Reveal/Revelation
- Michael Haldas
- Jun 13, 2024
- 6 min read
“… the eyes are the windows through which … God enters. This is why Christ is always presented as being seen, looked upon, and beheld (John 1:14; 1 John 1:1-3). And this is why God is called Theos, which comes from the word theasthai, and literally means: ‘He who can be seen.’ This is why God is light: so that He can be seen. Thus the phrase: He was seen by them for forty days means that, during a period perfect interval of time, Christ revealed Himself to the most powerful, the most gripping, of human senses, thereby providing us with the most compelling and permanent experience of God.” (Archimandrite Aimilianos)
“… Genesis 1:3 in which God says, “Let there be light“. God, “He who can be seen”, makes Himself visible or creates the conditions in which He can be seen. God then brings into existence creatures capable of seeing God. Humans are created precisely as beings capable of seeing God, so when we don’t see God we are some how less than fully human, maybe even inhuman at a certain level. There is a synergy here between God and humans: To allow God to be Himself – fully divine (“the one who can be seen”) and to allow God Himself to be seen, God brings into existence creatures capable of seeing God. God is fully God, “the one who can be seen”, when there are creatures capable of seeing God. Eve and Adam apparently could both see and talk with God, but they chose no longer to see Him as God their Lord and so felt they could disobey Him and disregard Him. Their expulsion from Paradise was confirmation that they no longer could see God.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“The Bible is in a sense a biography of God in this world. In it the Indescribable One has in a sense described Himself. The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament are a biography of the incarnate God in this world. In them it is related how God, in order to reveal Himself to men, sent God the Logos, Who took on flesh and became man-and as man told men everything that God is, everything that God wants from this world and the people in it. God the Logos revealed God's plan for the world and God's love for the world. God the Word spoke to men about God with the help of words insofar as human words can contain the uncontainable God. All that is necessary for this world and the people in it--the Lord has stated in the Bible. In it He has given the answers to all questions. There is no question which can torment the human soul, and not find its answer, either directly or indirectly in the Bible.” (St. Justin Popovich)
“There is an escalating hope of becoming closer and closer to our Heavenly Father in this sequence of God’s grace. The end of this sequence of growing into God is that the Father will “reveal Himself.” Then we will become “like Him.” Because of this likeness, we will reach a state beyond which no angel or other created being could ever go. We will see God “as He is” in all His majesty, splendor, goodness, truth, and purity.” (Fr. Basil)
“God reveals Himself in a manner that each person can understand. Indeed, He reveals His will through all cultures and in all periods of history…God always speaks and reveals Himself in terms that can be assimilated. He does not destroy culture, but fulfills it.” (Dynamis 2/13/2023, Father Stephen Freeman)
“When we read Scripture as a whole, we discover that God is engaged in a building process: he first reveals, then allows time to elapse, then reveals more details before ultimately fulfilling his revelation…God reveals Himself to us a little at a time, as we are able to bear it.” (Dynamis 3/20/2018, 3/28/2018)
“In prayer, we speak to God. In the Scriptures, God speaks to us. Yes, there are many ways to hear God’s voice, but the best way is through reading the Scriptures. One doesn’t have to read a lot to take away inspiration. A chapter or even a few verses a day provide direction and inspiration. We are to read the Bible repeatedly and constantly. To read the same passages over and over again only serves to bring deeper meaning as more layers of the message are uncovered and revealed to us.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“…mere use of biblical words does not always reveal God’s will, particularly if they are placed in the wrong context.” (Foundation Study Bible, Luke 4:10-11)
“God speaks to his people in remarkably different ways—through the written Scriptures, through the words of others, through circumstances and events. It is up to us to listen, to be perceptive, to be alert.” (Life Application Study Bible, Acts 10:3)
“Sometimes He will reveal His presence through circumstances, and sometimes with a still, small voice, but always He will help us to know He dwells with us.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Isaiah 58:9)
“When we read Scripture as a whole, we discover that God is engaged in a building process: he first reveals, then allows time to elapse, then reveals more details before ultimately fulfilling his revelation…God reveals Himself to us a little at a time, as we are able to bear it.” (Dynamis 3/20/2018, 3/28/2018)
“In prayer, we speak to God. In the Scriptures, God speaks to us. Yes, there are many ways to hear God’s voice, but the best way is through reading the Scriptures. One doesn’t have to read a lot to take away inspiration. A chapter or even a few verses a day provide direction and inspiration. We are to read the Bible repeatedly and constantly. To read the same passages over and over again only serves to bring deeper meaning as more layers of the message are uncovered and revealed to us.” (Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis)
“…mere use of biblical words does not always reveal God’s will, particularly if they are placed in the wrong context.” (Foundation Study Bible, Luke 4:10-11)
“You should know the Bible, but even more important, you should understand the God whom the Bible reveals...[Church] services are especially appointed by God for revealing Himself among us…” (Life Application Study Bible, John 3:10-11, Dynamis 8/5/2014)
“Christ our God became man in order to reveal to us a complete vision of God in a manner apprehensible to human sight.” (OCPM 8/5/2016)
"God reveals Himself in many big and small ways in my life, if I have the eyes to see Him. He subtly shines through in my surroundings, relationships, responsibilities, and situations, when I pay attention to the wisdom and beauty He wants to show me on any given day…My Lord Jesus Christ “appears” or reveals Himself in different, specific ways and times to each of us, just as He revealed Himself in a unique way to Saul, when he was in the middle of zealously persecuting Christians." (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)
“Many people say they believe in God, and may even be able to describe some of the things they attribute to Him. But so long as the belief rests in generalized terms, there is no true knowledge, only the projection of our wishes, desires, even delusions (no matter how good or noble). The journey towards knowing God requires unknowing what we think to be ourselves that we might see Him for who He is. Our own name and true existence is then revealed only by Him and in Him. And this is eternal life. (John 17:3).” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“The worst situations in life are opportunities to discover our one true source of comfort…Once we will learn to look for God’s activity in every disaster, we discover that He is revealing Himself.” (OCPM 2/23/2016)
"At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants…” (Lk 10: 17-21)...As the Lord says in the above-cited passage, these things have indeed been “hidden from the wise and intelligent,” and “revealed to infants.” (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)
“The faculties which search out divine realities were implanted by the Creator in the essence of human nature at its very entrance into being; but divine realities themselves are revealed by man through grace by the power of the Holy Spirit descending upon him.” (St. Maximos the Confessor)
"The task of repentance is literally a change of mind. Our goal is to acquire the Mind of Christ which is the Mind of the Church. The Scriptures show us this Mind. The Church services reveal to us this Mind." (Archimandrite Sergius)
“…reason has been reduced to discursive reasoning, i.e. logic. Popularly, it refers to what can be proven by demonstration (and often less than that). At the same time, there has been a groundswell of sentimentality, in which how we “feel” about something has been elevated to a position above rational argument. It is in this context that faith is easily misunderstood. Faith is not a leap beyond the provable, nor is it a motion based on strong sentiment. Faith is a mode of perception, a means by which we may know. But it belongs to a much larger understanding of human cognition that is unknown to our culture.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Literal instruction is when we learn the truths contained in the word by rote, and talk one after another of Divine things. But spiritual illumination is when these things are revealed to us by the Spirit of God." (Thomas Manton)
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