History, Revelation and the Knowledge of God (monotheistic faith)
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Transcript of History, Revelation and the Knowledge of God (monotheistic faith)
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History, Revelation and the Knowledge of God(monotheistic faith)
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Three Interrelated Topics: History, Revelation and
Faith• We want to answer the following
questions:
– How is the Divine present in human history?
– How is the Divine revealed?
– How is the Divine known?
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Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Center much on the importance of history, revelation and faith
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Judaism, Christianity and Islam
These are called “historical religions” because of the nature in which followers believe that the Divine communicates with specific individuals.
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Revelation
• “Truth that is inaccessible to reason alone, although it may be consistent with reason. It is unfolded, disclosed, revealed by God, e.g. , through the biblical writings that contain the truth, illumined by the action of the Spirit of God.”– From Dictionary of Religion and
Philosophy by Geddes MacGregor
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Revelation
• “God reveals himself in a more general way in the writings of noble men and women through the ages and the leaders of other religions, but in a special way in Christ as the ‘full and final revelation of God’” and in others . . .– From Dictionary of Religion and
Philosophy by Geddes MacGregor
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Revelation
• General Revelation (Richardson) allows people in some way to know about God.– 1. Reason- the capacity to
think about God.– 2. Artistic Expression -
beauty in art, scenes of nature and music
– 3. Sense of morality– 4. Laws of the Universe– 5. Holy men and women
throughout time.
• Special Revelation is God disclosed in a very special way to specific people so that they personally experience God .
• Examples– Moses and the
burning bush.– Mohammed and
the angel Gabriel.
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Various opinions
• Richardson claims that general revelation has “redeeming power for those who experience God through philosophy, art forms and nature.”
• Other theologians i.e. Karl Bart, Emil Brunner “hold that special revelation alone serves as a vehicle for saving grace.”
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How is knowledge of God possible?
Faith and/or Reason?
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Knowledge of the Divine • Faith may emphasize
special revelation and– revelation– theology– humanity’s will– humanity’s freedom– trust– God as personal– Divine disclosure
• Reason may emphasize general revelation and– discursive thinking– philosophy– humanity’s intellect– humanity’s knowledge– logic– philosophical speculations– human discovery– God as abstract,
impersonal
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Faith and Reason
What are the possibilities?
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What is Faith?
• Faith – It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)
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What is Reason?
• Reason -- The ability to reflect on an idea or object or to demonstrate the existence or proof of something or to determine its veracity by way of experiment, deduction or inference.
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Reason rejects Faith
• When reason rejects faith it leads to skepticism– reason seeks God
either atheism or agnosticism results
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Reason embraces Faith
• When reason embraces faith it leads to acceptance.– Reason is included
in the way of faith; all truth is God’s truth. There is a close identity between philosophy and the Judeo-Christian tradition.
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Faith rejects Reason
• When faith rejects reason, in extreme examples, leads to cynicism.– Reason is out and
out rejected when it comes to the knowledge of God.
– Human reason is incapable of grasping the sovereign mind.
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Faith embraces Reason
• When faith embraces reason it leads to improved faith.– “Reason is only
helpful when guided by faith.”
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Sources
• Slide 5 http://www.ourfaiths.org/canada/judaism/images/Judaism02.gif
• Slide 5 http://www.accn.org/~hcrc/• Slide 5 http://religion-cults.com/Islam/islam.htm• Slide 10 http://www.staugustine.net/Faithandreason.html• Slide 11 http://www.lisafittipaldi.com/a_faith.htm• Slide 12 http://www2.bc.edu/~anderso/jhe.html• Slide 13 http://dark.gothic.ru/trikal/news/news.htm• Slide 14
http://www.sacredheartquincy.org/resources/acceptance.htm• Slide 15 http://www.antoniomarchetti.it/varioson.htm• Slide 18 http://www.staugustine.net/Scienceandfaith.html•