This commentary by the Pope is not directly about Moses or the Waters of Meribah, rather the Pope is awarding some prizes in theology, the science of faith, and asks whether or not this is a contradiction. He speaks of the "double use of reason" a use that is irreconcilable with the nature of faith and of a use that instead belongs precisely to the nature of faith. There exists, he says, the violentia rationis, the despotism of reason, which makes itself the supreme and ultimate judge of everything. This kind of use of reason is certainly impossible in the ambit of faith. What does Bonaventure mean by this? An expression of Psalm 95:9 can show us. Here God says to his people: "In the wilderness ... your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work." Here there is reference to a double encounter with God: they "saw." This, however, was not enough for them. They put God "to the proof." They want to subject him to experiment. He is, as it were, subjected to a questioning and must submit Himself to a procedure of experimental testing.
The particular verses go
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. (Psalms 95, 8-9)
The Pope says, "God is not an object of human experimentation." Understanding this helps to understand God's anger at the Israelites as well as, maybe, his impatience with Moses when Moses strikes the rock rather than just commands the rock to yield water (Numbers 20).
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