To understand the Divine revelation, we must first identify the different types of revelation and understanding of the relationships they have with each other. These types of Revelation all refer to truths that God would make known to man. First, we can divide into two groups of Revelation Revelation which are general and special revelation.
General Revelation
As its name implies, general revelation is a revelation that God gives us which is accessible through our own means.
From our observations
First, because man has a spiritual soul created in the image of God, capable of love, understanding and free act, we are able to identify certain characteristics of God only observing the world around us and the laws that govern them. As we stated in the Book of Wisdom: Yes, vain by nature all men who were ignorant of God, which, starting from the visible assets were not able to know Him-who-is and, considering the works did not recognize the Artisan (13, 1).
From Natural Law
The second source of revelation is the general law of nature. These are not laws of nature, but rather the "law written in our hearts" (Rom 2, 15) as described in the letter to the Romans. This law is the constant universal morality placed in all men and to guide them towards good and avoid evil to grow. By studying the moral law, can also happen to have some knowledge of God.
Special Revelation
Although we can achieve a certain knowledge of God through general revelation, it could, given our human limitations, achieve a complete understanding of God. So why a large part of revelation must come from God himself, because she could not come from the reflection of man. It contains information about how we need to do to achieve our end desired by God and also information on the nature of God that we would not be accessible by our own means. We can divide this special revelation in two categories that are Public Revelation and private revelations.
Public Revelation
public revelation is the revelation that began when God has contacted his inspired prophets and continued until the death of last Apostle (Saint John), the late first century. The public revelation is also known under the expression "deposit of faith." It contains all the books of the Bible as sacred Tradition. Sacred Tradition is the oral tradition that has survived over the centuries from the Apostles of Jesus. The public revelation must be accepted by all Christians and no one can alter the content of this revelation.
Revelation Private Revelation
privacy is a revelation to one (or group) specific Christian. It is a revelation not necessarily binding on all Christians. For example, the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes or the message of Divine Mercy to Sister Faustina are in this category. This revelation is a grace from God to help us build our spiritual and she can not contradict, override or replace the Public Revelation.
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