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Revelation
Revelation is an uncovering or disclosure via communication from the divine of something that has been partially or wholly hidden or unknown
Two Main Categories
General Revelation(also called natural
theology)
Special Revelation (also called revealed
theology)
Nature
Reason
History
Bible
Miracles
Jesus
Deduced naturally Divine intervention
Why revelation is important
• God’s way of communicating with humans – shows God exists and cares
• Contains the truth about God and humanity
• Reveals the purpose of creation
• For many Christians Bible contains no errors and should be trusted, others believe it is inspired and contains truths
General Revelationor Natural Theology
Universe Reveals
God
•The universe exists. •Everything that exists has a cause.•God is the cause of the universe •The universe is complex.•Complex things require design.•Design requires a designer.•God is the designer of the universe
•All humans have a sense of right and wrong.•There is a common code of what is right and what is wrong across cultures.•God provides the common code.
Reason Reveals
God
HistoryReveals
God
•Humans have developed ways of knowing God throughouthistory.•Religion has progressed from pagan beliefs to monotheism•Humans have learned about God’s nature throughout history.•Humans have learned about God’smorality throughout history
special Revelation orRevealed Theology
Revelationin theBible
•Men were inspired to write God’s words•God inspired primitive people to describeCreation and the Fall•The Ten Commandments•The prophets foretold the future•The Gospels and the news of Jesus•The teachings of Paul the Apostle•The decisions of the early Church•The work of the Holy Spirit
Revelation in the
Miracles
•The miracle of creating the universeout of nothing.•The escape of the Hebrews in Exodusto carry his message to the world•The miracles of Jesus to demonstratehis love of humans and divine power•The Resurrection of Jesus to conquerdeath and show God’s love for the world
RevelationIn
Jesus Christ
•The Virgin Birth•The Baptism of Jesus•The Temptations•The Teaching and Miracles of Jesus•The suffering and death of Jesus•The Resurrection of Jesus•All show God’s sovereignty over andlove for the world
Theophany: appearance in some form e.g. Burning Bush
Voice from Heaven: people hearing God’s voice e.g. Adam and Eve
Angels: people being visited by angels with Messages e.g. angel tells Mary
about baby
Vision: seeing God e.g. Isaiah the Prophet saw God sitting on a throne
Natural stuff: earthquakes, floods, good harvests all at the command of God
Other Forms ofSpecial
Revelation
Leads humans to fulfilling their potential
Key Features of Revelation
Can come from within the individual
Can come from the Bible
Can be a combination of the two
Can come from nature
Affirms God as creator
Affirms Jesus as his son
Affirms humans have a special purpose
Approaches are changing all the time
High degree of interpretation involved of Bible, history and personal experience
Problems/Weaknesses of Revelation
Veracity of the Bible
Authority of the Bible
Variety of interpretations of the Bible
Range of revelatory experiences
Reliability of revelatory experiences
Limited understanding of human psychology
Finite beings trying to understand an infinite being
Ignorance of whether or not the revelation is complete
My word against yours
Other world religions
Not based on empirical evidence
Personal experience of God is beyond everyday experience so it will always be difficult to understand using everyday human knowledge and experience
Strengths of Revelation
Consistency of message.
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
High degree of agreement amongst Christians of key principles
Flexibility -God allowed to approach us in his own way
Empirical evidence is not required to support many human experiences
Other world religions answer the same needs as Christianity
Evidence, empirical or otherwise, is open to interpretation in all fields of human knowledge
Biblical Interpretation
1. Fundamentalist- inerrant word of God.
2. Conservative- divinely inspired with some factual errors.
3. Liberal- documentary hypothesis
Fundamentalist STRENGTHS
• It is absolute and certain.
• No scope for interpretation.
• No picking and choosing what is to be read literally.
• Clear for believers.
FundamentalistWEAKNESSES
• Ignores inconsistencies.
• Ignores contradictions
• does not account for cultural considerations.
• interpretation is always done no matter what the approach.
Conservative Strengths
• Recognizes the problems of literal interpretation.
• Takes into account new discoveries.
• Retains the core facts and teachings of scripture.
• Not a radical move away from the Bible as a source of divine revelation.
ConservativeWEAKNESSES
• Ignores inconsistencies.
• Ignores contradictions
• Does not fully account for cultural considerations.
• Interpretation is always done no matter what the approach.
• Picks and chooses what is literal and what is not.
Liberal Strengths
• It is absolute and certain that the Bible must be understood in its context.
• Accepts new discoveries and scholarship.
• No picking and choosing what is to be read literally- none of it should be.
• Clear for believers, do not read literally.
LiberalWEAKNESSES
• Confusing for believers.
• Weakness- Undermines much of Christian teaching.
• Weakness- casts doubt even on the mission and purpose of Jesus.
• Weakness- which liberal interpretation is right?
• Weakness- too skeptical.
Scientific Method
Method used by scientiststo understand the universe
Observation Hypothesis Experiment Verification
Look at differentthings in natureand watch what
is happening
Whilst looking atdifferent things
in nature explainwhat is going on
Experiment to see if the
explanation is right
Peers to check it,open to furthermodification and
change
ONLY HIPPOS EAT Vomit
• http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml
Tools of the Trade
Hypothesis An idea used to explain somethingwhich has not yet been proved
ModelA picture or model of somethingthat cannot be seen e.g. gas or atoms
ParadigmsThe current thinking and rules in science. E.g.gThe Big Bang started the universe
InductiveReasoning
If something happens in all observedsituations then it must happen in allsituations no matter where.
DeductiveReasoning
If something is an established fact then it can be applied in all situations
FalsificationScientist must be prepared to have their theory disproved or modified
Occam’s Razor
The simplest explanation is usually thecorrect explanation
Strengths
Bases statements on what is observed
Uses empirical evidence.
Evidence has to be tested by peers.
No absolutes
Methodical and standardized.
Lack of emotional investment.
No pre-requisite of having faith.
It is open-ended.
Does not claim anything it cannot support.
Scientific Method
Scientists are influenced by their historical context and their peers.
There is always an element of guesswork in science.
There is more to the world than what you can sense
Scientists put faith in their theories.
Science can be influenced bynon scientific things
Scientists disagree
Disagreement about the best way to approach descriptions of reality.
Weaknesses
The Christian World View
God created the world and everything in it
God appointed humansto have a special purpose in it
God cannot be known only through nature
There is more to the world than its physical appearance
Humans are Comprised of body, mind and soul
Humans are alienated from God through sin
The universe is where God is working out His plan for all things
Through Jesus our sins are forgiven
The Scientific World View
The universe began with a huge explosion
Life is the result of evolution
Everything has a scientific explanation
Humans are one of many billions of living species
The Earth has no special place in the universe
What cannot be observed cannot be studied
Human morals are naturallydeveloped not divinely given
Life after death is a matter offaith not a matter of fact
Revelation and Science
Both try to explain reality.
Both require a degree of faith.
Both can accept that present knowledge of the universe is not complete.
Both interpret reality based on the paradigms of their communities.
Both are influenced by their social, cultural and historical context.
Both recognize that there are limits to what we can know about reality.
Both make mistakes.
Similarities DifferencesScience uses physical evidence alone
Spiritual truths cannotchange like scientifictheory
Religion is based on beliefScience is based on fact
Religion is subjectiveScience is objective
Scientific statements aretestable and verifiable
Religion is based on theassumption that God existsScience has no assumptions
Science explores how theUniverse works
Religion explores why theUniverse works
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