There is a certain magic—and a distinct weight—in pulling down a hefty, burgundy-clad volume of the New Catholic Encyclopedia from the shelf. Published in 1967, this set sits exactly at the crossroads of tradition and earthquake. It was the first major Catholic reference work to be published after the close of the Second Vatican Council (1965), but much of its content was written during the whirlwind of the Council itself.
Flipping the Page on Vatican II: A Look at Volume 14, Page 299 (1967) new catholic encyclopedia -1967- volume 14 page 299
Today, I opened Volume 14: Pope to Revelation . And I turned specifically to page 299. There is a certain magic—and a distinct weight—in
Page 299 draws a sharp, pre-modernist line: The teaching authority of the Church (the Magisterium) does not sit above the Word of God, but serves it. For a mid-century Catholic, this was a crucial clarification against the charge that the Pope could just "make up" new dogmas. Flipping the Page on Vatican II: A Look
Here is what a reader in 1967 would have found on that page:
The page discusses how Revelation is not merely a book dropped from heaven, but a living reality. It balances the Protestant Sola Scriptura with the Catholic Duo Fontes (two sources: Scripture and Tradition). But interestingly, writing in 1967, the author is already hedging. They acknowledge that Scripture and Tradition are not two separate "containers" of truth, but a single flowing stream.
No. The 1967 edition still bears the scars of pre-conciliar defensiveness. But page 299 of Volume 14 is a small masterpiece of transition.