Catechism of the Catholic Church: Chapter Two

God Comes to Meet Man

50 By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his
works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly
arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation. Through an
utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man.
This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed
from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed
this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit. (36; 1066)

Article 1

The Revelation of God

I. God Reveals His “Plan of Loving Goodness”

51 “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to
make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have
access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy
Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature.” (2823; 1996)

52 God, who “dwells in unapproachable light,” wants to communicate his

own divine life to the men he freely created, in order to adopt them as his
sons in his only-begotten Son. By revealing himself God wishes to make
them capable of responding to him, and of knowing him, and of loving him
far beyond their own natural capacity.

53 The divine plan of Revelation is realized simultaneously “by deeds and

words which are intrinsically bound up with each other” and shed light on
each other. It involves a specific divine pedagogy: God communicates
himself to man gradually. He prepares him to welcome by stages the
supernatural Revelation that is to culminate in the person and mission of
the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. (1953; 1950)

St. Irenaeus of Lyons repeatedly speaks of this divine pedagogy using the
image of God and man becoming accustomed to one another: The Word of
God dwelt in man and became the Son of man in order to accustom man to
perceive God and to accustom God to dwell in man, according to the
Father’s pleasure.

II. The Stages of Revelation

In the beginning God makes himself known

54 “God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, provides men
with constant evidence of himself in created realities. And furthermore,
wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation, he manifested himself to
our first parents from the very beginning.” He invited them to intimate
communion with himself and clothed them with resplendent grace and
justice. (32; 374)

55 This revelation was not broken off by our first parents’ sin. “After the
fall, [God] buoyed them up with the hope of salvation, by promising
redemption; and he has never ceased to show his solicitude for the human
race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by
patience in well-doing.” (397, 410; 761)

Even when he disobeyed you and lost your friendship you did not abandon
him to the power of death.… Again and again you offered a covenant to
man.

The Covenant with Noah

56 After the unity of the human race was shattered by sin God at once
sought to save humanity part by part. The covenant with Noah after the
flood gives expression to the principle of the divine economy toward the
“nations,” in other words, toward men grouped “in their lands, each with
[its] own language, by their families, in their nations.” (401; 1219)

57 This state of division into many nations is at once cosmic, social, and
religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity, united only in
its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel. But, because of sin,
both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly
threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism. 12

58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the
Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. The Bible venerates
several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest
Melchizedek—a figure of Christ—and the upright “Noah, Daniel, and Job.” 14
Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by
those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to
“gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (674; 2569)

God chooses Abraham

59 In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his
country, his kindred, and his father’s house, and makes him Abraham, that
is, “the father of a multitude of nations.” “In you all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed.”17 (145, 2570)

60 The people descended from Abraham would be the trustees of the

promise made to the patriarchs, the chosen people, called to prepare for
that day when God would gather all his children into the unity of the
Church. They would be the root onto which the Gentiles would be grafted,
once they came to believe.19 (760; 762, 781)

61 The patriarchs, prophets, and certain other Old Testament figures have
been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical
traditions.

God forms his people Israel

62 After the patriarchs, God formed Israel as his people by freeing them
from slavery in Egypt. He established with them the covenant of Mount
Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize
him and serve him as the one living and true God, the provident Father and
just judge, and so that they would look for the promised Savior. (2060,
2574; 1961)

63 Israel is the priestly people of God, “called by the name of the Lord,” and
“the first to hear the word of God,” the people of “elder brethren” in the
faith of Abraham. (204, 2801; 839)

64 Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in
the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be
written on their hearts. The prophets proclaim a radical redemption of the
People of God, purification from all their infidelities, a salvation which will
include all the nations.23 Above all, the poor and humble of the Lord will
bear this hope. Such holy women as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam,
Deborah, Hannah, Judith, and Esther kept alive the hope of Israel’s
salvation. The purest figure among them is Mary. (711; 1965; 489)

III. Christ Jesus—“Mediator and Fullness of All Revelation”

God has said everything in his Word

65 “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.” Christ, the
Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable
Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this
one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews
1:1–2: (102; 516; 2717)

In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he

spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more
to say … because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now
spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person
questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not
only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes
entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.

