MYSTERY REVEALED

person and work of Jesus Christ as in the quotation above) it is possible to place
Revelational Theology in this model. The unknown author of Ad Diognetum proclaimed
the Christian Gospel in the tension between Divine transcendence and human tragic,
and he rejected all human-made philosophy and religion and instead he projected the
decisive revelation from God. In this respect, there is an irrefutable similarity between
him and Karl Barth although more than nine-teen hundred years are separating them in
time. If we are remaking and widening the fourth model and label it as ‘the Person
model,’ it is possible to categorize Revelational Theology into this model. We probably
need to go further. The dialectical tensions between time and eternity, heaven and earth,
a transcendent God and the tragedy of man, were conjunctioned in the person or God-
Man Jesus Christ. It is probably correct to state, that this model of revelation, reworked
as ‘the Person model,’ while still maintaining a certain degree of its dialectics, is the
primary model for Revelational Theology.
Ad Diognetum was written in the protreptic genre. The aim of the author was not
only to defend Christianity against the common accusations, but to present the Christian
Gospel to Diognetus. In answering the three introductory questions our author
developed his Revelational Theology as a strong case for conversion to Christian faith.
The work included several exhortations to receive the Christian faith and knowledge of
the Father. Although faith is a Divine work, it is still a constitutive part of human
experience, and human experience makes the experiential model relevant. We also
observed that the Pauline concept of mystery included the two aspects of hiddenness
and mysteriousness. When the author of Ad Diognetum proclaimed that God had
revealed the mystery of ages, it was not only a statement of an open secret. It was also a
mystery per se, still something unfathomable, impenetrable and incomprehensible due
to the fact that God himself is a mystery. It also gave the association of God’s
mysterious ways to the hearts of men and women and to Diognetus. If we take the
mysteriousness of the Mystery seriously, it is wise to admit a certain space for the
subjective reception, the appropriation of faith and for human experience. Revelational
Theology is not only a general historic event, it also includes a personal reception of
God’s saving gift. If we label the fourth model as ‘the Person model’ it is even more
relevant to include personal experience. In this sense, it is reasonable to place
Revelational Theology in the third experiential model.
We have so far made use of four of Dull’s five models. All of these four models have
a common feature. They recognize revelation as God’s revelation. Revelation is not a
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