Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Dominus Iesus §6
I. The Fullness and Definitiveness of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
I. THE FULLNESS AND DEFINITIVENESS OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST
6. Therefore, the theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which would be complementary to that found in other religions, is contrary to the Church's faith. Such a position would claim to be based on the notion that the truth about God cannot be grasped and manifested in its globality and completeness by any historical religion, neither by Christianity nor by Jesus Christ.
Such a position is in radical contradiction with the foregoing statements of Catholic faith according to which the full and complete revelation of the salvific mystery of God is given in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the words, deeds, and entire historical event of Jesus, though limited as human realities, have nevertheless the divine Person of the Incarnate Word, “true God and true man”13 as their subject. For this reason, they possess in themselves the definitiveness and completeness of the revelation of God's salvific ways, even if the depth of the divine mystery in itself remains transcendent and inexhaustible. The truth about God is not abolished or reduced because it is spoken in human language; rather, it is unique, full, and complete, because he who speaks and acts is the Incarnate Son of God. Thus, faith requires us to profess that the Word made flesh, in his entire mystery, who moves from incarnation to glorification, is the source, participated but real, as well as the fulfilment of every salvific revelation of God to humanity,14 and that the Holy Spirit, who is Christ's Spirit, will teach this “entire truth” (Jn 16:13) to the Apostles and, through them, to the whole Church.
Source notes
(13) Council of Chalcedon, Symbolum Chalcedonense: DS 301; cf. St. Athanasius, De Incarnatione, 54, 3: SC 199, 458.
(14) Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Dei verbum, 4.
Source: Dominus Iesus (Vatican.va) · © Libreria Editrice Vaticana