– This term generally designates the way in which God makes himself known to man; natural revelation takes place through created things, which prove the existence of their Creator:
Ps 18 : 2 : The heavens tell the glory of God, and the firmament declares his handiwork.
Wis 13,1-9 : Those who have not known God are foolish by nature.
Is 40,26 : Lift up your eyes to heaven and look. Who created all these stars?
Rom 1:19-23 : What can be known about God they read in themselves, for God has revealed it to them with evidence.
– It is manifestation of God through his Word and his work; by itself it is inaccessible:
Ex 33,20 : The Lord has gathered – you will not be able to see my face, for man could not see me and continue to live.
Is 45:15 : Truly a God hides in your house, the God of Israel, a God who saves!
Jn 1:18 : No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed it.
1Tm 6,16 : The only one who possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.
1Jn 4:12 : No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God abides in us.
– Supernatural revelation is that by which God manifests himself in the course of Israel’s history, through events and through the prophets:
Am 3,7 : For the Lord Yahweh does nothing without revealing his secret to the prophets, his servants.
– God revealed his name to Moses:
Ex 3:14 : God replied to Moses: “I am who I am”.
Ex 34,6-7 : The Lord passed before him, exclaiming: “Lord, Lord, compassionate and merciful God”.
Is 42,8 : I am the Lord, that is my name, I will give my glory to no one, nor my honor to idols.
– His work is revealed in creation:
Gen 1:1–2 :4 : In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void.
Ps 18,2-3 : The heavens tell the glory of God, and the firmament declares the work of his hands.
Ps 103,2-22 : You spread out the sky like a pavilion, above the waters you fixed your abode.
Pr 8,22-23 : The Lord created me, the firstfruits of his works, from the beginning, before the beginning of the earth.
Eclo 42,15–43,33 : I will now remember the works of the Lord, I will proclaim what I have seen.
Rom 1:19-20 : What can be known about God they read in themselves, for God has revealed it to them with evidence.
— And in providence for his people:
Ex 6,4-5 : I made a promise to them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they led a wandering life.
Ex 12,17.35-36 : You shall keep (the Feast) of Unleavened Bread, because it was on that day that I brought you out of Egypt.
Ex 16,4-5.13-14 : The Lord said to Moses: “I will rain bread from heaven”.
Ex 17,5-6 : The Lord replied to Moses: “Go ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you”.
Ex 20,2 : I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
– God revealed himself through the Law:
Ex 20,2-17 : I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Ex 34,10-27 : I will make an alliance with you. I will do wonders before all your people.
Deut 5,6-22 : I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
– Through the prophets:
1Sm 3,4-21 : And the Lord continued to manifest himself in Silo. It is there that the Lord appeared to Samuel.
Is 6:8 : Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Jer 1:2 : The word of the Lord came to him in the time of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year.
– Through promises:
Gen 12,1-2 : I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and exalt your name, and you will be a source of blessings.
Gen 13:15-16 : All the land that you see, I will give it to you and your descendants forever.
Gen 26:3 : I am with you […], for to you and to your descendants I will give all this land, and I will fulfill the oath.
Gen 28:13-14 : I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; I will give the land to you and your descendants.
Gen 35,9-10 : When Jacob returned from Padan-Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
2Sm 7,8-16 : I took you from the pastures where you kept your sheep to make you the leader of my people Israel.
– Jesus revealed the face of the Father:
Jo 1,14.18 : No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed it.
Jn 3:11 : We say what we know and testify to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.
Jo 8,12 : I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Jn 12:28 : Father, glorify your name! At that there came a voice from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Jn 14,7-8 : If you had known me, you would also certainly have known my Father; from now on you have known him.
Jn 17,3-4 : Now, eternal life consists in knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
– Through your paternity:
Mt 6,9.15-32 : This is how you should pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Lk 11,2-3 : When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name; your Kingdom come.
Lk 12,22-23 : Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat.
– Through your love:
Jn 3:16 : Indeed, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.
Rom 5:8: A brilliant proof of God’s love for us: when we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 8:31-32 : He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.
1Jn 4,8.13-14 : He who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
– The mysteries of his kingdom:
Mt 13,35 : I will open my mouth to teach in parables; I will reveal things hidden since creation.
Mk 4:11 : To you is revealed the mystery of the Kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is proposed in parables.
Lk 8:10 : He replied: “To you it is granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God”.
– His universal salvific will:
Rom 16:25: To him who is able to establish you, […] according to the revelation of the mystery.
1Cor 2,1-15 : God revealed them to us by his Spirit, because the Spirit penetrates everything, even the depths of God.
Gal 3:28 : There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:11-18 : Thanks to Jesus Christ, you who once were far away are made present through the blood of Christ.
Eph 3,4-13 : For the improvement of Christians, for the performance of the task aimed at building the body of Christ.
– What is accomplished in Christ:
Rom 3,21-22 : But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God, attested by the Law and the prophets, has been manifested.
1Cor 1,7-8 : So, while you wait for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, you lack no gift.
Gal 2:16 : We know, however, that no one is justified by keeping the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ.
Gal 3:14 : The blessing of Abraham extends to the Gentiles, in Christ Jesus, and by faith we receive the promised Spirit.
Eph 1,3-14.18-23 : In that Son, through his blood, we have Redemption, the remission of sins.
Col 1,13-22 : He […] brought us into the Kingdom of his beloved Son, in which we have […] the forgiveness of sins.
– And in the promised Holy Spirit:
Jo 14,16-17.26 : And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to be with you forever.
Jn 15:26 : When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father.
Jn 16,7-14 : It is to your advantage that I go! Because if I don’t go, the Paraclete won’t come to you; but if I go, I will send it to you.
– Is sent:
Acts 2:1-4 :33 : Suddenly there came a noise from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house.
– Revelation is not recognized by human wisdom:
Acts 17:32 : When they heard him speak of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked him.
Rom 1:19-20 : What can be known about God they read in themselves, for God has revealed it to them with evidence.
1Cor 1,18-25 : The language of the cross is foolishness for those who are lost, but for those who have been saved.
2Cor 4,3-4 : If our Gospel is still hidden, it is hidden from those who are lost.
2Th 2:10 : He will use all the seductions of evil with those who are lost, for not having cultivated love.
– And it can be received only with faith:
Rom 1:17 : Because in him the righteousness of God is revealed, which is obtained by faith and leads to faith.
Gal 3:11 : That no one is justified by the Law before God is evident, because the just shall live by faith.
Heb 10:38 : My just man shall live by faith. But if he fails, my heart will no longer be pleased with him.
– The central event of revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ, who, by his presence, action and word, gives human beings a more intimate and profound knowledge of God and his mysteries:
Jn 1:18 : No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed it.
– See CREATION, PROVIDENCE.
