[Models of Revelation] [By: Avery Dulles] [September, 1992]

by Avery Dulles

Book annotation not available for this title.

Genres: Theology, Textbooks, Biblical Studies

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Avery Robert Dulles, S.J. (1918-2008) was a Jesuit priest, theologian, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and served as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University from 1988 to 2008. He was an internationally known author and lecturer.

Dulles was born in Auburn, New York, the son of future U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (for whom Washington Dulles International Airport is named) and Janet Pomeroy Avery Dulles. His uncle was Director of Central Intelligence Allen Welsh Dulles. Both his great-grandfather John W. Foster and great-uncle Robert Lansing also served as U.S. Secretary of State.

He received his primary school education in New York City at the St. Bernard's School and attended secondary schools in Switzerland and The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Dulles was raised a Presbyterian but had become an agnostic by the time he began college at Harvard in 1936. His religious doubts were diminished during a personally profound moment when he stepped out into a rainy day and saw a tree beginning to flower along the Charles River; after that moment he never again "doubted the existence of an all-good and omnipotent God." He noted how his theism turned toward conversion to Catholicism: "The more I examined, the more I was impressed with the consistency and sublimity of Catholic doctrine." He converted to Catholicism in the fall of 1940.

After graduating from Harvard College in 1940, he spent a year and a half in Harvard Law School, where he also founded the "St. Benedict Center" (which would become well-known due to the controversial Fr. Leonard Feeney S.J.), before serving in the United States Navy, emerging with the rank of Lieutenant. For his liaison work with the French Navy, he was awarded the French Croix de guerre.

Reviews

[Jon Mathieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be extremely helpful and thought-provoking. It provides an overview of the 5 most prevalent schools of thought in the 20th century regarding God's self-revelation to humankind. The first half of the book surveys these 5 models, highlighting some of their leading thinkers and assessing strengths and weaknesses. The second half of the book presents Dulles's own tool--symbolic mediation--that he uses to further explore the doctrine of revelation and to harmonize the 5 popular models.

I think the first half is pretty accessible, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Christian theology or 20th-century religious thought. Dulles does not ultimately tip his hand toward or against any one of the 5 models, but stays disciplined in giving a balanced survey. Furthermore, because each school of thought cut across denominational lines, he describes how each one expressed itself in both Catholic and Protestant traditions.

The second half was a little less accessible. While I still loved it, I had to work to get through certain sections. The idea of symbolic mediation, which is so crucial to the second half of this book, is very broad and abstract. I would likely only recommend the second half of this book to people who, like me, are extremely abstract in their thought and who like to take deep dives into theological reflection.

[Daniel Crouch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though the writing is dry, it's an interesting survey of how Christians have understood the concept of revelation over the last 200 years

[Alan Metela · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 models of revelation

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic and lucid presentation of the ways in which different Christian traditions and even the same tradition can have different ways of looking at revelation. Whether conceived in terms of a doctrinal, historical, experiential, dialectical, or evolutionary / new consciousness model, Dulles does a great job thorughly showing how these theoretical constructs of different views on revelation are quite helpful for understanding the basic theological issues that inform discussion about it today. He highlights their strengths and weaknesses in a balanced way.



In the second part of the book, he seeks to use the notion of symbol as a cipher to show how all revelation is essentially mediated by symbols and that all the models demonstrate this to some extent. He also holds such a symbolic mediation corrects their failings. He applies this approach to several aspects of a theology of revelation, including interpreting the bible, understanding Christ, what role the church plays in mediating revelation, how Christian revelatin relates to other religions, and how it relates to an eschatological perspective. He also seeks to show that faith is a response to revelation and that such faith can be rational, though not rationalistic.



While this text is not putting forth a full systematic theology of revelation, its more modest purpose of helping define the landmarks in this area of theology is accomplished well enough that it still remains a key text for the field.

[Matt Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a terrible introduction to some of the ideas of revelatory theology, but rather short-sighted in a number of areas. Notably, Dulles espouses a very narrow interpretation of what he calls the "Revelation as Doctrine" model, which he associates with conservative evangelicalism. Granted, they're models, and therefore broadly representative, but the irony is that in his narrow representation of the doctrinal model, he fails to apprehend that the evangelical model, rightly understood, actually encompasses the strengths of every other model he sets forth.

Not a terrible read, but not exactly recreational reading, either. Unless you are really into theology.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is a primer orienting the reader to five contemporary models of revelation. The second half argues for the author's own view, symbolic mediation. For some readers, the whole book will be very useful. For others, particularly non-Catholics, the first half by itself could serve as a starting point for discussing the issue.

[Jack Hayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dulles has such clarity on revelation, especially the way he navigates his models of approaches to revelation. However, I think Christ as symbol and then the Bible and Church as currents of revelation is not Scripturally sound enough. I don’t think he avoid the risks of symbols, and doesn’t put up enough guard rails.

A good starting place.

94% A model to strive for

[Peter Fick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave it 4 stars because it gives a good overview of many different theologians and the models they are associated with (by Dulles).