DIVINE REVELATION AND THE NATURE OF

GODChapters 2 and 3

The Gloria

Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise You. We bless You. We adore you. We glorify You. We give You thanks for Your great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father: you Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You Who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You Who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy. You alone are the Lord. You alone, O Jesus Christ, are most high. Together with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

“Our heart is restless until it rests in you” ~ St.

Augustine

Cecil B. DeMille’s: The Ten Commandments

How is God’s revelation or manner of communication portrayed in this movie?

Created In the Image and Likeness of God

Human beings have the power of reason, free-will, and an immortal soul

Why did God make us (Baltimore Catechism)? God made us to know, love, and serve him in

this world and enjoy eternal life with him in the next

God gives everyone the desire for himself written in our hearts.

What are some ultimate questions about existence about which every person

thinks? Who or what made me? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? What happens after death? How did the world come into being? Why is there good and evil, and how can I

know the difference? Why do I desire to love, to be loved, and

to be happy?

These questions point to the reality that there is something (someone) greater than what people can experience with their senses.

Human beings by nature are religious. Humans have always sought and worshipped a higher power, whether the one true God or false gods

The “Five Ways” of St. Thomas

St. Thomas demonstrated that human reason can deduce convincingly that God exists by our observance of creation and the nature of the human person.

The “Five Ways” of St. Thomas

The argument from motion The argument from causes The argument from possibility and

necessity The argument from degrees of perfection The argument from governance

Divine Revelation

If the existence of God can be known through human reason alone, why did God choose to reveal Himself to people directly? Reason has its limits Original Sin has clouded our judgment There are certain things about God that

cannot be known by reason alone God wanted to enter into a personal

relationship

Revelation In History

Ancient Concepts

Judeo-Christian Tradition Revelation in

Israel and the Old Testament

Christ as the fullness of revelation

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture

Christ entrusted Divine Revelation to the Church.

Sacred Tradition predates Sacred Scripture. Sacred Scripture is a product of Sacred Tradition.

The Old Testament and New Testament came from oral tradition (it was “passed down”) before it was put on written form.

The Bible does not contain everything that Christ said or did (John 20:30-31)

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are intimately united forms the Deposit of Faith

Sacred Scripture

…Thoughts of God in the words of men What do we mean when we say that:

“The Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”?

Theories of Divine Inspiration

Ecstatic or Hypnotic Theory Verbal Dictation Consequent or Subsequent Approbation Negative Assistance Idea or Content Theory Distinctionalism and Verbal Inspiration Social and Individual Dimension of

Inspiration

The Teaching of the Church on Divine Inspiration

Chalcedon/Ephesus

Trent Vatican I Provedentissimus

Deus (Leo XIII) Vatican II, Dei

Verbum

The Canon of Sacred Scripture

The concept of canonicity

Determination of the Canon

Criteria

Interpreting Sacred Scripture

Questions to consider

Senses of Scripture -- literary and spiritual (allegorical, moral, anagogical)

The Magisterium

Definition and roots The Magisterium and its various forms

The Extraordinary Magisterium/Solemn Pronouncements

The Ordinary Magisterium Levels of Magisterial Teachings and the

Response of the Faithful Definitive Declaration of Revealed Truths Definitive Definitions of non-revealed truth Non-definitive obligatory teaching Prudential judgments

Private Revelation

Ecclesiastical Approval of Private Revelation

What about Medjugorje?

THE NATURE OF GODThe Blessed Trinity

“The LORD our God is one LORD”

Judaism and monotheism

The Shema -- Dt. 6:4-9

God Reveals His Name What is the significance Moses and the Burning Bush – Exodus

3:13-14 YHWH El Shaddai, Adonai, Elohim

THE BLESSED TRINITY

Some Affirmations

One God – three divine persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Nature or Essence – WHAT Person or hypostasis-- WHO

The Blessed Trinity is one God in three divine persons The three persons of the Blessed Trinity share in one

nature The three persons are distinct only in their relation to

one another It is a mystery which cannot be fully understood

in this life No adequate analogy We accept it in faith

God has revealed Himself to be one God in three divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Holy Trinity)

The Trinity Forshadowed

In “our” image God as a family Abraham and three

visitors

The Trinity Revealed

Annunciation Baptism of Jesus Promise of the Holy Spirit Instruction to the Apostles

What the God is NOT

Early Christological heresies gives us some ideas of the nature of God in Christ Arianism Docetism Nestorianism Monophysitism

Arianism

Docetism

Nestorianism

Monophysitism

Attributes of God

God is love God is pure Spirit God is immutable God is eternal God is omnibenevolent God is omniscient God is omnipotent God is omnipresent