Revelation

1. Revelation God’s Call to Humanity

2. Natural Revelation- The World • As we approach the Scriptures, let us begin with a reflection on how God communicates Himself to us. He does so in two natural ways: • The Universe • Other Human Beings • Let us first consider the universe …

3. The Glory of Creation • What does the universe reveal about God? • Its complexity reveals His intelligence and creativity • Examples: Blood-clotting, cell structure, photons, etc. • Its beauty reveals His glory and power. • Examples: mountain ranges, oceans, canyons, etc. • Its vastness reveals the immensity of God. • The boundaries of the universe are always expanding. • Its origins reveal the mystery of God. • Creation is mysterious and so are the ways of God. • We point to the goodness of the human body and the potential of the human mind, which is only a shadow of the goodness of God. • Examples: Great feats of strength and endurance & great works of human wisdom, technology, and innovations.

4. The Human Being: Crown of God’s Creation • Human beings “made in the image and likeness of God” (Gen. 1:26), have done some great things:

5. Us • We human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. • Not that God, Who is Spirit, looks like us, but we have many of His characteristics. • We are free as God is free, but we don’t always use our freedom wisely. • God created the body as “very good” (Gen. 1:31) but we don’t always use it well. • God gave us reason/intellect but we don’t always use it to create but often to destroy. • God created us to love as He loves, but often we hate. Seeing a pattern? God gave us so much of Himself but sin got in the way and our likeness to God diminished.

6. Natural Revelation • God reveals Himself through His creation, of which, we are the crown. The process by which God makes Himself known through the natural and created order is called natural revelation. • God also reveals Himself by means of our human reason. The human mind can do great things, the greatest of which is to come to the knowledge of the existence of God. • St. Augustine (354-430AD) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) spent their lives defending logical proofs for the existence of God. • Their proofs used human wisdom to demonstrate God’s existence. • They did not use Scripture nor any theological teaching, because they wanted their proofs to appeal to the believer and the non-believer.

7. Augustine’s Proof from Eternal Ideas • We have pictured an equilateral triangle, does it exist in nature? • No! You cannot find one in nature nor create one in a lab. • Even the pictures of an equilateral triangle in your math books are not perfect. • Why? Perfection does not exist in this world. • Does the equilateral triangle exist? • Only an idiot would say no. What does it exist as? • An idea … it exists only in the mind. • When are ideas born? Only when I think them or are they always around to be thought? • They are always available to be thought, they always existed – they are eternal. • It needs a source. • The sources of things must contain all the characteristics of that thing. • So, we need a source that is capable of thinking, intelligent, perfect, and eternal. • The only possible answer is God. God is the source of the equilateral triangle. God is also the author of: Love Peace Justice Beauty Hope

8. St. Thomas AquinasProofs for God’s Existence • St. Thomas Aquinas was an Italian philosopher and theologian who proposed five proofs for God’s existence which were not based on the Bible or theology. • 1. Unmoved Mover = There is motion in the world and whatever is in motion had to be put in motion by another (Newton’s 1st Law of Motion). By looking at the series of motion in the world and going back to the creation of the universe, we conclude that there must have been a “First Mover” or an “Unmoved Mover” or God. • 2. First Cause =The world is a series of causes and effects. Taking those causes and effects back in history, to the moment of creation; we conclude, that there must have been a first cause of creation or God. • 3. Everything comes from something - Nothing cannot create something ... therefore there must have been one necessary Eternal Being who brought other beings into existence.

9. Five Proofs • 4. Supreme Model - Persons and things have various degrees of perfections (such as goodness, beauty, truth, etc.) No single created person or thing possesses all perfection, therefore, since creation shares in perfection but does not possess it, there must be a Being who possesses all perfection ... God. • 5. Grand Designer - There are systems in the world which are so intricate and perfect in the way they work, that there is no possible way human beings could have been their origin, nor can they re-create them. Therefore, there must have been an Intelligent and Perfect Designer or God. • The five proofs of St. Thomas Aquinas are unique and useful in that they do not rely on Scripture or religious teaching. They are logically based in common sense, philosophy, and they have a strong connection to scientific fact. The five proofs are useful for beginning a dialogue with someone who is an atheist.

10. Divine Revelation • If God reveals Himself naturally to all peoples, should it surprise us that He has revealed Himself in Scripture? • Divine Revelation is God’s self-communication by which He makes known His Divine plan of salvation. • I mean think of it, if you have something that you want someone to know how do you communicate? • By speaking, of course, Divine Revelation is a written record of God’s communication to man. • Salvation History is the pattern of events in human history by which God clearly revealed His plan to save us from sin and death. This plan began in Adam and Eve and found its completion in Jesus Christ by His passion, death, and resurrection. • Occasionally throughout Salvation History God would make Himself manifest to human beings, this is called a Theophany. Examples of Theophanies include: Moses and the Burning Bush (Ex. 3:2ff), the column of fire and cloud (Ex. 13:21), the Baptism of Jesus (Mt. 3:16-17), Pentecost (Acts 2), etc.

11. A Snapshot of Scripture • The Bible is organized into the Old Testament and the New Testament: • The Old Testament is organized into: • The Pentateuch/Torah = the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. • Genesis contains creation, the story of Original Sin, and the beginning of the covenants. • Exodus chronicles Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. • Leviticus outlines the worship practices and laws of the Jews. • Numbers is a census of the people of Israel • Deuteronomy is the “2nd law” – another set of laws that governed Israel’s worship. • The Historical Books = chronicles the history of Israel and the period of the judges through the Kings of Israel. • The Wisdom Books = contain poems, songs, and pieces of wisdom from David and Solomon and a few other authors. • The Prophetic Books = contain the prophesies of the 4 major prophets and 12 minor prophets.

12. The New Testament • The New Testament contains: • Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts of the Apostles – written by St. Luke • Romans • I and II Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • I and II Thessalonians • I and II Timothy • Titus • Philemon Synoptic Gospels • Hebrews • James • I and II Peter • I, II, and III John • Jude • Book of Revelation – written by St. John Pseudo-Pauline Letter Theological Gospel Catholic Letters Pauline Letters

13. New Testament Highlights • The Incarnation – the birth of God in the flesh in Palestine in the 1st century AD. • The Revelation of the Trinity – at the Baptism of Jesus the Trinity is revealed as true God. The revelation of God the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit was a theme of Jesus’ ministry. • The Preaching and Miracles of Jesus – Jesus’ mission was to call all to the Kingdom of God. • The Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus – Also known as the Paschal Mystery – these events erased sin and death and brought us into the New Covenant with God. • The Life of the Church – from the event of Pentecost through Paul’s letters to the Book of Revelation – this section of Scripture chronicles the early life of the Church. • The early life of the Church included some very important aspects: • Sacred Tradition = the handing on of the truths of Jesus Christ from generation to generation. • Apostolic Succession = the apostles handing on their authority to their successors – the Bishops. It was the responsibility of the Bishops to celebrate the Eucharist, to teach, and to correct. Priests and Deacons were called upon to assist the Bishop (see I and II Timothy). • Magisterium = is the teaching authority of the Church and is responsible for handing on the Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. • The Deposit of the Faith = Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition together; also contain dogmas which are the essential teachings of the Catholic Faith.

14. So What is the Bible? Sic Deus DilexitMundum “For God so loved the world” John 3:16 The Bible is a written record of how much God loves the world!