Divine Revelation

Details: 18 January 2013

The Christmas season wrapped up recently with celebrations of the Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord that emphasized various ways in which the Lord chose to reveal and manifest Himself as Messiah and Lord.

While we traditionally look at the events surrounding Jesus’ birth and public ministry, we realize that the Truth Made Visible did not suddenly come to be during that first Christmas night in Bethlehem. Rather, the revelation of God to humanity unfolded for centuries before the Incarnation and continued through the apostolic era. God continues to manifest Himself, but the revelations necessary for our salvation are believed to have ended with the completion of the New Testament writings.

The most authoritative document on this topic was published in November 1965 at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council. The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) outlines for us how and why God manifested Himself to humanity. Chapter One begins, "It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will." We should be equally pleased to receive such insights into God’s identity and plan for us. The document summarizes its content in this way:

"The works performed by God in the history of salvation show forth and bear out the doctrine and realities signified by the words; the words, for their part, proclaim the works, and bring to light the mystery they contain. The most intimate truth which this revelation gives us about God and the salvation of man shines forth in Christ, who is himself both the mediator and the sum total of Revelation" (n.2).

There are many valuable and essential truths about God that we not only can know, but also that we must know in order to accept and enjoy the wonderful gift of salvation offered by God. The document declares, "God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations" (n.7).

The Church that Jesus established fulfills this need to preserve intact all that God reveals to us. It does so within the structure of the two pillars of Sacred Revelation: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. The document teaches: "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit… The Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone… Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence" (n.9).

This document goes on to explain how Sacred Scripture was inspired by God and how it is to be interpreted, followed by brief overviews of the Old and New Testaments, and it concludes with a synopsis of how Scripture is used in the life and activities of the Church. A related document of the Council is the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), published a year earlier. Both works are well worth our time to read and study.

For a more complete understanding of the Church’s teaching on divine revelation, consider attending the Catholic Coffee House series presentation by Father Jeffrey Eickhoff at the Blessed John XXIII Diocesan Center in Lincoln Sunday, Jan. 20, at 6:30 p.m. This talk also can be downloaded later from the diocesan website: dioceseoflincoln.org.