REVELATION AND FAITH

- There is the IDEA of GOD posed by the human mind

- There is a UNIVERSAL curiosity for GOD, an ULTIMATE CONCERN, a DIVINE LONGING
OBEDIENTIAL POTENCY
- the natural facility given by God to us, enabling us to know God. That is to say that
the human mind is in obediential potency to the knowledge of God.
5 WAYS THAT TELL US THERES A GOD:
Argument from MOTION
The FIRST MOVER OR UNMOVED MOVER
Objects are in motion
Something that is moving cannot move by itself and thus requires a mover
A mover is also moved by another mover
There can be no infinite chain of movers
There must be a first mover existing before all movement
The first mover is an unmoved mover
The unmoved mover is GOD
The Argument from CAUSALITY
A thing cannot cause itself
Its cause is outside of itself
There can be no infinite chain of causes and effects
There must be a first cause which is not caused by anything
The uncaused cause is GOD
The Argument from CONTINGENCY and NECESSITY
Something that exists was first non-existent
If everything exists then everything was non-existent
If everything were non-existent, nothing will cause existence
There must be a being who is not contingent (does not fail to exist)
The non-contingent being brings existence out of non-existence
This necessary being is GOD
Argument from GRADIATION or DEGREES OF PERFECTION
Characteristics of objects come in greater or lesser extents
If an object has lesser degrees of one characteristic, then there must be someone
who has a greater degree, and ultimately the maximum possible degree
Therefore, there is someone who has all characteristics in the maximum possible
degree
This absolute being is GOD
Argument from INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND GOVERNANCE
A conscious, intelligent mind brings a being to its end or purpose
Not all beings have minds but even beings without minds are able to reach their end
or purpose
There must be an intelligent mind who designs and governs those without minds
such that they reach their end or purpose
This designer and governor is GOD
NOTE:
- God is the greatest being thinkable
- The greatest being thinkable cannot exist only in the mind; he must also exist outside
the mind
- If he existed only in the mind, he would not be the greatest thinkable being for there
are other beings which exist both inside and outside the mind
- Therefore God must exist inside and outside the mind

Mans Natural Longing for God

By Clive Staples Lewis
There are many things that are beyond the capacity of reason. Confronted by things
beyond human control (e.g. death, calamities), man looks for meaning in a higher
power often called GOD
History proves that people everywhere have a sense of Divine Longing i.e. an
innate desire to know God.
Every innate human desire has a real object to meet the need (e.g. thirst-water)
Every natural desire has a real objective means of being fulfilled (e.g. quenching of
thirst-drink)
Since the human craving for God is a natural need, then there must really be a God
to satisfy this need
Does God exist
IF THERE WERE NO GOD
Our world came about without any cause or source. Everything just happened
The laws governing the universe developed without guidance or direction
Life on earth is just a product of randomness in a hostile universe
Man is without spirit, death terminates existence
There is no master plan for mankind, human existence is an accident
Morality is societal in origin, therefore no one can make value judgments on othersno universal good, no universal evil
NOTE:
- Our five senses and sound reasoning are capable of proving the existence of God.
- They cannot, however, tell us who God is and what He is like.
- When we worship God, we communicate with a PERSON; we dont call him unmoved
mover, or uncaused cause, or thinkable being in prayer.
- Only God can speak well of God.
- God took the initiative of SPEAKING to us.
- In Christianity, we believe that God actually spoke to us, and in fact, continues to
speak to us.How? Of course, WORDS!
FUNCTIONS OF WORDS
INFORMATIVE : we speak to merely tell something or just to converse
EXPRESSIVE : we speak to disclose our deepest feelings
APELLATIVE : we speak to be reciprocated, begging for a response
The WORD of GOD is a PROPOSAL
Revelation is Gods personal loving communication to us of who He is and His planto save
us all in His love. It is Gods reaching out to us in friendship, so we get to know and love
Him. - Catechism for Filipino Catholics 101

AVENUES OF COMMUNICATION
Events:
CREATION- first act of Gods revelation
HISTORY general, special, personal
Persons:
PROPHETS readers of the signs of the times
JESUS CHRIST- fullness of Gods revelation; agent, content and goal of revelation
THE CHURCH- Christ still speaks and is still active in the world

