Religion and Revelation: A Theology of Revelation in the World's Religions

367 Pages·1994·3.28 MB·English

by  Keith Ward

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title: Religion and Revelation : A Theology of Revelation in the
World's Religions
author: Ward, Keith.
publisher: Oxford University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0198263759
print isbn13: 9780198263753
ebook isbn13: 9780585129099
language: English
subject Revelation--Comparative studies.
publication date: 1994
lcc: BL475.5.W37 1994eb
ddc: 291.2/11
subject: Revelation--Comparative studies.
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Page i
Religion and Revelation
A Theology of Revelation in the World's Religions
Keith Ward
CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD

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Page ii
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
Oxford New York Toronto
Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo
Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town
Melbourne Auckland Madrid
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
Published in the United States
by Oxford University Press Inc., New York
© Keith Ward 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press. Within the UK,
exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic
reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries
concerning reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out
or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in
which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Religion and revelation: a theology of revelation
in the world's religions bKeith Ward.
'Consists of the Gifford lectures, given in the University of
Glasgow in 19934, and of the Selwyn lectures, given at St. John's
College, Auckland, in 1993'Acknowledgements.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. RevelationComparative studies. I. Title. II. Title:
Gifford lectures. III. Title: Selwyn lectures.
BL475.5.W37 1994 291.2'IIdc20 93-46985
ISBN 0-19-826466-6
ISBN 0-19-826375-9 (Pbk)
5 7 9 10 8 6 4
Typeset by Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong
Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by
Biddles Ltd., Guildford and King's Lynn

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Page iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book consists of the Gifford Lectures, given in the University of Glasgow in 19934, and of the Selwyn
Lectures, given at St John's College, Auckland, in 1993. I owe a great debt to all who heard and commented on
them in their spoken form. Relevant parts of the text have been read by specialist colleagues at Oxford, and I
would particularly like to thank Ron Nettler, Julian Johansen, Peter Clarke, and Peggy Morgan for their advice.
They have been unable to cause me to give up some of my ideas, but have at least saved me from making
reprehensible errors and inaccurate generalizations, especially in dealing with non-Christian traditions.
Most of all, my wife Marian, by her continual support and criticism, has made this a much more readable and
ordered text, and I dedicate it to her with love and gratitude.
K.W.

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Page v
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Part I: Towards a Comparative Theology 3
A. Theological Knowledge 3
B. Revelation and Reason 15
C. Theology as a Comparative Discipline 36
Part II: Primal Disclosures 50
A. Primal Revelations 50
B. The Role of Imagination 69
C. From Primal to Canonical Traditions 87
Part III: Four Scriptural Traditions 111
A. Judaism 111
B. Vedanta 134
C. Buddhism 156
D. Islam 173
Part IV: Christian Reflections: Revelation as Historical Self-Manifestation 193
A. Incarnation and History 193
B. Inspiration and Revelation 209
C. Taking History on Faith 232
D. Incarnation as Revelation 258
Part V: Religion after Enlightenment 283
A. The Scientific World-View 283
B. Authority and Autonomy 302
C. Religious Diversity 310
D. The Structure of Revelation 324
Index of Authors 345
Index of Subjects 348

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INTRODUCTION
There is no one proper starting-point in theology, since every question leads on to every other. I have chosen to
begin with an attempt to say what sort of discipline theology is, and what the proper methods of theological
investigation are. Only when the study is complete will one be able to check back to see if such a preliminary
analysis was correct.
Theology is in fact a well-established intellectual discipline, which the most ancient universities in Europe,
including my own, were founded to teach. So rather than beginning completely anew, it seems appropriate to start
by examining the definition of one of the greatest of classical theologians, Thomas Aquinas. Accepting a modified
version of Thomas's account of theology as the rational elucidation of revealed truth, it is natural to proceed to a
study of what revelation is. The main body of this volume is concerned with an investigation into the nature,
sources, and limits of revelation.
The most distinctive feature of the book is that it espouses a comparative method, examining the idea of revelation
as it is found both in primal religious traditions and in the great canonical traditions of the world. In the light of
this diachronic and synchronic survey, a distinctive Christian idea of revelation is propounded. I then investigate
how far this idea must be revised or adapted in the light of developments in scientific and historical knowledge,
which provide a new and extended context for religious traditions originating in a pre-scientific age.
My general conclusion is that there is an intelligible, natural, and defensible notion of revelation, the main elements
of which can be found in a number of diverse religious traditions. I suggest that each tradition, including the
Christian, with which I am particularly concerned, may hope to preserve the main elements of its own distinctive
witness, while engaging in an open, and in some important ways convergent, interaction with others.
My intention is to articulate a concept of revelation which will be true to the main orthodox Christian tradition, yet
which will be open to a fruitful interaction with other traditions, and with the developing corpus of scientific
knowledge. This will make possible

