Does Revelation adjudicate?
Postmodernism has chastened the arrogant claims of modernity for complete knowledge. In the end, it has said that beliefs are community based, and there is no outside rationality by which one can adjudicate truth claims. I belief this is a tacit denial of Revelation and the Incarnation.
I believe that knowledge is formed in communities. To say there is no 'outside rationality,' however, is not to engage in epistemic humility, but to undermine the fundamental necessity of a self-revealing God. To deny outside rationality is to deny any act of God to reveal who he really is; in essence, if there is no adjudication, then the Incarnation is being denied. This is not an arrogant claim because the narrative of Israel and Incarnation is not a narrative developed by humanity for the purposes of humanity--"Accept our narrative because your hope is found in it," ala modernity; it is a humble claim because God has created this narrative and has acted in it. We are not the writers and the way we tell the story being written should reveal the humility that is inherent in its claims.
Either one can appeal to Revelation for adjudication, or one loses the doctrine of the Incarnation.
I believe that knowledge is formed in communities. To say there is no 'outside rationality,' however, is not to engage in epistemic humility, but to undermine the fundamental necessity of a self-revealing God. To deny outside rationality is to deny any act of God to reveal who he really is; in essence, if there is no adjudication, then the Incarnation is being denied. This is not an arrogant claim because the narrative of Israel and Incarnation is not a narrative developed by humanity for the purposes of humanity--"Accept our narrative because your hope is found in it," ala modernity; it is a humble claim because God has created this narrative and has acted in it. We are not the writers and the way we tell the story being written should reveal the humility that is inherent in its claims.
Either one can appeal to Revelation for adjudication, or one loses the doctrine of the Incarnation.
posted by Aaron Perry at
2:38 PM
3 Comments:
AP,
I think you are right on! In my estimation, the problem with modernity was that it attempted to get to God starting with man. Trying to build from a concept of "mr. everyman" (I think the gendered form is appropriate here). But we eventually learned that there is no such thing as "mr. everyman" and so we chastened our claims so that knowledge is no longer universal, but merely communal. However, that doesn't solve the problem of starting with humanity and trying to get to God. We NEED revelation. We NEED incarnation. We NEED God's inbreaking from the outside to re-create our communities. Moving from an "anthropocentric" theology to a "communal-centric" (I don't know what word works there) is like saying we are going to sing stanzas one and two of the same song. We need a new song altogether!
Eric Gilchrest
Eric! Good to hear from you. What are you up to? Good illustration with the song.
AP,
I've started my first year in Baylor's PhD program for New Testament. Its exciting but stressful, as I'm sure you're well-aware.
Meg, funny you ask how I sleep at night, actually last night I didn't!! I had to pull an all-nighter to finish a paper that's due today. (I thought I was done with that when I graduated college).
Eric
I read your blog frequently. I'll try to post more.
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