An Apologetical Explanation of

God’s Self-Revelation

How does God reveal himself to us?

All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Mt 11:27)

What can be known about god is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. (Rom 1:19-20)

When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts. (Rom 2:14-15)

God reveals himself to us through the natural law, through his creation, through his Word, and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ represents the fullness of Divine Revelation.

God has written upon our hearts the natural law, the innate ability to know of his existence, and to arrive at a basic sense of good and evil, of truth and falsehood, and of the duty to seek always that which is good and true. By human reason, we can develop this knowledge of God and of how he wishes us to live. Keeping the natural law is ultimately what fulfills us as human persons.

Both faith and reason teach us that the origin of the world was by creation. “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Gn 1:1) the Bible proclaims in its opening sentence. When God creates he imprints a “mark” on his creation, and through that mark we can learn something about God himself.

When sin entered the world, our ability to reason and to discern good and truth became clouded. To save all people from sin, God revealed himself gradually and provided the grace necessary to aid human reason. He reveals himself through his works, his prophets, his sacred Word in Scripture, and most perfectly in the Word, Jesus Christ, the Mediator and fullness of all Revelation:

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son. (Heb 1:1-2)

The Holy Spirit, as Christ promised, continues to “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26)

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraphs 50 and 73.

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To get a hardcopy of these Apologetics or the Didache Bible please visit the Midwest Theological Forum (publisher) at: http://www.theologicalforum.org