“The Book of the community” or “the community of the Book”? Location problem of theological authority

Abstract

The article concerns the relationship between the Holy Scripture and the community of faith. The interaction of the community on the Scripture and that of the Scripture on the community are analyzed. First the elements of interaction during the period of formation of various scriptures are described. Already then we can talk about a kind of theological and existential dialogue between Scripture and community. Thanks to this dialogue both the community and the Scripture can develop. The same dialogue continues in the second period too, when the biblical canon is formed. At this stage a special role play so called ‘criteria of canonicity’, which operate within the community. Finally, we can recognize the contemporary modality of this never-ending dialogue in the process of actualization of Bible in the Church. What can be helpful in this contemporary process of actualization is the hermeneutical attitude identified in the previous stages of that dialogue.