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Lizzy Goetz

Mrs. Bouch

Honors English 11

2 October 2017

God Working Through Everyone

Does God only reveal Himself to some people? Believe it or not, the answer is a

resounding no. Although some religions do not believe in God or believe in any sort of supreme

being, God has revealed himself to everyone. All people are given the chance to follow God

throughout their whole lives and it is their decision whether they follow Him or not. God wants

the best for everyone no matter what each person believes, which is why he goes to everyone.

God revealed himself to all people, no matter who a person is or what a person believes.

Catholics have a strong belief that God works through the Church. They believe that “the

Church is necessary for salvation” (The Second Vatican, para. 14). If Christ is the one way to

salvation and the Church is Christ’s body, then the Church is the way to salvation (The Second

Vatican, para. 14). In Catholic teaching, salvation is from the special grace that comes from

Christ. But, to achieve salvation, each person is required to have love. Without love, you do not

have God because God is love. Although there are different beliefs within different religions, all

religions are joined in the Holy Spirit which inspires unity (The Second Vatican, para. 15). Non-

Catholics are “consecrated by baptism, in which they are united in Christ. They also recognize

and accept other sacraments within their own Churches” (The Second Vatican, para. 15).

God reveals himself to everyone, not just Catholics, but non-Catholics as well. Proof of

this is the simple quote by the Second Vatican, “the plan of salvation also includes those who

acknowledge the Creator” (para. 16). The Church is continuously promoting unity and love
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among everyone (Pope Paul VI, para. 1). This is shown in Nostra Aetate by saying, “One is the

community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the

face of the earth. One also is their final goal, God” (Pope Paul VI, para.1). This is essentially

saying that all people are working toward the same destination, but they each take different paths

to get there. The different religions throughout the world agree that “the Catholic Church rejects

nothing that is true and holy in these religions,” (Pope Paul VI, para. 2) such as Hinduism,

Buddhism, and more. Each religion “reflects a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men” (Pope

Paul VI, para. 2). Although every religion has different views on things, “Christ underwent His

passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may

reach salvation” (Pope Paul VI, para. 4).

Native American origin myths show their own take on how God is present in their lives.

Similar to Catholics, Native Americans believe there is a supreme being that created the world.

In The Walam Olam, the Delaware named their creator the great Manito (line 2), giving it the

highest amount of power. In this origin myth, the great Manito creates everything good. But,

near the end of the myth, there is also another being they call “an evil Manito” that “made evil

beings only, monsters,” (“Walam” line 14). Genesis 1 is the creation of the world which relates

to The Walam Olam, using God instead of the great Manito. Genesis 2:1 says, “Thus the heavens

and the earth and all their array were completed,” which gives a direct similarity of the two

stories. Although evil is not given a specific name at this point in the Bible, it is given an animal

to symbolize evil. The evil animal is a snake that leads Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of

knowledge and eventually be banished from the Garden (Gen. 3). Like Genesis, The Walam

Olam also shows that before evil came upon the world, all things were good.
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Puritans also believe in God revealing himself to every person in a specific way.

According to Mary Deering, “the Puritans believed that God formed a unique covenant with

them.” Not only did they believe that “humans exist for the glory of God” (Pilgrims, 8) but they

also believed that “the Bible is the sole expression of God’s will” (Pilgrims, 8). To Catholics, the

Bible expresses God’s will but, they do not believe it is the sole expression. The Catechism of

the Catholic Church speaks of each person having a desire to know God (Profession). Puritans

also believed in predestination which was the belief God has which people will achieve salvation

and who will not (Pilgrims, 8). Even though they have different beliefs than Catholics or Native

Americans, they still get the point across that God is present in their lives.

No matter what a person does in their life, God reveals Himself to everyone in a different

way. Throughout history, every different type of religion sees God in a different way. In Native

American culture, God revealed himself through nature. In each of their origin myths, they also

show that the Native Americans respect their supreme being who made everything good.

Puritans, however, respect God so greatly that they believe that “humans exist for the glory of

God” (Pilgrims, 8). This proves the fact that everyone sees God working in their lives, just in

different ways. How can every person let God work in their lives to everyday?