REVELATION

Revelation is God's free self-communication to humankind. This divine self-communication can be found in creation, in salvation history and in God’s inspired Word. Christians believe that the fullness of God's Self-revelation is complete in the person and preaching of Jesus. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, this fullness of revelation has been committed to writing in the Gospels, and is continuously transmitted in the Church’s living Tradition, -that is, through the teaching of its bishops, or Magisterium. Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church together comprise the single deposit of the Word of God. Both the Old and New Testaments are God’s inspired Word. The New Testament is to be understood in the light of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament in the light of Christ, and the New. Revelation is public in nature, and entrusted to the whole Church. Given its divine origin, it requires the assent of faith. The people of God as a united whole, when guided by the Magisterium, cannot err in matters of faith. All new revelation ended with the death of the last apostle. Private revelation (visions, locutions etc) always must be carefully tested by local bishops, who are the successors to the apostles. Therefore, even when judged authentic by the Church, private revelations do not bear the same binding character as the divinely inspired Word of God (Scripture) and the Church’s living Tradition.

Related Concepts:

DISCOVERY
SACRAMENTALITY
SPIRITUALITY
MYSTICISM
NATURE
SUPERNATURAL
WORSHIP
PASCAL MYSTERY
CREATION
SALVATION
SCRIPTURE
INSIGHT
WISDOM
WORLD VIEW
HUMILITY
CONVERSION
MYSTERY, WONDER AND AWE
TRADITION
APOSTOLICITY
INSPIRATION