Pius XI vs. Hitler; Bibel vs. Babel; Biblical vs. Babylonian Prayer & Praise

Alan Lenzi just shared the delightful news that a projected volume of Akkadian prayers annotated by him, with comparative suggestions, has been accepted for publication.

The thought of the volume took me back to my days as a student at the Pope’s Bible College, aka, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, in which I hit upon a volume in Italian by Giorgio Castellino entitled (I translate): Individual Lamentations and Hymns in Babylonia and Israel Compared, from the point of view of Content and Form. An ancient forerunner, if you will, of Alan’s project. At the time, it was a great pleasure to spend a few hours with Castellino’s volume. There is a story attached to the monograph, inasmuch as it is, in essence, the dissertation Castellino defended in May 1938 [note date!] in the presence of Pope Pius XI. It really is fun to think of the Pope at the defense of a thesis filled with biblical and assyriological minutiae.

The story is worth retelling. With few exceptions, Assyriologists, not to mention students of the Hebrew Bible, know nothing of the episode. It is the kind of story one wishes would find its way into introductions to the Hebrew Bible, dry as dust, often, because they treat the history of the discipline without reference to its embedment in history broadly understood. After the jump, a story you will enjoy hearing, if you enjoy a great story.

A translation of an excerpt of a lecture given by Giacomo Martina on the occasion of the 90^th anniversary of the Pontifical Biblical Institute (in 1999). (This year, we celebrate its 100^th anniversary.) I trust that readers will savor the register and diction of the whole, which I have tried to preserve in translation.

The interest with which Pius XI followed the work of the Biblicum transpires from a singular episode. In April-May 1938 his resistance to Nazism came to clear expression in his invitation in April of that year to all the Catholic universities to refute the key racist principles of Nazi ideology, and his departure from Rome to Castel Gandolfo on the occasion of Hitler’s arrival in the Italian capital for an official visit. After having deplored, in a speech at Castelgandolfo, the ostentatious reception given in Rome to a cross that was not that of Christ, at the end of May the Pope, just after Hitler’s visit to Rome concluded, chose to be present, in his summer residence, at the discussion of the thesis prepared for the Biblicum by the Salesian Giorgio Castellino, on the Psalms: Le lamentazioni individuali e gli inni in Babilonia e in Israele raffrontati, riguardo alla forma e al contenuto [Individual Lamentations and Hymns in Babylonia and Israel Compared, from the point of view of Content and Form]. It was the first time (but not the the last) that a thesis of the Biblicum was discussed in the presence of the Pontifex.

The thesis, directed by father Vaccari, and critically examined by fathers Bea, Pohl, Dyson, Semkowski, and Merk, was approved with a good grade, though it did not receive the highest possible grade. But the content of the dissertation and the political context made the occasion particularly interesting, and invested the ceremony with a certain significance: from the realm of pure, abstract science one passed to science close to the concrete reality of the moment, not without political implications. The author of the dissertation, who died a decade ago after a fine career in state universities, nominated, furthermore, member of the Biblical Commission during Vatican II, handily refuted a thesis dear to a part of German scholarship, which viewed the Psalms, not as original poetry, held up and inspired by a high supernatural religiosity, but as a mere imitation of Babylonian literature and poetry, according to the efficacious but anti-scientific motto: Bibel und Babel. Pius XI responded with satisfaction, expressed with visible emotion his sincere appreciation for the Biblicum, and advised that professors of Scripture at the seminaries have at least the licentiate in Scripture.¹⁸

“Say the Biblicum,” the Pope added, “and you say it all, insofar as it treats the holy book that bears and preserves the word of God . . . The Biblicum is a precious Institute.” The Pope continued with allusions to events of that month, in Rome. “The Lord willed it that the Pope saw from afar and close at hand many sad things. But the Holy Father must still say that God is good, because He allows him to enjoy many good and beautiful things [an allusion to the thesis defense], such that his trust in God and his perfect peace and tranquility are truly full and absolute.”

¹⁸ See Osservatore Romano, May 21 1938. The Vatican newspaper showcased the discussion of the thesis, with a headline and an ample article that filled several columns. The thesis was published with the same title in Turin in 1940, with a single introductory allusion to its genesis: “the printing of the present work, discussed as a finishing thesis in Holy Scripture in the presence of His Holiness Pius XI in May 1938 …” The author avoids every apologetic intent, and only in conclusion devotes attention to a comparison between the Babylonian poetry and that of the Bible, admitting an indirect influence at most, and underlining the fundamental difference between Israelite monotheism and Babylonian polytheism.

From “A novanti’anni dalla fondazione del Pontifio Istituto Biblico,” by Giacomo Martino, online here. Published offline, with appendices, in Archivum Historiae Pontificiae 37 (1999) 129-160.

Comments

[Alan Lenzi]

John, actually, I am only editing the volume and contributing 5 or 6 prayers. The other two dozen will come from other scholars.

Thanks for highlighting the dissertation from 1938.

[JohnFH]

Alan, I look forward to the volume with sincere interest.

[UK dissertations]

Blogs are so interactive where we get lots o informative on any topics nice job keep it up !!