Nature of Belief- Revelation: Propositional vs Non-propositional Flashcards
Define propositional
An assertion about the world which can be true or false
- 10 commandments
- First Vatican Council: “the books of the Bible, having been written by inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author”
Define non-propositional
Knowing how to think abut something, an understanding about the world, tends to be emotional/personal knowledge
- Paul on the road to Damascus made him think differently about the world
Define a liberal view
you use reason to discover truths as opposed to a blind faith in authority and you reject the miraculous
Catholicism view of scripture
- propositional
- Aquinas: can read scripture and gain facts from it (Catholic Church was heavily influenced by the Thomistian tradition)
Protestants view of scripture
- non-propositional
- as you read scripture, you are learning and developing a relationship with God over time
- Martin Luther: rebelled against catholic church (founder of Protestantism), “sola scriptura”
Liberal Christians view of scripture
- non-propositional
- read it as people who are trying to seek God, it is not directly inspired by him
- argue that some aspects need to be positively rejected as not from God, e.g.: feminists theologies who reject patriarchal aspects of biblical narrative
Evaluate propositional revelation
+ superficially seems better due to its supposed clarity where we can read scripture and accept it as being the divine word of God
CP: non-propositional encourages you to develop an understanding of the word of God/scripture in order to change your perspective (St Paul, William James and his pragmatism where any belief that is useful is true)
+ emphasis God’s authority where we are passive recipients of his authority (Augustine and our corrupt nature)
- have the potential to become bibliolatry where you worship the book itself rather than God
