Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation

by William J. Abraham

The last few decades have seen a revolution in debates about the rationality of Christian belief. Among the array of current options for justifying religious belief, however, nearly every one assumes that a general theory of knowing and a minimal version of theism must be adopted before the rationality of Christian belief can be tackled. In Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation William J. Abraham confronts both of these assumptions, arguing that epistemology must begin with its particular target of inquiry -- in Abraham's case the full-blooded "canonical theism" of the early, undivided Christian church. He argues, moreover, that special divine revelation forms a crucial threshold at the entrance to the epistemology of Christian belief. Sure to intrigue philosophers, theologians, and curious students, Abraham's robust vision of Christian faith provides a creative solution to many of the current difficulties in philosophy and theology.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy

212 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2006

About the author

William J. Abraham is the Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Perkins School of Theology, working as a philosophical and systematic theologian.

Reviews

[Kyle Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Divine revelation dispels our ignorance, sheds light in our darkness, and gives genuine knowledge of God within the contours of human history. The giving and receiving of divine revelation are of course a matter of grace...Hence the apophatic must be balanced by the cataphatic, that is, by appropriate diction and depiction in which God is accurately and richly displayed in all the resources of language at out disposal."

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this much. I didn't find Abraham's explanations terribly clear, and he doesn't really focus on the questions that interest me most in this area, such as "why do some people have a sense of the divine and others not, and does it matter?"

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read but a valuable one.

[Joshua Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is certainly my favorite book on the epistemology of religion. I don't feel like explaining why. Hopefully I have a bright future as a philosopher in which I can take many years to explain why.