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a committed, open, and developing understanding of faith in the contemporary world. It might be seen as a defence
of a sort of 'open orthodoxy'.
As an essay in comparative theology, this work is intended to lay the foundation for the holistic and eirenic study
of religious belief and practice, which is an important, even essential, task for believers and non-believers alike as
the world moves into the third millennium.

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PART I
TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY
A. Theological Knowledge
1. Aquinas: Theology as Science
'Christian theology should be pronounced to be a science.' So declares Thomas Aquinas in article 2 of question 1 of
the Summa Theologiae.1 The pronouncement seems alien to an age which recognizes physics, chemistry, and
biology as sciences, but which is apt to regard theology as a rationalization of personal opinions. Scientific
knowledge, since the seventeenth century, has been seen primarily as knowledge of the physical world obtained by
observation and experiment. It may issue in universal and mathematically formulable laws, as in Newtonian
mechanics, or it may be more a matter of classification based on careful and, where possible, repeated
observations, as in some parts of botany. In either sense, there is an emphasis on observation which is repeatable in
principle by any competent observer, and on the formulation of general principles of classification and regularity
which clarify or explain very complex data.
In this sense, it is clear that theology is not a science. It does not begin from careful and dispassionate observation
of physical phenomena; it does not attempt to classify such phenomena or to bring them under laws of regular
succession. Further, it is not concerned to predict or manipulate physical occurrences, so as to become an 'applied
science'. Where then does theology begin? What does it attempt to do? And what is its practical application?
For Aquinas, theology begins from Divine revelation, which is to be found in the Holy Scriptures; and, in a
secondary sense, from the dogmatic definitions of the councils of the Church, which seek to unfold the sense of the
Scriptures. Here is to be found a body of propositions which have the authority of God himself.
Adopting a generally Aristotelian notion of 'science', Aquinas
1 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae 1 (London: Blackfriars, 1964): 'Sacra Doctrina ist Scientia': 1a. 1. 2.

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holds that the premisses of any science are either evident or belong to a higher science.2 The propositions of a
science are demonstrated by valid arguments from evident premisses. They give knowledge which is certain about
objective reality, revealing the natures of things by the method of demonstration. In the ideal case, they give
conclusive knowledge by deduction from necessary premisses; though one may speak more widely of probabilistic
judgments based on contingent premisses, as scientific. This is the case, for example, in moral or political science.
Theology is the highest science of all, since it takes its first principles from God. It is 'maxime sapientia inter
omnes sapientias humanas',3 the highest wisdom of all human wisdoms, since it is based on Divine knowledge,
which cannot err, and it deals with the most important of all topics, God. Human authorities are prone to error, but
God's knowledge of himself is the most certain form of knowledge.4 Aquinas does concede that, even though
theological knowledge is certain, some human beings are unsure of it or believe it to be false; but this, he holds, is
due to the weakness of the human intellect. Divine revelation is in itself absolutely certain.
For Aquinas, then, it seems that theology is a deductive or demonstrative science, drawing conclusions about
objective reality from an organized body of certain knowledge, which is itself accepted on faith. This body is the
canon of Scripture'Our faith rests on the revelation made to the prophets and apostles who wrote the canonical
books.'5 The first principles of theology are the articles of faith which are contained either explicitly or implicitly
in the canon. Aquinas' acceptance of Scripture is unequivocal. 'It is heretical to say that any falsehood whatsoever
is contained either in the gospels or in any canonical scripture,' he writes.6 Moreover, what Scripture says is true in
a literal and not just in a metaphorical sense. Of course there are many metaphors in Scripture, and he accepts the
general medieval distinction of four senses of biblical language: the literal or historical sense and three which can
collectively be called the spiritual sensethe allegorical, the moral, and the anagogical or eschatalogical. He holds
that 'nothing necess-
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid. 1a. 1. 6.
4 Ibid. 1a. 1. 2: 'divinae scientiae, quae est una et simplex omnium'.
5 Ibid. 1a. 1. 8.
6 In Job, 13, lect. 1.

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