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50 By natural reason man can know God with
certainty, on the 36 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 io66
eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has
fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our
LordJesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. THE REVELATION OF GOD
~i ‘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
2823 should have access to the
Father, through Christ, the Word made
flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the
divine 1996 nature. ~2
52 God, who ‘dwells in unapproachable light’,
wants to commu nicate his own divine life to the men he
freely created, in order to adopt them as his sons in his
only-begotten Son.3 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’4 and shed light on each another. 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, 1953, 1950
Jesus Christ. 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
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