He said there are two methods that God revealed his wisdom to us:
1. Supernatural revelation: The word could not reveal to us all wisdom all at once, so he gradually revealed this to us. For instance, the first revelation was that God existed. Then, when Adam and Eve sinned, God revealed that he was willing to forgive and offer salvation.
2. Divine Revelation: The word came to us as a human named Jesus Christ, and he suffered as we suffer, and died for us so that we may live. As the word, or the son of God, he shared the word of God. He commanded his apostles to share the Gospel with the world. They did this in two ways:
- Orally through their preachings
- Writings through their scriptures (the Bible)
He said the apostles could not live forever, so they left bishops as their successors to handle Christ's work and to help spread the word to the world. In this way the church was formed in order to help teach the revelations to the people, and help them to understand the revelations. These revelations are passed down by the church by two means, both of which come with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and of which are called "deposits of faith":
- Scripture (The Bible): Written by human beings who used their abilities the best they could to share God's inspiration. Since the Bible was written early in human existence, the authors had the limited ability to coin words. For this reason, most stories are told in literary, or allegorical, styles. Yet since the words they speak are from the inspirations of God, then He is the author of the scriptures. Since he is the author, we must accept firmly and faithfully that the Bible, the scriptures, represents the words of God. We must read through the words for the true message from God. The Bible is interpreted with the help of the Holy Spirit for those who have accepted the Holy Spirit. For those who have not accepted the Holy Spirit, the Bible might appear as an illogical work of fiction.
- Tradition (Church): This is the word that comes from the apostles, thus passing on what they learned from Jesus and the Holy Spirit. These are observed in the "tradition" of the church, which should allow priests to share the messages from the Bible and explain what they mean.
Those who accept the Holy Spirit will also be able to accept Jesus, and therefore God. Those who receive God will have Faith, which is a gift from God. Since God gave us the right to choose, those of us who choose to have faith choose to freely trust God
He said that faith is a gift from God. It is our attempt to fully understand the word of God, and the truths he has revealed. It's our effort to know God and understand him better.
While faith is given as a gift, it can be lost. Lukefahr said:
Fairht must be free. God does not force us to believe even though faith is necessary for salvation. Faith can be lost through neglect and sin, and we must nurture faith by study, prayer, and works of charity. When te trials of this imperfect world shake our faith, we should turn to model believers like Abraham and Mary. Above all, we must look to jesus, the 'pioneer and perfecter of our faith'He added
Faith is a personal act, but we receive faith from others and should hand it on. The faith of the Church is professed personally by each believer and by the liturgical assembly of believers. The Church is our mother, our teacher in faith. The Church guards the faith and gives us formulas, the Creeds, by which we profess our faith and remain one in the faith. 'Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples, and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by the one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have only one God and Father."God reveals his wisdom, but in order to receive his wisdom we must accept the Holy spirit; we must have faith.
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