Sacred Writing and Scripture

Revelation: the act of God revealing himself or knowledge about himself and his will to human beings
1. Communication of knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency
  1. Monotheistic religions, revelation is the process in which God makes himself or other information known to humankind
  2. 'All Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth'
2. General Revelation
  1. Revelation of God available to all people at all times
    1. Available to all people at all times
3. Special Revelation
  1. Revelation of God to specific people at specific times
    1. Particular person at a particular time
Propositional Revelation
1. The idea that the process of revelation involves God revealing facts or information
  1. God revealed himself; truths or facts about himself
  2. For Aquinas, faith can be described as 'belief that'
    1. In order to accept God's revelation, we are required to believe that certain propositions are true
2. Traditionally revelation of scripture has been understood in a propositional sense
Non-Propositional Revelation
1. The idea that God does not reveal facts or information during the process of revelation; God makes himself known during the experience
  1. The experience is ineffable (too sacred to be described/uttered)
    1. The writers attempt to put their experience into words later by reflecting on it
    2. Friedrich Schleirmacher
      1. Believed that the biblical texts came about as writers reflected on their religious experiences
      2. Faith is 'Belief in'
        Not a matter of facts or information; an attitude of trust and relationship
2. A more modern approach to scripture
  1. When God is revealed to the writers via religious experience, facts and truths are NOT revealed

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Sacred Writing and Scripture

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	Created by joe_lamy about 11 years ago