WORD OF

GOD:REVELATION
LESSON 2
A. Revelation in Human Experience
By nature, human beings are relational. Some
even say that the quality of our life depends on
the quality of our relationships. Entering into a
relationship requires two things: making
ourselves known and disclosing ourselves
further through communication. And these
necessitate language, i.e. the use of words.
As a mode of communication, a word is
essentially directed outward - towards a
reader or a listener. Hence, the use of
words is an affirmation of the human
need to reach out to others.
An uttered word is more that just a
communication of thoughts. It is also a
communication of self. When we speak,
we do not just articulate ideas. We are
actually giving our readers/listeners a part
of who we are. When we speak in order to
merely tell something or just to converse,
our words are simply informative.
When we speak to disclose our deepest
feelings, our words are expressive. When we
express our feelings for the purpose of being
reciprocated, begging for a response, our
words become appellative (Cabrido 2004:1-2).
Among these, expressive words are more
powerful, because they can either heal or kill.
 For us, Filipinos, getting into a relationship means
getting into the very depths of another person,
articulated by the nuances of the term, "loob"
("inner self): "makuha ang loob" (win another's
confidence/trust), "makapalagayang-loob" (attain
comfortable acquaintance), "malaman ang
kalooban" (know the other's inner self), and what
sustains a relationship is loob" (good will) (De Mesa
and Wostyn 1995:122-124). "
We could then imagine God as desiring to get
into the very depths of our being, to
forcefully, but through our free act of
welcoming. St. Thomas Aquinas said that there
is nothing in the mind that is not first in the
senses. The five external senses are the entry
points of knowledge, even the knowledge
about God The problem is that God is a Spirit,
invisible and intangible, a mystery that cannot
be knows or understood through mere human
effort
 Although an analysis of the visible and tangible
things may be sufficient to convince that God exists
(e.g. the five ways of St. Thomas Aquina the human
intellect by itself cannot determine who God is.
Therefore, in the divine desire to enter into
relationship with humans, God takes the initiative of
introducing the divine self and communicating
through means easily assimilated:
This is called revelation, a term used in the
Bible to mean "disclosure, an uncovering, the
unveiling of something hidden, so that it may
be seen and known for what it is." Revelation.
therefore, is "God's personal loving
communication to us of who He is and His plan
to save u all in His love. It is God's reaching
out to us in friendship, so we get to know and
love Him (CFC 101).
The classic catechism teaches us that God
created us for four reasons: to know him, to
love him, to serve him, and to be happy with
him in heaven. Of course, a perfect God does
not need anyone to know, love, and serve him.
God is perfectly happy. Yet God wants us to
experience happiness with him.
 Humanly speaking, however, we cannot be happy
with someone whom we do not love, and we cannot
love someone, whom we do not know. In the final
analysis, knowing and loving God is for our own
happiness, indeed, eternal happiness. Therefore,
the ultimate purpose of God's free act of self-
disclosing to us nothing else but our salvation. The
beauty of it all is when God reveals himself to us
and his plans for us, we also get to discover who we
truly are.
 Revelation as the Word of God
 A fundamental belief of Christianity is that God has
chosen to reveal His very Self to us. There are
people who believe that it is impossible for a God
that is so infinite to limit himself to human modes of
communication. But then again, God's capability of
limiting himself in human words is in itself a
manifestation of his greatness. "Word of God" is a
multi-layered terminology.
 The Hebrew term "dabar," means "word," and also
"event" or "reality."Accordingly, the term "Word of
God" could mean:1. The events in Salvation
History2. The message of God proclaimed through
the prophets 3. The person of Jesus, who himself is
the Word of God4. The preaching of the Christian
faith5. The general message of God to humanity6.
The BibleDespite the multiplicity of meanings,
"Word of God" can be understood as involving a
mode of communication comprehensible by human
beings. All the things we refer to as God's word are
mediations of Himself and of His divine plan.
C. Avenues of Revelation