GENERAL REVELATION
natural revelation
Gods revelation through the created world
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.
Rom 1:19-20
SPECIAL REVELATION
supernatural revelation
would be unknown to us without Gods supernatural intervention through his
chosen messengers
St. Thomas equates this with the Bible
PUBLIC REVELATION
For ALL of humanity.
Why? Because these are the TRUTHS NECESSARY for our SALVATION!
Imposes the obligation of faith; adherence is necessary, BINDING all of us.
Final and Complete in the person of Jesus Christ!
DIVINE REVELATION
PRIVATE REVELATIONS
Apparitions, mystical experiences, etc.
Church-recognized messages
They do not add to public revelation
They impose no obligation of faith
RECORD OF DIVINE REVELATION = DEPOSIT OF FAITH
Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God,
committed to the Church. DV 10
HOW TO DISTINGUISH CATHOLIC BOOKS FROM OTHERS:
Nihil Obstat
- nothing hinders
- Given by a Censor Liborum,
- it is an attestation a book contains nothing damaging to faith or morals.
Imprimi Potest
- it may be printed
- Given by the major religious superior if the author is a member of a religious
congregation.
Imprimatur
- let it be printed
- Given by the authors diocesan bishop or the bishop of the place in which the book is
publishe
FAITH - Believing in God
CHRISTIAN FAITH- Believing in the God revealed by Jesus Christ
CATHOLICCHRISTIANFAITH - Believing that Christ reveals God to us in and through
the Catholic Church, the body of Christ united in the Holy Spirit
FAITH

IN HUMAN RELATIONS:
We show our faith when we accept the words of others. (PANINIWALA)
We show faith when we readily obey the directions of those over us. (PAGSUNOD)
We show our faith when we entrust our welfare to others, even to strangers .
(PAGTITIWALA)

FAITH IN GOD:
As our total response to Gods revelation: It is to know, to love, to follow Christ in the
Church he founded (PCP II 36)
As a Theological virtue: Faith is our personal knowledge of God in Christ, expressed in
particular beliefs in specific truths by which we adhere to Christ.

FAITH IS PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST, WHO IS OUR TRUTH.

FAITH IS OUR WHOLE LIFE IN CHRIST.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH:

1. TOTAL AND ABSOLUTE
- Already the Old Testament contrasted faith in man in whom there is no salvation
with faith in the Lord who made heaven and earth . . . who shall reign forever
- Christ himself provides, especially in his Passion, Death and Resurrection, the best
example of this total and absolute commitment to God.
2. TRINITARIAN
- Faith is our adherence to the Triune God revealed through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- It is our friendship with Christ and through Christ with the Father, in their Holy Spirit.
- God our Father, revealed by Jesus Christ, His own divine Son-made-man, and their
presence to us through the Holy Spirit, in the Church
3. LOVING, MATURING, AND MISSIONARY
- Our Christian Faith is truly life-giving and mature only through love, for the man
without love has known nothing of God, for God is love
- And to be Christian, this love must be inseparably love of God and love of neighbor,
like Christs.
- It thus impels us to mission, to evangelize, by bringing others the Good News
- .It is unthinkable that a person should believe in Christs Word and Kingdom without
bearing witness and proclaiming it in his turn
- We are all called to share in Christs own three-fold mission as priest, prophet and
king
4. INFORMED AND COMMUNITARIAN
- Catholic Faith must be informed, that is believing Jesus words, and accepting his
teachings, trusting that he has the words of eternal life
- It must be communitarian since it is the Church that transmits to us Christs
revelation through Sacred Scripture and its living Tradition, and alone makes possible
for us an adequate faith-response
5. INCULTURATED
- This Catholic faith in God and in Jesus Christ is never separated from the typical
Filipino faith in family and friends.
- We live out our faith in God precisely in our daily relationships with family, friends,
fellow workers, etc.
- On the other hand, each of these is radically affected by our Catholic Faith in God our
Father, in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Savior, and in their Holy Spirit
dwelling within us in grace.
- This is how all will know you for my disciples: your love for one another
PARADOXICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FAITH
certain enough to die for, yet a mystery because like love, there is always more to
understand;
a free personal response to God, yet morallybinding in conscience;
reasonable, yet beyond our natural ways of knowing;

an individualactof our graced reason, yet also a life-long process;

a gift of God through both Revelation and interior inspiration, yet something wedo
nobody can believe for us;
a personalindividualresponse, yet only possible as a member of the
Christiancommunity, the Church.