There will be no further Revelation

66 “The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive

Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be
expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet
even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely
explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance
over the course of the centuries. (94)

67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called “private” revelations,

some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They
do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve
or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in
a certain period of history. Guided by the magisterium of the Church, the
sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations
whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.
(84; 93)

Christian faith cannot accept “revelations” that claim to surpass or correct

the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain
non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base
themselves on such “revelations.”

In Brief

68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has
thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that
man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.
69 God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own
mystery in deeds and in words.

70 Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he

manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall,
promised them salvation (cf. Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.

71 God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living
beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.

72 God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his
descendants. By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law
to them through Moses. Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept
the salvation destined for all humanity.

73 God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he
has established his covenant for ever. The Son is his Father’s definitive
Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.

Article 2

The Transmission of Divine Revelation

74 God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth”: that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and
individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth: (851)

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the
salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages,
and be transmitted to all generations.

I. The Apostolic Tradition

75 “Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is
summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been
promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own
person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they
were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the
source of all saving truth and moral discipline.” (171)

In the apostolic preaching …

76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two
ways:
— orally “by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their
preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established,
what they themselves had received—whether from the lips of Christ, from
his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the
prompting of the Holy Spirit”;

— in writing “by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles
who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message
of salvation to writing.”

… continued in apostolic succession

77 “In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in
the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them
‘their own position of teaching authority.’ ” Indeed, “the apostolic
preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to
be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.” 36
(861)

78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called

Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely
connected to it. Through Tradition, “the Church, in her doctrine, life, and
worship perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself
is, all that she believes.” “The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to
the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured
out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer.” 38
(174; 1124, 2651)

79 The Father’s self-communication made through his Word in the Holy

Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: “God, who spoke in the
past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the
Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the
Church—and through her in the world—leads believers to the full truth, and
makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness.”

II. The Relationship between Tradition and Sacred Scripture

One common source …

80 “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely

together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out
from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form
one thing and move towards the same goal.” Each of them makes present
and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain
with his own “always, to the close of the age.”

… two distinct modes of transmission

81 “Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under

the breath of the Holy Spirit.” (113)

“And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has
been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It
transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the
Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it abroad
by their preaching.”

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of

Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed
truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be
accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”

Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on
what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned
from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a
written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the
process of living Tradition. (1202, 2041; 2684)

Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary,

liturgical, or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time.
These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in
which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these
traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance
of the Church’s magisterium.

III. The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith

The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church

84 The apostles entrusted the “Sacred deposit” of the faith (the depositum
fidei), contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the
Church. “By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its
pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the
brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining,
practicing, and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should
be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful.” (857, 871;
2033)

The Magisterium of the Church

85 “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God,

whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted
to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter
is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of
interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the
successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. (888–892; 2032–2040)

86 “Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its
servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine
command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly,
guards it with dedication, and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for
belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith.”
(688)

87 Mindful of Christ’s words to his apostles: “He who hears you, hears me,”
the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their
pastors give them in different forms. (1548; 2037)

The dogmas of the faith

88 The Church’s Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to

the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a
form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith,
truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a
definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these. (888–892,
2032–2040)

89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the

dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and
make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will
be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith. (2625)

90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be

found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ. “In Catholic
doctrine there exists an order or ‘hierarchy’ of truths, since they vary in
their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith.” (114, 158; 234)

The supernatural sense of faith

91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth.
They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them and
guides them into all truth.54 (737)

92 “The whole body of the faithful … cannot err in matters of belief. This
characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus
fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, ‘from the bishops to the last of
the faithful,’ they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and
morals.” (785)

93 “By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of
truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority
(Magisterium), … receives … the faith, once for all delivered to the saints.…
The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with
right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life.” (889)

Growth in understanding the faith

94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both

the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life
of the Church: (66; 2651; 2038, 2518)

— “through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these

things in their hearts”; it is in particular “theological research [which]
deepens knowledge of revealed truth.”58

— “from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers]

experience,” the sacred Scriptures “grow with the one who reads them.” 60

— “from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of
succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth.”

95 “It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God,

sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are
so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the
others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one
Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”

In Brief

96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their

preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all
generations, until Christ returns in glory.
97 “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred
deposit of the Word of God” (DV 10), in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim
Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.

98 “The Church, in her doctrine, life, and worship, perpetuates and

transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes”
(DV 8 §1).

99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole

never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply, and to live more fully
from the gift of divine Revelation.

100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been
entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and
to the bishops in communion with him.