but now was the least affected by the heretical movements: from Spain, especially from the Universities of Salamanca, Alcala, and Coimbra. Spanish theologians were chiefly the ones who, partly through their activity at the Council of Trent…partly through their work of teaching in the other countries stimulated and promoted theology as a science in them, too.”¹³

Ribera also wrote a commentary on the Gospel of John that is important for dogmatic theology.¹⁴ Through an exegesis of the Prologue (esp. Jn 1:18) and Jn 8:38, “I speak that which I have seen with My Father,” he proves that Christ is an eyewitness of divine things in His humanity (and not only in His divinity).¹⁵ This disproves 350 years in advance the mid-twentieth century speculations about “Christ’s human consciousness.”

Fr. Scheeben concludes: “Exegesis received such a great impetus right at the beginning [of the Post-Tridentine era], particularly in Spain and among the Jesuits, that there was hardly anything left for the following period to do, and for centuries scholars could live on the fruits produced then, whereas nothing like it was achieved then or later by the Bible-revering Protestants.”¹⁶

Cornelius a Lapide, S.J.

Cornelius a Lapide (Cornelis van den Steen) was born in 1567 in Bocholt (in modern-day Belgium) to a Flemish-speaking family. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1592 and taught exegesis in Leuven from 1596–1616, then from 1616 on in Rome. He composed large-scale, running commentaries on all the books of the Bible except Job and the Psalms. He died in Rome in 1637.¹⁷

Fr. Scheeben calls a Lapide “the diligent collector of the fruits of the previous detailed works [by Jesuit Scripture scholars].”¹⁸ His commentary ranges from occasional textual criticism (determining the most likely reading when manuscripts differ) and philological analysis (often citing the Greek of Syriac versions) to a “wealth of exposition of the moral sense [of Scripture], relying on the Church Fathers and earlier interpreters…A goldmine for preachers. Particularly successful and useful are his commentaries on the Pentateuch and Epistles of St. Paul.”¹⁹

A Lapide’s commentary on The Epistle to the Hebrews, for example, demonstrates that the teaching of the Council of Trent about the priesthood is deeply rooted in the Person of Christ and New Testament practice.²⁰

The encyclopedic exegete was also a spiritual theologian, highly esteemed by St. Louis Marie de Montfort. “Father Cornelius a Lapide, noted both for holiness and profound learning, was commissioned by several bishops and theologians to examine (this Marian devotion). The praise he gave it after mature examination, is a worthy tribute to his own holiness.”²¹

Conclusion

This brief historical outline and the three figures that illustrate it show that biblical scholarship during the Counter-Reformation was ressourcement before that term was invented: a return to the sources.

“For precisely this was the greatness of that period: the fact that all aspects of theology,” (described earlier as “exegetical, polemical, Scholastic, mystical, and historical-patristic”) “were cultivated in very close union and interdependence: the exegesis is not merely philological-critical [i.e. text-centered], but also utilizes the accomplishments of Scholasticism and patristics for a deeper understanding and a fuller substantiation of Catholic doctrine; the strong point of the major controversialists was just this combination of Scholastic training and thorough exegetical-historical knowledge.…Many theologians were also active in all or several of these fields at the same time.”²²

In other words, post-Tridentine Scripture scholars were the “Renaissance men” of biblical studies.

Endnotes

¹ Matthias Joseph Scheeben, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, Volume 1.2 (Steubenville, Emmaus Academic, 2019), paragraph 1064.

² Ibid., par. 1077.

³ Ibid., par. 1082.

⁴ Ibid., par. 1083.

⁵ Ibid., par. 1078.

⁶ Ibid., par. 1085.

⁷ Ibid., par. 942.

⁸ Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche [LThK], 2:126-127.

⁹ Scheeben, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, vol. 1.2, par. 1088.

¹⁰ Walter Brandmüller, The Galileo Case and the Church (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2024), chapter 2, “The History: The journey to Rome.”

¹¹ Robert Bellarmine, S.J. Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Fitzwilliam, NH: Loreto Publications, 2003).

¹² LThK 8:868.

¹³ Scheeben, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, vol. 1.2, par. 1078.

¹⁴ Ibid., par. 1086.

¹⁵ Scheeben, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, vol. 5.2, par. 968.

¹⁶ Scheeben, Handbook of Catholic Dogmatics, vol. 1.2, par. 1084.

¹⁷ LThK 6:209.

¹⁸ Scheeben, Handbook of Dogmatic Theology, vol. 1.2, par. 1085.

¹⁹ LThK 6:209.

²⁰ Cornelius a Lapide, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Fitzwilliam, NH: Loreto Publications, to be published Fall, 2025).

²¹ St. Louis Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, translated by Fr. William Faber (Bay Shore, NY: Montfort Publications, 1987, 5th ed.), #161.

²² Scheeben, Handbook of Dogmatic Theology, vol. 1.2, par. 1083.