THE BIBLE
Gk. Byblos papyrus
Biblion scroll, book ; (plural biblia)
Multiple sheets of papyrus were spliced together to form rolls were wound around wooden
dowels called navels. This type of scroll was called biblosin Greek, and thus during the New
Testament times the word biblion simply referred to a roll or book.
Later on, people discovered that sheets of papyrus can be put on top of each other, folded
in the middle, and bound, resulting in an easy-to-use book called a codex.
The Bible is a FAITH BOOK. Written by BELIEVERS for BELIEVERS.
The Bible is both HISTORICALand RELIGIOUS. It is MEMORY turned into TEXT.
The Bible is an event ofCOMMUNITY. Experienced, Recorded, Received, Taught, Passed
on by the COMMUNITY

The Word of God

written by men
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
JUDAISM
Word by which God has spoken:TORAH
Messenger: MOSES
ISLAM
Word by which God has spoken:QURAN
Messenger: MOHAMMED
CHRISTIANITY
Word by which God has spoken:THE BIBLE
Messenger: JESUS CHRIST
The BIBLE is a CREDIBLE SOURCE for knowledge of JESUS. The BIBLE is subordinate to JESUS
and points to JESUS. The BIBLE and JESUS are inseparable. JESUS loved the SCRIPTURES..
JESUS CHRIST is the CENTER and FULFILLMENT of the Bible.
NOTE:
1. JESUS, the WORD OF GOD, is himself THE MESSAGE of GOD to humankind.
2. Latin-speaking Christians then borrowed the term bibliabut treated it as a singular
noun.
3. St. Jerome used the term bibliotheca divina (divine library)
4. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. St. Jerome
Archbishop Stephen Langton on Canterbury divided the books of the Bible into
chapters. (1226)
French printer, Robert Estienne (Stephanus) divided the chapters of the Bible into
verses.
(1551)
DIVINE INSPIRATION

Its
Its
Its
Its
Its

not
not
not
not
not

ecstatic
verbal or mechanical dictation
subsequent approbation
simply negative assistance
mere ideological inspiration (formal inspiration)

Inspiration is the active and dynamic influence of the Holy Spirit to the human authors of
the bible, thus enabling them to write down what God wants them to.
Vatican II: Dei Verbum 11
In composing the sacred books, God chose men and while employed by Him, they
made use of their powers and abilities, so that with Him acting in them and
through them, they, as true authors, consigned to writing everything and only
those things which He wanted.
Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must
be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must
be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth
which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation.
Effects of Inspiration:
Because the BIBLE is inspired
It gives the revelation of God, enabling us to know God and His will.
It is final and definitive. It contains all that we need to know for our salvation.
It is one integral whole. It cannot contradict itself.
It is sacramental, a visible sign of Gods presence, enabling us to encounter Him
concretely.
It moves us to live as God wants us to.
It contains only the truth.
It enables the Church to recognize its divine influence.
Inerrancy
The Bible is neither a history nor a science textbook

The message of the Bible is not altered by the errors

The message of the Bible was incomplete until the FINAL WORD has been spoken.
The Bible contains error but teaches no error. It teaches only the SAVING
TRUTH.
Formation of Sacred Scriptures
- Actual Events
- Oral Tradition
- Writing of Scriptures
CANONIZATION
CANONICAL BOOKS, having passed the standards for inspiration in themselves become
STANDARDS OF FAITH and MORALITY
APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS
Gk. Apocrypha veiled or secret
DID NOT pass the CRITERIA FOR CANONICITY
The Church DID NOT sense their INSPIRATION
May have been used sporadically by SCATTERED GROUPS
DID NOT have APOSTOLIC GUARANTEE
Contents are either HERETICAL or IRRELEVANT
Since these books are of doubtful authority, they cannot be used as STANDARDS of faith and
morality.

