DIVINE REVELATION

GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1. 2. 3. Questions: Think of the time you feel strongly the presence of God in your life. Please share. Where or when do you usually experience the presence of God in your life? What do you do when you feel the presence of God? How do you answer to Him? Premise PCP II insisted on the mutual interaction between Christian Faith and Filipino culture. "Hence we must take a closer look at how the values that we have from our Christian Faith can strengthen the good in our cultural values and correct what is excessive in them and supply for their deficiencies" (PCP II 22). Likewise, for Faith to mature in love, it must be interiorized. Church teachings and practices must be personally appreciated and appropriated by us, as a people with our own particular culture, with our own ways of thinking and valuing. Faith must take root in the matrix of our Filipino being so that we may truly believe and love as Filipinos (PCP II 72). creates the whole world for us, to support us in life and reveals Himself to us through His handiwork. "Since the creation of the world. . . God's eternal power and divinity have become visible, recognized through the things He has made" (Rom 1:20) 2. God Revealed Himself through the Scriptures God revealed Himself in stages. In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through biblical signs made up of both deeds and words. He made covenants with Noah, with Abraham, and with Moses. He performed great works for His Chosen People, and proclaimed their saving power and truth through the prophets' words (cf. DV 2; CCC 56-64). Through chosen men and women __ kings, judges, prophets, priests and wisemen, God led, liberated, and corrected His people. He forgave their sins. He thus revealed Himself as Yahweh, He-who-is-with His people. He is "the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity" (Ex 34:6). Today, through His inspired word in the Old Testament, God still reveals Himself to us, and inspires us to respond to His covenant. God Revealed Himself in fullness through His Son, Jesus Christ CHRIST JESUS - "MEDIATOR AND FULLNESS OF ALL REVELATION God has said everything in his Word "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son."26 Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, comment- ed strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2: God Reveals Himself through Christ present in the Church But God's definitive revelation in Jesus Christ did not stop with Christ's ascension to his Father. Jesus himself had gathered around him a group of disciples who would form the nucleus of his Church. In this Church, the "Good News" of Jesus Christ would be proclaimed and spread to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit, sent down upon the apostles at Pentecost (cf. Acts 1:8). "What was handed on by the apostles comprises everything that serves to make the People of God live their lives in holiness and increase their faith. In this way the Church in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes" (DV 8; cf. CCC 77-79). PCP II summarizes this by stating that Sacred Scripture and the living tradition of the Church transmit to us the teachings of

I. I Divine Revelation: Gods Gift of Love for Humankind

A. Definition Divine Revelation (See Deut. 10:16-22) 1. (Revelation from the word revelare which means to unveil or take away the cover of 2. It is the "taking away the veil," God making Himself known through words and deeds in salvation history. (Cf. DV 2, 4, 6-11.) The term refers commonly to both who/what is made known, and the means of disclosure; it also refers to the last book of the NT. 3. It is Gods way of making Himself known to us. Gods manifestation of himself through his chosen people, Israel, showing Himself to humanity in the arena of human history. That is, it is a selfrevelation, or self-disclosure, not revelation about things or ideas. B. Purpose The purpose of Gods revelation is to make all of us united with Him. It is to make of humanity One Big Family with God is the Father and all of us brothers and sisters to one another. In the entire history of salvation, God revealed His love for humanity notwithstanding its infidelity and vacillations. C. Ways of Gods Revelation 1. God Reveals Himself through Creation The first way God reveals Himself to us is through creation. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork" (Ps 19:1). In creation, man holds a special place. God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gn 1:26). God even gives us a share in His own creativity: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gn 1:28). God

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Jesus" (PCP II 65). In Dialogue with the Word of God 5. God continues to Reveal Himself through the Sacraments God continues to manifest Himself today through the Holy Spirit in the Church. He is present in the Church's preaching the truth of Scripture, in its witness of loving service, and through the celebration of its Christ-given Sacraments. Christ's revelation in the Church is "the new and definitive covenant [which] will never pass away. No new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Tim 6:14; Ti 2:13)" (DV 4). Deut 10:16 -22 So then, from now on be obedient to the LORD and stop being stubborn. 17The LORD your God is supreme over all gods and over all powers. He is great and mighty, and he is to be obeyed. He does not show partiality, and he does not accept bribes. 18 He makes sure that orphans and widows are treated fairly; he loves the foreigners who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. 19So then, show love for those foreigners, because you were once foreigners in Egypt. 20Have reverence for the LORD your God and worship only him. Be faithful to him and make your promises in his name alone. 21 Praise him---he is your God, and you have seen with your own eyes the great and astounding things that he has done for you. 22When your ancestors went to Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky. Question: How do you describe God as presented in this passage from Deuteronomy? Give as many characteristics God has in the passage? Write your answer in Tagalog. H. Faith as Our Response to Gods Love If God make Himself known through revelation, therefore, our acceptance of His revelation is acceptance of God Himself. That is our Faith. Because of faith we commit our whole self to God. Characteristics of Faith 1. Faith is a free act. It is never forced upon us. 2. Faith brings joy and ease to love God. 3. Faith brings a deeper understanding of revelation. 4. Faith brings people together to form a community.

D. The Scriptures 1. The Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), with some variations and additions. 2. The New Testament refers to the books that contains the revelation of God through Jesus Christ. It contains the Gospels, the Acts, Pauline letters, catholic letters and the Book of the Revelation. The term "Testament" itself is a translation of the word testamentum, the Latin equivalent of the Hebrew word for covenant. E. Salvation In theology, salvation can mean three related things: being saved from, or liberation from, something, such as suffering or the punishment of sin also called deliverance; being saved for something, such as an afterlife or participating in the Reign of God also called redemption; or social liberation and healing, as in liberation theology. F. Covenant (Kasunduan or Tipan) It is a solemn agreement between two parties. A religious covenant is a belief shared by members of a religious community that God has made a formal alliance or agreement with them or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition. 1. Examples of a covenant relationship a. Covenant between Abraham and God making a great nation b. Covenant with between God and the Israelites I will be your God and you will be my people. Leviticus 26:12 c. Between Jesus and his apostles the New Covenant in which Jesus' sacrifice on the cross would atone for the sins of all mankind. (Matthew 26:28) G. Gods Word It almost always refers to the revelation of God as contained in the Sacred Scriptures. Although, God has never been heard speaking, he uses people and events to communicate his divine will to us his children.