THROLOGY OF REVELATION

“Divine revelation by which God chose to manifest and communicate both himself and the eternal
decrees of His will concerning the salvation of mankind,” “is realized by deeds and words which are intrinsically
bound up with each other.” (DV 6, 2; CCC 51-53) This revelation in the history of salvation through covenants
and prophets was completed and perfected in Christ Jesus, “the fullness of all revelation.” (DV 2, 4; CC 65, 72,
73). REVELATION therefore, is the foundation and starting point for theology and the whole of Christian life.
This is a response to God’s initiative of revelation. Without revelation on God’s part, faith would be impossible.
Revelation is truly, “the manifestation of the plan for the salvation which God had in mind from all eternity and
which he has realized in His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph.1:9-10; Rom. 16:25-27)

Two general approaches to religion, this question must be answered first. What is religion? Religion is an
expression where a person renders to God the worship and service he deserves. 1st DESCENDING MOVEMENT-
“God’s search for the Human Beings”. This approach takes the position that God himself makes the first
initiative to reveal himself in History. This is called the descending movement because the initiative comes
from God. 2nd ASCENDING MOVEMENT- “The Human beings Search for God”. The ascending movement of
religion is usually practiced by other religions of the world. This approach is called the ascending movement
because the initiative comes from man. Why we include our understanding of religion here? Consciousness of
God becomes the point of convergence of all religions and the point of reference of our explanation about the
self-revelation of God.

DESCENDING MOVEMENT- God searches for man. How? God calls Abraham, God appears to Moses
and gives him in order to sustain and nourish man’s relationship with God. Thus, God takes the first initiative
and man responses. ASCENDING MOVEMENT- Man searches for God. How? Always comes from man. It is
man who takes the first initiative and God responds. Movements: it is both a descending and ascending
movement. God searches man and man searches for God in faith.

Christians believe that their religion is a revealed one. It is God who made the first encounter and
revelation in man and let himself be known by his people. CHRISTIAN RELIGION: 1 st it is both descending and
ascending movement, 2 nd It is divine initiative and man responses, 3 rd Theologically, it is a revelation from God
and man responses in faith. In Christian view, REVELATION is a divine initiative. It is God’s action by which
lovingly speaks to human beings as friends, inviting them “into fellowship with him”.

SACRED TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE were the two sources of revelation.

1st Oral Tradition- the preaching of the Apostles after Christ’s Resurrection. 2nd Sacred Scriptures- The heart of
Christianity is that God has revealed himself in the OLD TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT. Theology is an
expression of God as revealed in the OT and NT. Here, we focus and deal on one witness to the human
expression or experience of God’s revelation- Sacred Scripture. This is what is meant by =Revelation in the
Bible.

a. Revelation in the OT- it is in Israel’s history that Yahweh made himself known to his people. The History of
Israel is at the same time the history of Yahweh’s revelation of himself.

b. The NT takes up the revelation themes enunciated in the OT, draws them together, and brings them to a
higher fulfillment. If at the heart of the OT lays the conviction that God has intervened himself in the
History of Israel, at the heart of the NT is the conviction that God’s revelation of himself is definitely given
in Jesus Christ, to be authoritatively proclaimed by the Church to all nations until the end of time.
 1. DESCENDING MOVEMENT- God searches man.

REVELATION IN THE OT:

1st God calls Abraham- the history of God’s revelation begins with God’s revelation to Abraham with whom
Yahweh makes a covenant. He is summoned to leave his homeland and is land where he will be the father of
many nations. This revelation completely changed the life of Abraham, who had leave his father and his land.

2nd Moses Appears to God- this begins with Yahweh’s “apparitions” to Moses in a burning bush. During the
apparition to Moses, Yahweh reveals his basic concern for his suffering people, and in doing so, also reveals his
name to Moses. “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14, 3:6) Yahweh’s power and faithfulness. The ten laws of the covenant
(10 commandments) are entrusted to Moses. God’s name is Yahweh.

3rd Prophets- “Herald/messenger of God. The mission of the Prophets to concretize the presence of God in the
history of Israel. Their mission by interpreting God’s will in a determinate case, By recalling the people to the
fidelity to the covenant and pronouncing God’s judgment and denouncing sins, By drawing the people towards
the future and into unity. The prophets are signs of the presence of God among the people especially during
hard times. These prophets should be courageous in condemning sins of the people.

As a summary: God’s revelation began to the nation of Israel. God’s revelation is a progressive revelation
or a gradual process. We have seen, revelation in the OT is primarily in terms of hearing god rather than seeing
him. The word of god is not merely speculative speech, but God’s word is active and creative. To summarize:
in the OT, revelation appears as 1st God’s free and gratuitous intervention in the events of Israel’s history, 2 nd
He progressively makes himself known together with hid plan of salvation, 3 rd Which is to make a covenant
with Israel, 4th With all the nation, and to accomplish finally in the person of his anointed one, the promise
given to Abraham, that, posterity, all the people of the earth would be blessed.

