Father Raymond E. Brown (1928-1998) established himself as one of the most influential Catholic biblical scholars of the 20th century. His academic and ecclesial career was marked by the extensive use of the historical-critical method to analyze the Bible. Brown was a pioneer in the application and legitimization of this method among Catholics in the USA, especially after the impetus given by the encyclicals Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943) by Pius XII, and the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum (1965) of the Second Vatican Council, which opened space for critical and scientific approaches to the study of the Scriptures. However, the reception of his work was not unanimous. Various traditionalist critics, such as Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, Msgr. George A. Kelly (author of the critical work The New Biblical Theorists, 1983), Fr. Richard Gilsdorf, and others, accuse him of undermining central dogmas of the Catholic faith by prioritizing historical analysis over tradition and literal biblical inerrancy. For these opponents, Brown's methodology represented a rupture with the hermeneutics of continuity.
👼 The historicity of the infancy narratives of Jesus
One of the points of greatest friction lies in the analysis of the works The Birth of the Messiah (1977/1993) and "An Adult Christ at Christmas" (1978). In them, Brown considers elements such as the appearance of angels to Mary and Joseph, the star guiding the magi, the angels to the shepherds, the massacre of the innocents by Herod, the flight into Egypt, and even whether Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth before the birth of Jesus to be "very uncertain" or of doubtful historical value. He sees these narratives more as post-resurrection "theologization" (theological messages developed by the early communities) than as precise historical facts. This stance is interpreted by traditionalists as a relativization of miracles and an indirect attack on dogmas such as the perpetual virginity of Mary, since the deconstruction of the literality of the biblical account would, in the view of these critics, weaken the scriptural support of Marian doctrine.
📜 The questioning of the total inerrancy of Scripture
Traditionalists accuse Brown of denying the full inerrancy of the Bible (taught in encyclicals such as Providentissimus Deus by Leo XIII and Spiritus Paraclitus by Benedict XV), by suggesting that parts of the Gospels contain mythological or non-historical elements to convey theological truths, rather than literal facts. The criticism lies in the transition from an absolute inerrancy - covering geography, history, and science - to a limited or salvific inerrancy, as some interpret Dei Verbum (n. 11). For Brown's critics, this distinction sets a precedent for any event inconvenient to the modern mindset to be classified as a non-historical "literary genre," emptying the divinely inspired character of the biblical narrative.
⛪ Approach to the Resurrection and the foundation of the Church
Although Brown defends the bodily Resurrection of Jesus as a real event, his emphasis on the critical method leads to questioning the details of the post-resurrection appearances and other miracles (such as the Transfiguration), seen as theological constructions intended to express the faith of the early Church. Critics say this weakens the physical historicity of the Resurrection and the foundation of the Church by Jesus. In addition, Brown is frequently challenged for his theses on the monarchical episcopate and apostolic succession; in works such as "Priest and Bishop" (1970), he suggests that the ecclesial structure evolved gradually, which, for traditionalists, contradicts the direct and immediate institution of the hierarchy by the historical Christ.
⚖️ The separation between historical criticism and magisterial tradition
Brown is criticized for treating the Bible as an independent text from the magisterial Tradition, promoting a liberal "concordism" that reinterpreted Church documents to harmonize with critical findings, which would be a distortion of doctrine. This "autonomy of exegesis" is seen by authors like George A. Kelly as the creation of a "second magisterium" - that of the academics - which superimposes itself over the official magisterium of the Church. They claim that Brown isolated the text from its living ecclesial context, transforming faith into a laboratory object subject to constant revision by specialists.
🕊️ Legacy and tensions in the post-conciliar era
These criticisms come mainly from conservative and traditionalist Catholic circles, who see Brown as a representative of a post-Vatican II "modernism" that alienates the Church from its divine center. On the other hand, Brown was praised by moderates - including then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), who, although he showed appreciation for Brown's technical rigor and defended his appointment to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, later criticized in his work "Jesus of Nazareth" (2007) and in the conference at the Erasmus Lecture (1988) the excesses of the historical-critical method when it becomes self-sufficient and ignores the internal unity of the Scriptures. In summary, for traditionalists, Brown's work, though scholarly, contributes to a "new theology" that casts doubt on historical articles of faith, prioritizing academic criticism over the faithful and literal reading of Scripture in the Catholic tradition. The clash between Brown's school and his critics ultimately reflects the Church's challenge in balancing scientific investigation of the Bible with the safeguarding of the deposit of faith.
📚 References
BROWN, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977.
BROWN, Raymond E. The Community of the Beloved Disciple. New York: Paulist Press, 1979.
BROWN, Raymond E. Priest and Bishop: Biblical Reflections. New York: Paulist Press, 1970.
GILS DORF, Richard. The Biblical Thought of Raymond E. Brown: An Analysis.
KELLY, George A. The New Biblical Theorists: Raymond E. Brown and Beyond. Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1983.
SHEHAN, Lawrence. A Blessing of Years: The Autobiography of Lawrence Cardinal Shehan. 1982.
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