The Church: The Living Community

Time has been busy of late and I have not been able to write much or read for that matter. But now things are beginning to get into a new rhythm. But, I thought the below quotation from the Holy Father to be excellent.

The reality that is the Church transcends any literary formulation of it. Of course, what she believes and lives can be, and is, contained in books. But it is not totally assimilated by these books. On the contrary, the books fulfill their function as books only when they point to the community in which the word is to be found. This living community cannot be replaced or surpassed by historical exegesis; it is inherently superior to any book. By its very nature, the word of faith presupposes the community that lives it, that is bound to it and that adheres to it in its very power to bind mankind. Just as revelation transcends the limits of pure scientism of historical reason. In this sense, it can be said that the inner nature of faith justifies the Church's claim to be the primary interpreter of the word and that this claim cannot be abdicated in favor of enlightened reason without rendering questionable the very structure of faith as a possibility for mankind. Community of faith is the situs of understanding. It cannot be replaced by the science of history.

This is why exegesis on its own does not serve the Living Community.