WORD OF GOD:

REVELATION
Assoc. Prof. Tsard G. Pazcoguin

REVIEW:
Our five senses and
sound reasoning are
capable of proving the
existence of God.
They cannot, however,
tell us who God is and
what He is like.
When we worship God,
we communicate with
a PERSON; we dont
call him unmoved
mover, or uncaused
cause, or thinkable
being in prayer.

 Only God can speak well of

God.
God took the initiative of
SPEAKING to us.
In Christianity, we believe that
God actually spoke to us, and in
fact, continues to speak to us.
How? Of course, WORDS!

Lets stop and talk a while!

HUMAN BEINGS ARE RELATIONAL
Disclosing
ourselves
further
through
communicati
on

Hi!

Che!
Itsura
mo
lang!

WORDS
Making
ourselve
s known

WORDS ARE REVELATORY

Functions of
INFORMATIVE
we speak to merely tell
something or just to
converse

EXPRESSIVE
we speak to disclose
our
deepest feelings

APELLATIVE

we speak to be
reciprocated, begging
for a response

Weve been
together for four
years now.
In all those four
years, Ive seen
all the colors of
life, and I
realized how
everything
suddenly
becomes
beautiful when
youre around.
I am so in love
with you, that I

I cannot promise
you wealth, but I
promise you my
forever.
Will you marry
me?

The WORD of GOD is a PROPOSAL

REVELATION

Revelation is Gods personal loving communication to us of who

He is and His plan to save us all in His love. It is Gods reaching
out to us in friendship, so we get to know and love Him.
Catechism for Filipino Catholics 101

Revelation as WORD OF GOD (Hb. Dabar)

Events in Salvation
History
Message of God through
the prophets
Person of Jesus
Preaching of the
Christian Faith
General Message
of God to humanity
The Bible

Avenues of Communication
CREATION-

first act of Gods

revelation

EVENTS
HISTORY

general,
special, personal

PERSONS

PROPHETS

readers of the
signs of the
times

THE
CHURCH-

Christ still speaks

and is still active
in the world

JESUS
CHRIST- fullness
of Gods revelation;
agent, content and
goal of revelation

General Revelation

natural revelation
Gods revelation through the created world
Ever since the creation of the world, his eternal power and
divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood
and seen through the things he has made. Rom 1:19-20

Special Revelation

supernatural revelation
would be unknown to us without Gods supernatural
intervention through his chosen messengers
St. Thomas equates this with the Bible

PUBLIC
REVELATIO
N
He is the final
WORD. Theres
nothing more to
say!

For ALL of humanity.

Why? Because these are the TRUTHS NECESSARY for our
SALVATION!
Imposes the obligation of faith; adherence is necessary,
BINDING all of us.
Final and Complete
in the person of Jesus Christ!

DIVINE REVELATION

Private
Revelations

Apparitions, mystical
experiences, etc.
Church-recognized messages
They do not add to public
revelation
They impose no obligation of
faith

He is already the
Final Word!

RECORD OF DIVINE REVELATION = DEPOSIT

OF FAITH
SACRED TRADITION and
SACRED SCRIPTURE form
one sacred deposit of the
Word of God, committed to
the Church. DV 10

TWICE in
in his
his Gospel
Gospel Account,
Account, the
the Evangelist
Evangelist
JOHN admits
admits that
that BOOKS cannot
cannot contain
contain
everything!
everything!

Now Jesus did many other

signs in the presence of
[his] disciples that are not
written in this book.
John 20:30

There are also many other

things that Jesus did, but if
these were to be described
individually, I do not think the
whole world would contain the
books that would be written.
John 21:25

THE BIBLE SAYS:

Stand

firm then, my brothers,

to the TRADITIONS that we
taught you, whether by WORD
OF MOUTH or by LETTER. 2
Thes 2:15
the CHURCH of the living
God, the PILLAR AND
FOUNDATION OF THE
TRUTH.
1 Tim 3:15
Because even if you have the Textbooks,
you still need the SCHOOL and the TEACHER!

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. Matthew 28:19-20

TRADITIO
The
early
Church
was
not
a
The LIVING and LIVED
ble-writing-Bible-reading-Churc
FAITH of the
N CHURCH

TRADITION

(Lt. tradere to pass on; to hand over)

Eventually, SOME of it
were
put into writing
WRITTEN TRADITION
does not claim to be COMPLETE.
does not invalidate the UNWRITTEN.
can NEVER be understood apart from the

Initially passed-on by
word of mouth
ORAL TRADITION
The WRITTEN
The WRITTEN
The WRITTEN
UNWRITTEN.

What exactly do we mean by

SACRED TRADITION?
tradition

CULTURAL traditions
Could have arisen from
particular needs of the
Church at a particular time
and place
can be changed, modified or
done away with without
destroying the integrity of
our CHRISTIAN FAITH

Tradition
Sacred
DOCTRINAL
traditions
the LIVING and LIVED faith of
D
the Church
REIf aI cultural tradition is essential to the
C
T
SA DIintegrity
can never be changed,
of a Tradition, then, in itself it
A
R
T
modified or done away with,
is considered Tradition!
ON
for doing so would harm the
integrity of our CHRISTIAN
FAITH

SACRED TRADITION
Scriptural
Tradition
These are traditions
that take their roots
in the HOLY BIBLE.
These practices and
beliefs can be
justified by quoting
Sacred Scriptures.

Apostolic Tradition
These are the teachings which the
Apostles left us, not through written
scripture, but through the unbroken
chain of succession of Popes,
bishops, priests and deacons. This
unbroken chain is an assurance that
the teachings of the Apostles are
preserved intact.

First recipients of Apostolic

Tradition, hence we rely on
their teachings and
writings for an
authoritative
understanding of the
apostolic faith.

CREEDAL
STATEMENTS
and
DOGMATIC
PRONOUNCEMEN
TS

Sacred
Scripture

Magisterium

Lt. Magister - teacher

MAGISTERIUM- the teaching
authority of the Church. This is
exercised by the Pope in making
solemn definitions, or by
Bishops in an Ecumenical
Council

Sacred
Tradition TRIPOD of our
The Unshakable
CATHOLIC FAITH