Theme C God 3

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  • Created by: Sia11
  • Created on: 01-10-21 18:30
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  • Theme C God: Special Revelation
    • Special revelation
      • This is a revelation directed by God towards a specific person or group. Examples include:
        • The Quran being revealed to Muhammad via Jibril
        • The vision of Mary to St. Bernadette
        • The vision of Jesus St. Paul had on the road to Damascus where Jesus said “why are you persecuting me?”
    • How special revelation provides the idea of the divine:
      • Personal: God choosing to communicate with humans shows he is a personal God. God cares about us and is involved in our lives. 
        • He cared about saving Paul from a life of sin and helping the Christians he was persecuting. When Paul hears Jesus’ voice it is a human voice and Jesus is God in human form.
          • By asking “why do you persecute me?” it shows that God suffers too.
      • Immanent: Special revelations and visions show God to be present in the world we live in.  This shows God to be actively working in this world, not just beyond it.
        • Jesus’ presence and voice are heard by Paul. This shows he is able to be amongst us.
        • God’s healing presence was experience at Lourdes after Mary appeared to Bernadette.
      • Omniscient: Special revelations show God to be omniscient.
        • God knew that people living in Muhammad’s time needed the final revelation of the Quran to change and he knew Muhammad was reliable.
        • In the vision of Paul on the Road to Damascus God knows that Paul is persecuting Christians and intervenes to act on this.
      • Impersonal: The nature of special revelations and visions also shows the impersonal qualities of God. God is a mysterious force of spirit which is totally unlike us and we cannot comprehend it.  
        • When God reveals the Quran to Muhammad it is done via Jibril. God does not communicate directly with humans but uses angel messengers.
        • When Bernadette has a vision it is Mary she sees.  God’s unknowable power is behind the vision but she doesn’t see God.
      • Omnipotent: God is showing his ability to communicate with us. These special revelations show God’s total control and power.
        • The vision of Mary at Lourdes encouraged people to bathe in the water and they were since healed by God’s power.
        • God was powerful enough to strike Paul from his horse and leave him blind for 3 days.
      • Transcendent: Special revelations and visions show God to be transcendent.Jesus is usually in heaven.
        • The Quran is revealed to Muhammad via Jibril. Allah has passed these words on but not from within this world.
        • Visions appear suddenly, for example, Jesus to Paul shows they come from beyond our world/ realm of existence.
    • The Value of Special Revelation as a source of knowledge about the divine:
      • Hugely valuable eg Quran is now available because of Muhammad’s special revelation, millions go to Lourdes each year and Paul went on to spread Christianity and write parts of the Bible. 
        • They have a profound effect on those having them, lead to them going on to dedicate their lives to religion and provide evidence of God’s nature and that he intervenes and cares about us.
    • Problems of different ideas about the divine arising from these experiences:
      • Only some people are chosen for them and others are not eg why stop Paul persecuting but not others doing the same? Is this unjust
      • Although Bernadette’s vision was in the 19th C most happened over a 1000 years ago. In the modern day there are few, if any, profound visions. 
        • Is God no longer immanent? Does he no longer want to help us?
    • Alternative explanations for the experiences
      • Perhaps people like Muhammad, Paul or Bernadette (or their followers) lied to gain followers and attention or to try to change society for the better 
      • Perhaps they are mistaken: Paul and Muhammad show symptoms of epilepsy and Bernadette may have had a mental disorder

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