Mock exam 27 th February 1 ½ hours Both halves of the course – answer one question on each half.

Mock exam

27th February 1 ½ hours Both halves of the course – answer one

question on each half

Scripture

If the bible is the Word of God, do we have to obey it? Leviticus 19:27-28 Leviticus 20:9 Deuteronomy 21:18-21 Matthew 5:27-30 Mark 10:21

Could a person believe that the Bible is the Word of God but not follow these teachings?

SCRIPTURE

The concept of revelation through sacred writings

Aims

To examine different theories of revelation To evaluate propositional and non-

propositional views

Task – 5 minutes

What is revelation?

What are the characteristics of a revelation?

Which of the following events count as ‘revelation’?

A vision A miraculous

healing Recovering from

cancer Having a baby Feeling God is

with you Admiring the

beauty of nature

Having a near-death experience

Winning the lottery

Understanding mathematics

Reading the Bible

Visiting a Mosque

Praying

Revelation in the Bible

For Christians, the Bible reveals God, but it might do this in different ways: Propositional Revelation Non-propositional Revelation

Discussion

What is faith? Is it primarily about believing that

religious statements are true? What else might it involve?

Task – 15 minutes

Read p.39-41 What is propositional revelation? What is non-propositional revelation? Which approach to interpreting the bible is

better and why do you think this?

Propositional

Revelation

Factual sentence

s

One-way communi

cationby God

Faith = believing

the stateme

nts

Preserves

the truth from

heresy

Should we interpret Genesis 1-3 literally?

Did Darwin Kill God? 3.18-15.01

\\damm\rmmultimedia\Streaming Media\Religious Studies\Did Darwin Kill God.mpg

Propositional Revelation

Strengths Weaknesses

Criticisms of Propositional Revelation

The human mind could make mistakes and fail to record the revelation accurately

Psychologists reject the idea that the human mind can simply receive information passively

How can the hearer know which revelations are true and which are false?

Different religions claim propositional revelation has given different truths – how can these contradictions be resolved?

There is no way to verify that revelations really do occur

Communication

What are the key differences between the following types of communication? A government report An article in the Guardian A story told in a dramatic way An article in the Sun Someone looking deeply into your eyes

but not saying a word Which type of communication might be

closest to the way that God is thought to communicate with humanity?

Non-Propositional Revelation

Insight into God’s nature

Two-way communicationFaith =

understanding

the message

Bible is a human book

Historical and

cultural context

Non-Propositional Revelation

Does the idea that the events in the Bible have been written down as stories by human beings undermine its claim to be the word of God?

If the Bible reflects the culture in which it was written does this undermine its message?

Discussion

Can you tell the ‘story’ of how you spent the last week in an unbiased way, without leaving anything out?

Non-Propositional Revelation Strengths Weaknesses

Criticisms of Non-Propositional Revelation

Non-propositional revelation reflects human understanding and interpretation and is therefore open to error

There are no objective facts to appeal to – it is very subjective

Next time…

Three approaches to interpreting the bible: Traditional Fundamentalist Liberal