This is a piece of a larger paper I am writing for my Systematic Theology 1 class. Of this I am confident, so far:
The Nature of Revelation should be understood as divine self-disclosure; God, through his own will, decided to purposefully unveil Himself to Man. It is through this purposeful unveiling that we understand the nature of God and His Reality. We understand both God and His Reality through two sources: General Revelation and Special Revelation.
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General Revelation is God’s self-disclosure to all of Humanity through three purposeful acts of unveiling: the whole of Creation; an internal awareness of the Divine; and the participation of God in History. First, Creation itself reflects the purpose and attributes of God, and is a means by which Man can both know of and about Him; all of Humanity has access to God through an awareness of an “Other” that is beyond and above itself, and what may be known of God can be clearly and plainly seen. Secondly, each person has an internal sense of the divine, an awareness that points to the existence of God, the existence of which cannot not be believed. Finally, history reveals a God who is intimately involved in the affairs of His Creation through deliberate acts of self-disclosure, human involvement, and redemption. This final act of general exposure is especially important, for it points towards God’s other purposeful act of divine self-disclosure: Special Revelation.
While God’s unveiling through creation, human conscience, and history reveals a Being that transcends all three, it is through Special Revelation we see a God of immanence; if General Revelation is transcendent exposure, Special Revelation is immanent. The first act of immanent unveiling is through the sacred writings of the children of Israel and apostles of Jesus. These collections of writings in their respective testaments are compiled in what we call the Bible. While it is not God’s ultimate act of self-disclosure, the Holy Scriptures is the standard by which we measure our understanding of God and His Reality. Through the second act of Special Revelation, God and His Reality is fully unveiled through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Ultimately, the fullest expression God’s nature, character, intensions, and desires are fully revealed through the person of Jesus, and are only properly understood by observing, understanding, and listening to Him. Though we have a textual understand of God and His Reality through the Holy Scriptures, even this piece of revelation must be interpreted through the teachings, way and person of Jesus.
