Propositional Revelation...

In Ron Nash' book, The Word of God and The Mind of Man, he discusses the issue of propositional revelation - the idea that divine revelation can occur through propositions. In opposition to this view liberal theologians have posited that revelation is a matter of experience as we can in no way actually know about God. Nash builds off of the conclusions of Hume and Kant to get us to this point. He clarifies that Hume and Kant did not necessarily say we can't experience God, but that we had no way of doing it through knowledge. He quotes liberal theologian John Hick,

Revelation is not a divine promulgation of propositions, nor is faith a believing in such propositions. The theological propositions formulated on the basis of revelation have a secondary status. They do not constitute the content of God's self-revelation but are human and therefore fallible verbalizations..."

Nash then explains that revelation, as properly understood, includes a balance between both the objective and the subjective. A wonderful illustration of this is the work of the Spirit and the Scriptures. Nash quotes H. D. McDonald,

a Scripture without the Spirit makes for a fruitless faith, while the Spirit without the Scriptures makes for an undisciplined faith. The one makes for a dead orthodoxy, while the other leads to an unrestrained enthusiasm. The first gives lifelessness to the Church; and the second , license to the individual.

Interesting. Especially in light of issues I discuss in my posts on Decision Making and the Will of God, and The Plain Reading of the Text.