Revelation And Reason In Christian Theology

Do revelation and reason contradict? Throughout the church's history Christians have been tempted to make revelation and reason mutually exclusive. But both are essential to a true understanding of the faith. The inaugural Theology Connect conference—held in Sydney in July 2016—was dedicated to surveying the intersection of revelation and reason. In Revelation and Reason in Christian Theology Christopher C. Green and David I. Starling draw together the fruit of this conference to provoke sustained, deep reflection on this relationship. The essays—filtered through epistemological, biblical, historical, and dogmatic lenses—critically and constructively contribute to this important and developing aspect of theology. Each essayist approaches revelation and reason according to the psalmist's words: "In your light we see light" (Ps 36:9). The light of faith does not obscure truth; rather, it enables us to see truth.

To many people both inside the Chruch and outside it--what goes on in the Church is either routine or irrelevant. Consequently, what the Church has to say is not very meaningful. Why should people listen to what the Church has to preach and think about it? No one is better qualified to answer this question than Professor Emil Brunner. Dr. Brunner is a teacher of theology in the University at Zurich, Switzerland, and one of the clearest and most constructive religious thinkers of our day. Any book of his is an event because he succeeds so well in combining sound learning with persuasive and readable analysis, and because he is thoroughly acquainted with both American and Continental ways of thinking. In this book, Dr. Brunner sets the claim of the widespread intellectual relativism of contemporary culture. He seeks to show that both Catholic and secular thought misunderstand the relations between reason and revelation because revelation is always subordinated to reason. Brunner reverses the position. He goes back to the Bible and the Reformers and maintains that when reason is subordinated to revelation the preaching of the Gospel is at once true to itself and intelligible. Here is a forceful and thorough volume which helps both believers and unbelievers to understand themselves. -Publisher

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the relationship between modernity and Christianity. The author argues that the notion of revelation is eminently reasonable and indissolubly connected with being and reality. He takes Jaspers' philosophy of religion as representative of the 'classical' modern critique and gives it its due. He then takes a step backward, so to speak, and by means of a consideration of the history of ideas, seeks to rehabilitate the Christian understanding of revelation. To do this, he draws upon Schelling's remarkable philosophy of revelation and Baader's much less familiar speculative dogmatics. However, this study is much more than a profound philosophical and theological account of the thought of Jaspers, Schelling and Baader. It is above all an eloquent defence of the plausibility and intelligibility of what Christians have always believed. In fact, the author makes a compelling case for the claim that revelation is 'that without which Christianity cannot be thought'.

This book begins with a general consideration of religious experience and moves to a defense of the Christian revelation as the normative one for all other divine disclosures. This means that increasingly the book moves towards a defense of theistic thought as contrasted with other religious systems. This emphasis on the approach to the understanding of God typical of the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic traditions has meant a preoccupation with issues particularly significant for this way of thinking- the nature of man, the understanding of the creative process, the problem of human survival beyond death, and the mystery of evil. I have, however, brought in the views of other religious systems and offered a critique of their relationship to the theistic position. Wherever thought has moved to the specific content of the Christian disclosure in Jesus Christ, I have stopped short. Philosophy of religion, and theistic philosophy in particular, are only prolegomena to the task of the Christian theologian.

The Rebirth of Revelation explores the different and important ways religious thinkers across Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism modernized the concept of revelation from 1750 to 1850.

Revelation and Reason brings together a collection of Colin Gunton's lectures, in a volume that highlights the creative thought of a widely read theologian and philosopher.

Colin Gunton was a world renowned scholar, systematic theologian and Reformed Church minister. Revelation and Reason is an in-depth analysis, derived from the annual lecture/seminar course he gave to MA students at King's College London. Approximately one-third of the work is a direct transcript, and analysis of the three two-hour lectures Colin Gunton gave at a break-neck speed: 1. 'From Reason and Revelation to Revelation And Reason'; 2. 'The Modern Problem in an Historical Context'; 3. 'Aspects of Karl Barth on Faith And Reason'. These lectures were a history, analysis and critique of Revelation and Reason in Systematic Theology and Philosophy, culminating with Karl Barth. The remainder is a transcript of the unrehearsed, unscripted, extemporary responses Colin Gunton gave to MA student's papers on set topics in the Revelation and Reason course, seamlessly integrated, where relevant, with detail from the main three lectures. Colin was a creative lecturer and widely read theologian and philosopher. These extemporary responses show the breadth of his learning, and his genius spontaneously to bring to mind relevant ideas from a wealth of theologians and philosophers, whilst incisively and piercingly exposing the flaws as well as the strengths under consideration. From this wealth of reading, Colin gave space to the free rein of his mind particularly when fielding questions or trying to analyze a particular strand of a theologian's thought. Revelation and Reason is a complementary volume to Colin Gunton's posthumously published The Barth Lectures (Continuum 2007) and to the first volume of his unfinished Systematic Theology, also forthcoming from T&T Clark.

Identifies what is most radically distinctive about Christian belief. Addressed to a non-technical audience, the book helps the reader examine the most basic questions concerning Christian faith.