REED 111:

DAILY PRAYER
REED 111:
 LESSON #2

DIVINE
REVELATION and
the CHURCH
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the lesson, the learner is expected
to:
1. Appreciate Jesus as the fullness of divine
revelation;
2. Articulate the definition of the Church;
3. Analyse the relationship of the Old Testament
and the New Testament;
4. Recognize the Bible as divinely inspired.
 I. INTRODUCTION
When we want another to know
what we think or how we feel:
 We send a text, or PM, or an email or write a
letter.

 Sometimes, it does not quite work out well,

and the other will still be in doubt as to what
was “in our minds.”
II. LESSON
PRESENTATION
A. JESUS BECAME FLESH
The high point of revelation: God’s self-gift,
self-communication.
ANGELUS: We profess “And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us.”
We hear about “word” often: The Word of the
Lord; the Word became flesh; in the
beginning was the Word.
But WORD in the New Testament is a
very powerful concept.

 It is the TRUTH, the MIND of God.

 God, in the fullness of His Truth,

choose to reside among us.
B. We affirm: After Jesus Christ,
there can be no further public
revelation.
It is not because God no longer wishes to
communicate with us.

Rather, in His Word, in His Son, God has

said everything that there is to say; He has
given us His FINAL Word.
So any sect/religion that announces that
after Jesus, there has been additional
revelation cannot be a Christian sect,
because for a Christian, Jesus is the Final
Word of the Father.
C. We cannot fully comprehend
the Mystery of the Lord
Jesus.
That is the reason that the Church
implores the Holy Spirit to fulfil the
promise of the Lord: to lead the Church
to all truth.
PENTECOST SUNDAY
That is why, as a Church, we continue to
reflect on the Word of God, to arrive at a
deeper understanding of what it is that Jesus
came to bring us.

And once more, we must insist, it was not

simply a set of ‘truths’ that Jesus came to
bring –but Himself and through Himself, the
Life and the love of God.
D. The Church interprets the
Sacred Scriptures.
1) The Bible is the book of a people

 In the Old Testament – the people of

Israel

 In the New Testament – the Apostles

2) We find Revelation in both the Old and
New Testament of Sacred Scriptures.
3) Therefore, the Bible must be interpreted

 NOT by everyone according to his fancy,

 But by the CHURCH as a community.

4) We should be guided by the correct
interpretation of the Bible:
 Through the teaching authority of the Church
called the Magisterium.

 MAGISTERIUM is composed of the Pope

and bishops in communion with him. Its task
is to:  Safeguard
 Interpret the Word of God.
 Proclaim
E. TENTATIVE DEFINITION OF
THE CHURCH.
CHURCH is the community of all who
profess the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 The Church will mean more than the

Catholic Church.
 LUMEN GENTIUM (Vatican Document)
“The elements of the true Church of Jesus Christ
will be found in other Christian communities as
well, although the true Church SUBSISTS in the
Catholic Church.”
SUBSISTS means the fullness of the elements
of the Church of Jesus Christ will be found in
the Catholic Church.

VATICAN II does NOT SAY that the true

Church IS the Catholic Church.
F. ALL SOCIETIES ARE
ORGANIZED.
The Church is the people of God – and as
a people, it is organized.

HIERARCHICAL
 It is the organization of the Church.
 It means that there are those whose service is
to guide the Church, to lead it. Pope, Bishops,
Priests and Lay Persons.
CHURCH as HIERARCHICAL

Pope

Bishops

Priests

Lay People
Just as the Constitution of the
Philippines cannot be interpreted
according to the wishes of each
person, so too, the Bible is to be
interpreted by the community
whose book it is.
G. RELATIONSHIP OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT AND NEW
TESTAMENT.
We accept the Old and the New Testament
as part of the continuous revelation of God
reaching its high-point in the Jesus “event.”
We speak of an “event” because Jesus was
a real historical person, who lived at a
specific time in history.
The story of Jesus is inscribed into human
history.

It is important that the Old Testament is to be

understood in the light of the New Testament.

What was vaguely understood in the Old

Testament is more clearly understood in the
light of Jesus.
G. THE BOOKS OF
SCRIPTURES ARE DIVINELY
INSPIRED.
DEI VERBUM (Vatican II Document)
“God assisted the sacred writers so
that they wrote all of but only what
God wanted us to know for the sake of
our salvation.”
Example: Story of Genesis

 It is an inspired story that is not

meant as a scientific
description of how things came
about.
 It is an inspired story that provides the
answer to the question:
 “Why does anything exist at all?”

 “Why do we exist?”

 Answer: We were willed into existence by

a loving God who wanted us to share in
the fullness of His life.
I. SACRED SCRIPTURE IS
WORD OF GOD IN WORDS
OF MEN.
THE Bible also reflects the evolving
thoughts and consciousness of human
society.
The individual books of Scriptures are also
product of their times, but the saving
message they have is always the inspired
Word of God.
This is the reason that in
reading Sacred
Scriptures, the Christian
must “read with the
Church” - - “sentire cum
ecclesia.”
 SUMMARY:
1. Jesus, the fullness of divine revelation.
After Jesus, no more public revelation.
2. The Church interprets the Bible.
3. Definition of the Church.
Church is the community of all who
profess the Lordship of Jesus.

Church is hierarchical.
4. Relationship of the Old
Testament and the New
Testament.

5. The Bible as divinely inspired.

6. The Bible is the Word of God in

words of men.
III. REFERENCES:

Panganiban, Fr. Richard A. Stay With Us Lord:

Revelation and Faith. Quezon City:
Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 2017.

The New American Bible. Makati City: St.

Paul’s Publications, 1995.
 Prepared by:

Mr. TEODORO F. CAMAT

Subject Instructor