L'autorite et les autorites - l'hermeneutique theologique de vatican 2
Gilles routhier
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From a history of the Council and research on the reception of Vatican II, we have progressed to discussing the hermeneutics of the last Council, as though its significance for us depends on how we interpret it. This present volume, the fruit of the second colloquium of the International Group for Research on the Hermeneutics of Vatican II, aims to emphasize an important element which has not yet been dealt with in the current research. It is ‘authority', which manifests itself in several ways: the authority of the conciliar teachings for our contemporaries who evolve in a different cultural context from that which prevailed at the time of the Council the authority of the official interpreters of a tradition and other interpreters the authority of the interpreter who questions the authority of the traditional contents the authority of the transmission over the contents transmitted, etc. In short, the interpreters of the conciliar texts are confronted with the same issues as those raised in the course of discussions in the conciliar ‘aula', that is to say a discussion on the authority of the Scriptures, the Tradition, the magisterium, the ‘sensus fidelium', conscience, Faith, the Pope, the College of Bishops, the Episcopal conferences, experience, practice, etc. In short, they are obliged to return to an unfinished discussion on theological phenomena and their hierarchical organization.