God revealed himself to humanity through various means in order to enter into a loving relationship. Revelation includes creation, history, prophets, and ultimately Jesus Christ, who fully revealed God. While human reason can prove God's existence, it cannot reveal who God is. In addition to natural revelation through creation and history, God communicates through supernatural revelation in scripture and tradition preserved in the Church. Our response to God's self-revelation is an act of faith in what he has revealed.

1. “Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God,
and him whom you have sent, Jesus Christ.”
John 17:3

2. FRIENDSHIP BEGINS WITH ONE
“HELLO”
It is impossible to love, or even to have a
relationship with someone who is not
known.
Introducing one’s self to another in basic
in initiating friendship. This is sustained
by constant communication through
which the unfolding of self takes place.

3. God, in his desire to enter into a loving
relationship with humanity, took the
initiative of introducing himself to us,
and of communicating with us both
through natural and supernatural
means.
GOD’S DISCLOSURE OF HIMSELF IS CALLED:
“Revelation is God’s personal loving communication to us of who
He is and His plan to save us all in His love. It is God’s reaching
out to us in friendship, so we get to know and love Him.”
CFC no.101

4. THE LIMITATION OF HUMAN REASON:
The fact that natural reason can prove God’s
existence is in itself revelation.
But while human reason can tell us that God
exists, it cannot tell us WHO GOD IS.
In order for us to know who God is, we
have to pay attention to the different
avenues by which God communicates
with us.

5. Rev. Fr. Ian Knox, C.S.Sp.
EVENTS CREATION
HISTORY
PROPHETS
JESUS CHRIST
PERSONS CHURCH

6. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
proclaims His handiwork” Psalm 19:1
The beauty of nature awakens our religious
sense. Realizing that we cannot be
responsible for the grandeur of creation,
we end up concluding: there must be a
God who is the cause of everything.
CREATION IS THE FIRST ACT OF
GOD’S REVELATION.
“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.”
Romans 1:19-20

7. For history to be revelatory, we have to learn
looking at history with the eyes of faith.
We have to realize that God is not merely
watching us from a distance. Rather, he is
actively involved in the story of our lives, both as
individuals and as a people.
Even the most secular historical events, when
seen with faith, become evidences of God’s
divine plan gradually unfolding through time.

8. Historians enable us to remember significant events.
The PROPHETS of God, both ancient and modern, help
us to see historical events with God’s own eyes.
While prophets may tell of future events, prediction of
the future is just incidental to prophecy. The main task
of a prophet is to convey the message of God by
interpreting the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
The meaning of historical events as revealed by God
through the prophets are at times unpalatable. Often,
prophets speak the uncomfortable truth, hence they are
often persecuted.

9. “In times past God spoke in varied ways to our fathers
through the prophets; in this, the final age, He has spoken
to us through His Son” Hebrews 1:1-2
“No one has ever seen God, but the only Son, who is the same
as God, made Him known…” John 1: 18
JESUS CHRIST IS THE FULLNESS OF
GOD’S REVELATION
By becoming man like us, he revealed to us everything we
need to know about God, using a language that we can
understand and relate to.

10. “As goal, Jesus is ‘the key, the center and the purpose of the
whole of man’s history’ (GS 10), in whose image we all are
to be conformed (cf. Rom 8:29).”
“But Christ is not only the goal of God’s revelation, He is also its
content, the Revealed One. In himself, Jesus reveals both God and
ourselves. ‘Christ, the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery
of the Father and of His love, fully reveals man to himself and brings to
light his most high calling’ (GS 22).”
“Christ is revealer through his part in creation, through his
becoming man, through his hidden and public life, and especially
through his passion, death and resurrection. After his resurrection,
the Risen Christ continues his revelation by sending us his Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of truth (cf. DV 4).”
CFC nos. 77-79

11. “God speaks to us in and through the life of the
church. God speaks to us through the lives of
holy people who have evidently taken Jesus’
message to heart and serve as an example to all.
As we participate in the life of the church, we
participate in revelation. We believe that Jesus is
still speaking and acting through the church, that
is through us and our participation in the life of the
community. We believe that we as a church,
continue Jesus’ preaching and mission to the
world.”
Fr. Ian Knox
THEOLOGY FOR TEACHERS,p.88

12. GOD’S REVELATION IS CONTAINED IN:

13. OUR RESPONSE TO REVELATION IS
ACT OF FAITH
O MY GOD, I FIRMLY BELIEVE
ALL THE TRUTHS WHICH
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHES
BECAUSE YOU HAVE REVEALED THEM
WHO NEVER DECEIVE,
NOR CAN BE DECEIVED.
AMEN.
Many of the truths revealed by God to us are beyond the power of our
human comprehension. Yet because we believe that God, who is all good
"cannot deceive nor be deceived” we say “AMEN” even to things we do not
fully understand.

14. Fr. Ian Knox, C.S. Sp.
THEOLOGY FOR TEACHERS
Ottawa: Novalis Press, 1994
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines ECCCE
CATECHISM FOR FILIPINO CATHOLICS
Makati: Word and Life Publications, 1997