Understanding Catholic Divine Revelation and Christian Faith

Sources of Divine Revelation

Divine revelation is transmitted through two primary sources:

• The Old Testament: God spoke to His people through oral tradition and later through sacred writing.
• The New Testament: First transmitted orally, it was afterwards written down as Holy Scripture.

Scripture is the word of God written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Sacred Tradition refers to God's word that is not written in the Bible, but was transmitted by Jesus to the Apostles and to the Church.

The Bible: Inspired by God

The Bible is the only book in the world whose author is God Himself, because it was written under divine inspiration.

Inspiration is a supernatural grace by which God enlightens the understanding of the sacred writer and moves his will to write the exact truths that God wants to convey. Thus, God acts as the primary author, and man acts as His instrument.

Understanding Biblical Inerrancy

Sacred Scripture is free of error because God can neither deceive nor mislead us. The Bible is a religious book that tells the story of salvation.

The Canon of the Bible

When we speak of the canonicity of the Bible, we refer to the list of inspired books that constitute it.

• Inerrancy: This means being error-free. The Scriptures possess this property because they solidly and without error teach the truths that God wanted to reveal for our salvation.
• Canonicity: This is the property exclusively enjoyed by the authentic books that comprise the Bible.

Interpretation and the Magisterium

The main literary genres found in the Bible are historical, legal, poetic, wisdom, and epistolary.

The Magisterium is the mission to teach with authority that was entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Apostles and their successors: the Pope and the bishops.

Faith: Relying on God

The most perfect model of faith is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Faith is a gift that God gives through His grace to any person who is willing to trust Him and do His will.

Faith in Jesus Christ

Jesus performed great miracles to prove that He was the Messiah announced by the prophets of the Old Testament.

Faith is a supernatural virtue by which we believe in God and everything He has revealed—not because of the intrinsic evidence of those truths, but by the authority of God Himself, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

Truths a Christian Must Believe

1. Belief in one God and the truths He has revealed to us.
2. Belief in God is inseparable from believing in Jesus Christ.
3. Believing in God and His Son Jesus is to believe in the Holy Spirit.
4. All the truths contained in the Creed (Credo).
5. All that is of God, written or handed down by tradition.

Duties of the Christian Faith

1. Answer the call of God.
2. Illustrate the Faith.
3. Defend the Faith.
4. Communicate the Faith.
5. Live according to the Faith.

Credo: The set of fundamental truths that comprise the Christian faith.

Dogma: A revealed doctrine proposed by the Church as a truth of faith which must be believed by all Catholics.

The Beatitudes (Bienaventuranzas): Meaning full joy, this refers to the eight blessings preached by Jesus on one of the hills near Capernaum.