REVELATION IN THE NT:

The story of Jesus, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the one who was preached as dead
and risen, the son of the one Lord. The Apostles/evangelist present Jesus as the savior, in the new experience
of faith, after the resurrection. Jesus inaugurates his ministry by preaching the good news and of the
repentance that leads to it.

1st Jesus is revealer, he goes far beyond the prophets. He does not say, “thus speaks Yahweh,” but “I
say to you” (MT. 5:22). Jesus is the revealer of the Father in his being the messiah, teacher, and preacher.

2nd Jesus revealed God not only through his words and teaching, but also through his deeds. There are
so many deeds and miracles, from his meals with sinners. Jesus used his authority to heal, teach, and forgive
sins-and in many miracles. Jesus is the Fulfillment of Revelation. He is the revelation because he is God
manifesting himself to man. Jesus is the fullness of Revelation. He is not only because he brings to us the
fullness of truth, but above all because his revelation confers grace and truth in its wholeness. He is the way,
the gate to the Father.

In the NT, Revelation is now addressed to all humanity. This marks a basic difference from revelation in
the OT, which was primarily addressed to a particular nation, the nation of Israel. God’s salvific will of God’s
plan to unite all things in heaven and on earth under Christ as head (Eph. 1:10) Revelation is communicated
through words and deeds. Revelation is final. In the NT, revelation is definitively fulfilled in the person of Jesus
Christ. Revelation is final in the sense that Jesus fulfills the whole plan of the OT. Yet, revelation continues to
occur in our time. We continues to know and experience God more and more in Jesus Christ. To Summarize:
In the NT, God’s self-revelation is Jesus Christ, the word of God made flesh and the Spirit-filled Messiah, who
has come to announce and realize the kingdom, which God’s gracious offer of salvation by which all things in
heaven and on earth will be united under Christ as head.

APOSTLES- “the preaching of the Apostles after Christ’s Resurrection. Jesus chose his disciples, who followed
him whenever he went. These disciples witness his life, saw his deeds, and listened to his preaching. Some of
his words and acts were memorized. Some were written in short collections. Obviously not all the Words of
Jesus were recorded. Jesus spoke Aramaic, not Greek.

CHURCH- in the NT is to an official assembly of people (ekklesia). NT is to the actual assembly meeting for
worship (1 Cor. 11:18, 14:19). The usage extended to refer to the community of the faithful. Fully receive the
light from Jesus Christ that the Church always love to the light of the World. Thus Jesus Christ is the original
sacrament, and the Church is ground of the sacrament which is from Jesus Christ). SI KRISTO AND BUHI NGA
TIMAAN. BISAG ASA ANG SIMBAHAN TUA ANG PRESENSYA NI KRISTO. KUNG ASA ANG KRISTIYANO TUA ANG
GUGMA NI KRISTO. Because Jesus Christ is the sacrament of the Father, and the Church is the sacrament of
the Church. Did Jesus found the Church? One has to refer only to (MT. 16:18) when Jesus accepted Peter’s
confession of his messiahship and made Peter the “Rock” upon which he would build the Church, then and
there Jesus founded the Church. Some Images of the Church in the NT: The Church is the people of God, the
Church is the body of Christ, the Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the Church is the sacrament of
Christ.

2. ASCENDING MOVEMENT- Man searches for God in faith. Faith as trusting obedience to God and as
personal encounter. FAITH AS KNOWING, FAITH AS TRUSTING, FAITH AS DOING.

IMPORTANCE OF REVELATION:

Questions:

1. How important is revelation to Christianity? Hence, we come to faith through revelation. Thus, there is
no faith without revelation. Also there is no theology without revelation. The nature of Christianity is
that it is revealed religion. We may say that revelation is Christianity. The heart of Christianity is that
God has revealed himself in the OLD TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT history. Christianity is from
person of Christ, the God incarnate, and God’s own testimony. God revealed to man. Thus, revelation
is important to Christianity.
2. What would happen to Christianity without revelation? It is believed that God has made known to man
in OT and NT and that he is a loving and merciful Father. Revelation is a presupposition of Christianity,
thus, without revelation there is no Christianity. This is the conviction of Christianity.
3. How important is revelation to theology? Revelation- God revealed himself that we may be able to
talk about Him in revelation. Revelation is the basis and starting point of theology. This is how
important revelation is to theology. Theology is an expression of God as revealed in the OT and NT.
4. Where do we get our information? Through theology, we can keep talking about God who manifests
himself.

Therefore, REVELATION is the starting point of theology. No theology without revelation. Revelation
becomes the foundation of theology.