Religious Experience Revelation Through Sacred Texts MR DEZILVA
- Slides: 8
Religious Experience: Revelation Through Sacred Texts MR. DEZILVA PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION SEPTEMBER 24 TH 2013.
Revelation �Revelation: Knowledge that is gained through the agency of God. Direct from an infallible source and unconditioned. �Propositional Knowledge: Knowing that something is so. Has truth value (true, false, or in between). i. e. knowing your birthday, an author of a book, etc �Non-Propositional Knowledge: Other kinds of knowledge, such as how to do something, skills. They are conveyed in a variety of ways (i. e. art, dance, music). � **How is this relevant to Religious Experiences? **
Non-Propositional Revelation �Differences between Non Prop (NP) and Prop (P) Belief in NP revelation is the belief that God is revealed through the things he has done – in the beauty of the world, or the creation of humans, or his guidance. �For example: For Christians, God is revealed through Jesus – not only in the physical form, but in actions and character.
Propositional Revelation Belief in P revelation is the belief that God speaks to people in words, and passes on information to his listeners. It is information one could not have gained through reason alone. �For example: Information about how God will save one from sin or the moral standards set by God.
�Which one are you more likely to challenge? Why? �Is a Sacred Texts revelation Propositional or is it Non-Propositional?
Karl Barth on Revelation �The only way to gain true knowledge of God is through Revelation �Didn’t see the logic in combining faith and reason �Felt that ordinary language is inadequate to convey revelation �Revelation is a personal disclosure of God’s being and nature.
Sacred Scripture �The Bible: “The Word of God” God told the writers what to write (inspires) �The Qu’ran The words of Allah spoken to Muhammad as a mouthpiece for the all knowing Allah.
Key Words �Natural Theology: Explaining revelations and the nature of god through reason and ordinary experiences �Revealed Theology: Explaining revelations and the nature of god through scripture and religious experience �Fideism: (Latin for “Faith”) Faith & Reason are separate Fideism vs. Rationalism vs. Empiricism �Propositional and Non-Propositional �Fundamentalism: Strict obedience to the foundational principles (usually scripture, literally interpreted) �Liberal Theology: Understanding God through textual interpretation and open mindedness.
