Revelation and Scripture
This area concerns how God is made known (revelation), the nature and authority of scripture, and the sources and method of theology.
Definition
The doctrine of divine self-disclosure, the authority of scripture, and the foundations of theological knowledge.
Scope
This area covers the doctrine of revelation, including the distinction between general revelation (in nature, conscience, history) and special revelation (in Christ and scripture); models of revelation as doctrine, history, inner experience, dialectical presence, or new awareness; the inspiration, authority, and interpretation of the Bible; the relation of scripture, tradition, and teaching authority; and the relation of faith to reason and the status of natural theology. The presentation is descriptive, comparing positions across traditions.
Sub-topics
Core questions
- How does God make himself known to human beings?
- What is the relation between general and special revelation?
- How are scripture, tradition, and reason related as sources of theology?
- Can God be known apart from special revelation (natural theology)?
Key theories
- Models of revelation
- Avery Dulles's typology of five models, revelation as propositional doctrine, as historical event, as inner experience, as dialectical encounter (Word of God), and as new awareness, each capturing an aspect of how God is disclosed.
- Revelation as the Word of God
- Karl Barth's account of revelation as God's free self-disclosure in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, to which scripture and proclamation bear witness, sharply distinguished from natural knowledge of God.
History
Medieval theology, following Aquinas, distinguished truths knowable by reason from those requiring revelation, and held scripture and tradition together. The Reformation asserted the supremacy of scripture (sola scriptura). The Enlightenment subjected revelation to rational critique, prompting Schleiermacher's appeal to religious experience, Barth's dialectical recovery of the Word of God, and Vatican II's account of revelation as God's personal self-communication in Dei Verbum.
Debates
- Possibility of natural theology
- Whether God can be known through reason and the created order apart from special revelation, affirmed in the Thomist tradition and at Vatican I, and famously rejected by Barth as compromising the priority of grace.
- Scripture and tradition
- Whether scripture alone is the final authority (sola scriptura) or whether scripture and tradition together, interpreted by the church's teaching office, transmit revelation, as articulated at Trent and Vatican II.
Key figures
- Thomas Aquinas
- Karl Barth
- Avery Dulles
- Friedrich Schleiermacher
Related topics
Seminal works
- barth1936
- deiverbum1965
- dulles1992
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between general and special revelation?
- General revelation is God's self-disclosure available to all through nature, conscience, and history, while special revelation is God's particular self-disclosure in specific acts, supremely in Jesus Christ, and witnessed to in scripture.
- What is natural theology?
- Natural theology is the attempt to know God, or to demonstrate God's existence and attributes, by reason and reflection on the world, independent of special revelation; its legitimacy is debated among the traditions.