Teachings of the Catholic Church - Questions     

Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”:

Chapter I:  Revelation Itself

1. According to the Second Vatican Council, what primarily is revealed in divine revelation?  (Look also in section 6.)

2. This plan of revelation, says the Council, is realized by ______ and ______ having an inner unity.  How does each manifest the other?

3. In sections 3 and 4, the Council lists a number of ways in which God has made himself known to mankind.  List them.  In what (or whom) does this list culminate?

4. What response must be given, according to the Council, to the God Who reveals?

Chapter II:  The Transmission of Divine Revelation

5. In section 7, the Council states: “In His gracious goodness, God has seen to it that what He had revealed for the salvation of all nations would abide perpetually in its full integrity and be handed on to all generations.”  How was this done?  How is this deposit of faith carried on in its integrity today?  (Hint: What is a bishop?)

6. What, according to the Council, has been handed on to us by the apostles?  Or to put the question another way:  What is it the Church hands on to future generations?

7. Is the Church’s tradition something static?  Or is there development in the Church’s tradition?  Explain.

8. How, according to the Council, are the Church’s full canon of the sacred books known?

9. In sections 9, 10, and 11, the Council explains the relationship between tradition, Scripture, and magisterium in the Church.  (“Magisterium” comes from the Latin word “magister”, which means “teacher.”  Magisterium, therefore, is the term we use to designate the teaching authority of the Church, which is exercised by all the bishops and the Pope.)
 

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