“The question of revelation in Christian theology is finally no less than the question of theology’s own ultimate source and norm… ” This statement serves as an excellent beginning point for our discussion of the Christian doctrine of revelation and its relation to the practice of theology. As these few words suggest, there is an intrinsically interwoven nature to the two ideas, more specifically, the dependency of Christian theology on revelation and, likewise, the comprehension of that revelation through the act of theologizing. With this understanding in mind, it will be the purpose of this essay to explore the Christian doctrine of revelation, examining the way in which it acts as the basis for the Church’s affirmations and the believers claim to have knowledge of God . To achieve this, we will briefly survey the underpinnings of the conception of revelation, and the way in which that revelation is and has been understood as occurring, with special reference to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Finally we will look to how these understandings relate to the study of theology and why they are important to it.
Before beginning any discussion of the Christian doctrine of revelation, it is important to first address one of the core assumptions that underpin the concept, the belief that God is unknowable outside of revelation. This idea is at the very heart of the meaning of revelation and speaks to the otherness of God, arguing that such a being is so far from the conception of human imagining and thought that a self-disclosure must occur . This is an understanding of revelation that is deeply rooted in both the Christian and Judaist traditions. Within the Hebrew Scriptures we see numerous occasions...
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...5. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.
Hart, Trevor. "Revelation." In The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth, edited by John Webster, 37-56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
LaSor, William Sanford, David Allan Hubbard, and Frederic William Bush. Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing co., 1996.
McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. 2nd. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991.
Witherup, Ronald D. "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches." In Scritpture: An Ecumenical Introduction to the Bible and its Interpretation, edited by Michael C. Gorman, 195-216. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.
Much of Revelation is the source of debate. Many passages are symbolic in nature, and the exact meaning of the symbols can be difficult to determine. Some passages can be interpreted in various ways. The identity of the Four Horsemen, the 144,000, and Babylon the Great in particular are points of contention. Nevertheless, proper hermeneutics and careful study can illuminate these difficult passages.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
Theologian Vern S. Poythress wrote, “Theological systems, whether dispensationalist, covenantal, Calvinist, Arminian, or even modernist, have a profound influence on the way we approach a given [biblical] text.” There is no portion of scripture that is more influenced by the theological system of dispensationalist than that of biblical prophecy, particularly in the area of God’s redemptive plan from for humanity. The purpose of this essay is to establish that an appropriate understanding of biblical eschatology can best be achieved through a dispensational theological perspective.
New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
Harris, Stephen. Understanding The Bible. 6 ed. New York City: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2002. Print.
The first revelation (Chapters IV to IX) is the revelation of “His precious crowning with thorns” and Jesus’s love for all that He made by dying on the cross for His people. When He left earth the Holy Spirit came down to dwell among us. St. Julian is brought to understand the death, resurrection, and the incarnation of Christ. She is also led to see that our God is a Triune God. Our heavenly Father is made up of three parts: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person is distinctly different but together they make up one God identical in essence. The three persons of God remain in unity and
Before beginning this essay proper, it is important to first comprehend some of what is meant by the term eschatology, and how it is understood in the Book of Revelation. Eschatology broadly defined is that part of theology which deals with conceptions of the ‘end times’ and of the final things of the world and humanity. Within it sit many concepts, such as heaven and hell, divine judgment, the second coming, the defeat of evil and the new creation, among others things. As such, it encapsulates any discussion about the ‘end times’. This is certainly an apt title for much of the Book of Revelation then, with so much discussion of divine judgment on the first earth, the second coming of Christ and the coming of the New Creation. Within the pages of this text, however, a more complex eschatology is portrayed. While in the grander literary scheme of the text we see the ultimate destruction of death and hades and their throwing into the lake of fire...
Bromiley, Geoffrey William, Fredrich, Gerhard, Kittel, Gerhard. “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” Struttgart, Germany. W. Kohlhammer Verlag. 1995. Print.
No part of the Bible and its interpretation is more controversial than the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the last profound book in the New Testament. It conveys the significant purpose of Christianity by describing God’s plan for the world and his final judgment of the people by reinforcing the importance of faith and the concept of Christianity as a whole. This book was written by John in 95 or 96 AD. What is, what has been, and what is to come is the central focus of the content in Revelation.
Revelation is the process by which God makes himself known to us. Being that humans are finite and God is infinite, God must take the step to make himself known if humans are to truly understand God in all His majesty (Vandenburg, 2010). There are two ways God makes himself known to us, general revelation and special revelation. Theologians have generally thought, through our contact with nature, we are given the ability to know and interact with God. Nature, as created by God, is an element of general revelation.
Revelation, the last book of The New Testament, is believed to have been written by the Apostle John circa 95-96 AD. The writings in Revelation revolve around the idea of the end of time, the second coming of Jesus, and the time of judgment. Revelation is believed to have more symbolism than most of the other books in The New Testament. Revelation 18:1-17 can be interpreted in a number of ways, but the most likely, when viewing this in a historical context, is that it is referencing the corruption of Babylon throughout time. This means that the author was not simply talking about what was occurring within Babylon at that time of the writing, but also what has previously occurred. By looking at what was occurring in the city during the time in which it was likely to have been written and other references to Babylon within the New Testament, it is obvious that the author’s discussion of corruption within the city was referencing more than what was happening at the time. Although some readers may interpret the text to be symbolic in meaning, Revelation should be read with a critical min...
The Holy Bible. New International Version. Starting Point Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.
The book of Revelation literary genre are apocalyptic, prophetic and epistle. The author of this book is John of Patmos. Its was written circa A.D. 95-96 (Hindson & Towns, 2013). There are many key themes in Revelation. The most important themes are the message to seven ecclesians, three and a half years of tribulation ruled by the beast, Jesus’ second coming, the final battle between Jesus and Satan, the millennium, and beyond the millennium. The purpose of the book of Revelation was to inform people about the events before and after Second coming of Jesus Christ. Revelations denotes the past, present and future of what is yet to come during Earth’s end of days. Major events that Revelations denotes will occur when Jesus returns include: National
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Corley, Lemke and Lovejoy (2002) agree with the importance of the two contexts defining theological hermeneutics as, the process of thinking about God, thinking after the event of revelation in the...