Knowledge of God's existence - revealed theology Flashcards
Direct/indirect revelation
Direct - God revealing Himself
Indirect - revelation through another source ie the Bible or even a person
Reasons to use revealed theology
Humans are sinful so cannot use nature to gain a full understanding of God
The human intellect is finite or limited
Faith
Aquinas - a conscious choice to accept something uncertain - different from scientific reasoning
Calvin - faith starts with accepting Jesus, which is actually spiritual not rational
Calvin on the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit helps people by giving them faith - so it is a form of grace
Catholic revealed theology
God is revealed through both the Bible and the Church tradition - key point
God’s revelation was completed in the Christ event
The Church has the duty of exploring God’s revelation and making it accessible
The Church was a gift from Jesus to help the world
Protestant revealed theology
The Bible holds more authority than the Church
The Church’s role is to point people to the revelation in the Bible
Calvin emphasised the role of Jesus bridging the gap between humans and Jesus
Strengths of revealed theology
Only God can properly reveal something as ineffable as God
Faith reflects the difference between knowing God and knowing things on earth
Grace reflects that God is greater than us and that we need revelation to know God
Gives recognition to Jesus’ nature
The Bible is revelation all people can access
Weaknesses of revealed theology
No use to non-Christians - can’t interpret or understand it as a Christian
Revealed theology suggests God is biased towards certain people that He chose to reveal Himself to
Different people who claim to have had God reveal Himself to them have contradicted each other
It is unclear how to interpret revelation
Assumes Christianity is the correct revelation/interpretation of revelation