There are many ways by which God

communicates with us. Let us consider some
of
1. Revelation through Events. Creation -
Creation is the first act of God's revelation.
Creation points to a God who is the cause of
everything. And the goodness in the created
world reflects the goodness of their Creator.
b. History-The events of history, seen through
the eyes of faith, become evidences of God's
divine plan for humanity. An event, whether
secular or religious, communal or personal,
pleasant or tragic, may also point to a God
behind all these happenings. We look at the
events of history as actions of God.
2. Revelation through Persons
a. Prophets - Actions and events often need to
be interpreted. Prophets, both ancient and
modern, as "spokespersons of God" proclaim a
religious interpretation of history.
b. The Church - The Church, as people of God,
has a collective discernment and sense of
divine actions
.They ritualize these in the preaching of the
Word, in worship celebration, and in acts of
service and charity.c. Jesus Christ - God-
revealing and God-revealed (Latourelle
1987:76), Jesus Christ is the fullness of God's
revelation, the ultimate self- communication
of God.
Kinds of Revelation
1 . General and Special Revelation
 St. Thomas Aquinas distinguishes two kinds of
revelation: general and special. General revelation,
sometimes called "natural revelation" refers to how
God makes himself known to us through the created
world. Observing creation and its activities, such as
motion and causality, may lead us to the conclusion
that God exists.
The created world in itself, however, is
incapable of telling us who God is. Thus, there
is a need for special revelation. St. Thomas
equates special revelation with the Bible. The
Bible records how God conveyed to and through
chosen individuals his message that otherwise
would not be known to us (Viertel 1973:25-28).
 2.
Public and Private RevelationPublic
revelation is the disclosure of God's self and
His saving plan for ALL of humanity. These are
the essential truths of our Christian faith,
revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ and taught
by the Church. We recognize these truths as
necessary for our salvation.
Therefore, adherence to these truths is
likewise necessary, binding all of us. Public
revelation is complete and final; it reached its
completeness and finality in the person of
Jesus Christ. Since Jesus is already the fullness
of God's revelation, nothing more can be
added to the revelation of Jesus. Only public
revelation is rightfully called Divine

Private revelations refer to the Church-recognized
messages from apparitions or mystical experiences of some
privileged men and women. For these messages to be
deemed authentic, they must be in consonance with public
revelation and must be helpful for our attainment of
salvation. Some private revelations may be declared as
worthy, but not obligatory of belief. Public revelation
suffices. Private revelations do not add to public
revelation; therefore, these do not belong to the deposit of
faith. Private revelations, though, may help us to
appreciate public revelation more clearly and grow in our
spiritual life (Knox 2003:73-74
 E.
The Transmission of Revelation"How sure are we
that the teachings we receive today are still the
same teachings that came from the Lord Jesus?" To
answer this question, we look to the Christian
community: the Church. The most effective way of
preserving a teaching is by making it public, that is,
by entrusting it to a community of believers, not
just to one or a few persons.
 When true teaching is known to a group of people,
those that adhere to it mutually reinforce each
other's faith and dissenting members could easily be
corrected.Ever since, it has been the task of the
Church to preserve divine revelation and to hand
over to every generation. Jesus handed over the
task to the Apostles, aided by the Holy Spirit, to
spread Christ's message. Thence, they handed these
over to their successors, now known as bishops.
 The Christian community, the Church, did its part in
preserving the teachings of Jesus through her
vibrant community life, moral rectitude, celebration
of the liturgy, and constant rendition of apostolic
teaching through oral tradition, some of which were
put into writing forming a book we now call the
Bible or Sacred Scriptures. Through the continued
reflection on the message of Jesus, the Church grew
in understanding the faith which has been handed
down
 Some eventually came to be defined as dogma
("teachings which bind") and organized to facilitate
the instruction of believers. Therefore, in the
Church, when we say "Word of God", we refer to
both the written Word of God (Sacred Scriptures),
and the living transmission of faith of the Church
(Sacred Tradition) Tradition) which gives meaning
and expression to the written word. To study the
Bible apart from the Tradition of the Church is to
deprive it of its meaning.
 EIGHT WAYS BY WHICH TRADITIONS ARE
TRANSMITTED(Ian Knox, C.S.Sp.)
 1. THROUGH PREACHING
 2. THROUGH TEACHING
 3. THROUGH RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND
CUSTOMS45678 8. THROUGH STORY
TELLING4.THROUGH PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL
PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS THROUGH SPECIAL DAYS OF
FEAST AND REMEMBRANCE6. 7. THROUGH RELIGIOUS
LAWS AND OBLIGATIONS THROUGH SAYINGS AND
CATCH PHRASES
 Dei Verbum (DV), the Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation, teaches us: "Sacred tradition and
Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the
word of God, committed to the Church. Holding
Fast to this deposit the entire holy people united
with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the
teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the
breaking of the bread and in prayers so that holding
to, practicing and professing the heritage of the
faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and
faithful a single common effort" (DV 10)
Now, in order that the word of God is
understood properly, the Holy Spirit acts as its
one teacher and interpreter, dwelling pre-
eminently in the Church. This divine presence
endows the Church with teaching authority
called Magisterium. The Church remains under
the Word of God, as its faithful servant, by
assuring an authentic and authoritative
interpretation of the Word.
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