2 TYPES OF APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS

Generally in agreement with Church teaching
Written to meet the demands of popular piety (tradition)
1. THOSE THAT NARRATE PIOUS STORIES ABOUT JESUS AND THE VIRGIN MARY
- Infancy Gospel of James
- Pseudo Matthew
- Infancy Gospel
- The Nativity of Mary
- Pseudo Gospel of Thomas
2. THOSE THAT CONTAIN HERETICAL DOCTRINES: The GNOSTIC Gospels
- Gospel of Philip
- Gospel of Mary
- Gospel of Judas
CANON OF SCRIPTURES
REVIEW:
When a book fails to meet the standards, it is labeled as APOCRYPHAL i.e. of doubtful
authority
When a book has passed the standards, it becomes part of the CANON OF
SCRIPTURES. The CANON OF SCRIPTURES refers to the official list of inspired books.

ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE :

73 (72) BOOKS
46 Books in the Old Testament
(45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are
counted as one)
27 Books in the New Testament
NON- CATHOLIC BIBLE :
66 BOOKS
39 Books in the Old Testament
27 Books in the New Testament

REASON FOR THE DIFFERENCE:

THE DEUTEROCANONICALS
The word Deuterocanonical literally means: second canon. These refers to the second
set of canonical books, or secondly canonized books. Catholics think of these books as
inspired, or equal inspiration as the Protocanonicals, having passed the same standards.
During the Council of Trent, before the Catholic Church finally closed the Canon (which
means from then on, no other books will be added to the bible), the Church also declared as
canonical some Old Testament books which were recognized ever since as inspired (e.g.
in the Damascene list ) but were not formally declared as part of the canon of scriptures.
Unfortunately, the Protestants have already deviated from the Catholic Church when this
happened so they do not have the Deuterocanonicals in their Bible. If ever they include it,
they simply label the books as Apocryphals. One thing is for sure, the Protestant Canon
was still a product of the prudent judgment of the Catholic Church before the split took
place.
INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
SHIP SINK TODAY BOY MAULED BY BEAR BABABA BA BABABA

CHRISTIAN FAITH
Faith in Jesus Christ who is GOD-become-MAN
Faith in Jesus Christ who suffered, died and rose from the dead to SAVE the world
Faith is Jesus Christ who continues to work in the world through the Church.
CATHOLIC FAITH
Catholic faith is the belief that Jesus Christ revealed God in and through the Holy
Catholic Church.
Founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, c.33AD and began its operations in Jerusalem after
Pentecost
During the Apostolic era, it was simply referred to as the Church
Later on described as Catholic (universal) to mean the Church that is everywhere
in contrast to splinter groups and sects. (St. Ignatius c.107, St. Polycarp d.155)
The Church is CATHOLIC
"The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself
and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples.
She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is "missionary by her very
nature".
The universality of Christ's Church establishes the Church as being open to all: all
classes, both sexes, all nationalities.
The catholicity of the Church also refers to the fact that the Church is the same
everywhere, in every time. In every land, with every people, the Church maintains
the same rituals and beliefs. The Church can be found in St Peter's Basilica, in a
parish community, in a group of faithful in the Mountain Province.

Characteristics of Catholic Faith

SACRAMENTAL : Signs and Symbols
TRADITIONAL : Apostolic Teaching and Succession
COMMUNAL : Common belief, morality, worship
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF FAITH
Faith involves the whole person
1. DOCTRINE (BELIEVING)
faith is knowledge; absolute certainty
2. WORSHIP (TRUSTING)
faith grows when we listen more and more carefully to Gods word and enter a lively
exchange with him in prayer; faith gives us a foretaste of the joy of heaven
3. MORALITY (DOING)
faith is morally demanding, incomplete unless it leads to active love
The Corporal Works of Mercy
Feed the hungry
Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked
Shelter the homeless
Visit the sick
Visit the imprisoned
Bury the dead
The Spiritual Works of Mercy
Admonish the sinner
Instruct the ignorant (contraception, abortion, homosexuality, etc.)

Counsel the doubtful

Comfort the sorrowful
Bear wrongs patiently
Forgive all injuries
Pray for the living and the dead

PARALYSES of FAITH
- The USUAL condition is that ONE DIMENSION is LEFT OUT
DOCTRINE-MORAL PERSON
: believes the right things, does what is good, but hardly prays and goes to Church
DOCTRINE- WORSHIP PERSON
: believes the right things, always goes to Church , but lives a questionable Christian
life.
MORAL-WORSHIP PERSON
: Does good to others, goes to Church quite often, but does not really know what
he/she believes in