Dowd & revelation (was Re: [asa] Dowd)

I have not read Dowd's book & Bethany's review convinces me at least for now
to put it in the "life's too short" category. One point from the review
seems worthy of comment - Dowd's distinction between "private" and "public"
revelation. The former includes the Bible, Qur'an, & any other scriptures
of supposedly limited scope while the latter "includes any scientific
discoveries that unequivocally speak of God" (Bethany's description).

1st, this use of "private revelation" is precisely the reverse of the way
the term has been used in the Christian - & particularly RC - tradition.
There God's historical revelation in Christ & the biblical witness to it are
not "private" because it is intended for all people. "Private" revelation
are those given to individuals or groups of them that are not necessarily
intended for anyone else. Polycarp's vision that he would be martyred by
being burned alive, e.g., might be put in this category.

That may be a relatively minor point. A far more important one is that this
is an example of the danger that lurks in the whole notion of a natural
knowledge of God or "general revelation." Of course it's possible to hold
that there is a genuine knowledge of God which can serve as a steppingstone
to the full revelation in Christ, but which is itself incomplete and
incapable of saving anyone. That is what I've called the "classic" view of
natural theology. But Dowd is just one more example of how easy it is to
slide from that to the "Enlightenment" view in which the supposed "natural
knowledge" is all we need, and scripture is at best a quaint heirloom. Even
when people haven't gone as far as Dowd, they have often allowed "general
revelation" to cause theological problems.

Shalom
George
http://home.roadrunner.com/~scitheologyglm

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Davis" <TDavis@messiah.edu>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>; "Randy Isaac" <randyisaac@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 8:42 AM
Subject: Re: [asa] Dowd

> Generally I do not find Mr Dowd's views to be very attractive
> theologically.
> For comments on his work with which I agree, see the excellent essay
> review
> by Bethany Sollereder in the latest issue of PSCF.
>
> Ted
>
>
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Received on Mon Apr 20 09:37:14 2009