Chapter 5 - Revelation as a Theological Problem II

Summary

In Chapter 5, I look at how revelation is understood in Catholic theology. There are two fundamental approaches to understanding this concept: the propositional ('static') and the relational ('dynamic'), which are sometimes at odds with one another. While propositional accounts provide the conditions of possibility (and impossibility) for conversations about God’s revelation to take place, and provide principles against which the discernment of truth can be evaluated, propositions can harden and become brittle as they are brought into new contexts. When this happens, the symbolic nature of all talk of God is forgotten, and the literal sense is brought to the fore. Propositions are weaponised and used in authoritarian ways to resist difference and change. This alienates the church from the culture/s in which it is embedded, making some of its choices and actions inexplicable and others indefensible. I then consider the relationship between revelation and tradition more closely. I argue that the proper work of developing tradition is not to defend propositions that have ceased to promote authentic reflection on revelation in dialogue with the context, but to renew what lies at its heart.