a2 Philosophy- Scripture

Revelation in Philosophy

There are two types of revelation:

1. Propositional revelation

2. Non- propositional revelation

Propositional revelation

Propositional revelation is where God DIRECTLY reveals truths about his nature to people.

E.G - Jews and Christians argue that the Ten commandements that were revealed to Moses was a direct revelation from God.

Believers in propositional revelation do not reject the use of reason. They believe that God's revelations are not provable by human reason, but God can also be revealed through using reason in the world.

There is a different between revelation and natural theology.

Natural theology is the process of learning about God from the natural world by using reason.

E.g. - Aquinas thought revelations can be accepted as genuine if they accord with Church teaching, because the existence of God who makes the revelations may be demonstrated using arguments for God's existence.

Criticisms of propositional revelation

1. The human mind is not perfect and therefore when they tell people of the propositional revelation they  have experience, it may not be recorded accurately.

2.A person cannot be sure which revelations are true propositions. Although the after-effects of revelation may be obvious (Paul became a Christian after the revelation on the road to Damascus), it is not absolute proof that the revelation is genuine.

3.Different religions all claim to have receive propositional revelations, yet the truth claims of different religions conflict. How…