appears on Mount Sinai - Moses receives 10 commandments (biblical)
sends the ten plagues (biblical)
prophets hear God
Abraham receives messages from (says there is one God)
9.1 Revelation - New Testament
Jesus (who is God -incarnation) - most important and saved us from sin
Jesus is the ‘culmination of God’s revelation‘ - the climax of God’s revelation- best way we know God
Pentecost - Holy Spirit appears as tongues of flame - helps the disciples preach in multiple languages (after Jesus’ ascension)
9.1 Revelation swa
‘(The Son) reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of His nature.’
9.2 Visions - name 2 types
Disembodied (hear a voice) and Corporeal (see someone)
9.2 biblical visions
Annunciation- angel Gabriel visits Mary
Saul (blinded by light, hears Jesus: ‘why do you persecute me?’)
9.2 non-biblical visions
Bernadette’s vision of Mary at Lourdes. Mary asks her to dig and spring of water appears (Holy Water) . Mary confirms that she is the ‘Immaculate Conception’
Mary appeared to shepherd children- Fatima, Portugal
9.2 Visions good evidence for God’s existence
Multiple witnesses
message/ visions become true ( Fatima- WW2, Russia becoming Communist)
No alternative scientific explanations
shows God’s omnipotence
shows God’s benevolence- communicating with us today
9.2 Visions poor evidence for God’s existence
Drugs
mentally unwell
hallucination
imagination (dreams)
dreams dependent on ‘feeling’ or intuition that it is real
wish fulfilment
not enough evidence to believe
perhaps alternative scientific explanation
9.2 Visions
‘Fear not Abram, I am yourshield; your reward shall be very great’ (Genesis)
‘This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him‘ (Matthew)
9.3 Miracles - what is it?
An event which defies the laws of nature and caused by God
• Birth of Isaac (Sarah and Abraham to old to conceive)
NEW TESTAMENT:
• All of Jesus’ e.g. resurrection, water into wine, feeding 5000, calming of storm (nature), healing of the paralytic, blind, Lazarus
(healing)
• Pentecost- talking in tongues
9.3 Miracles modern/ today
Lourdes (medical miracles)
Near-death experiences
‘Bleeding’ host
Transubstantiation (bread becomes Jesus’ body at every Mass)
How is natural revelation and spiritual revelation different?
Natural revelation is the revealing of Gods nature through the natural wirle around us whereas spiritual revelation is revealing more of God's nature spiritually or through the bible.
Jesus Christ is the...
Perfect revelation. He is the embodiment of revelation and God.
What do we learn about God through Jesus?
God saves, forgives, loves and sacrifices. God wants to relate to us. "He reflects the glory of god and bears the very stamp of his nature" - Book of hebrews.
The significance of Jesus Christ as the culmination of revelation.
Gods final truth came in Jesus after the incarnation. There can not be a higher revelation than Jesus Christ.
What does the revelation in Jesus Christ showsCatholics about gods nature?
Through Jesus Christ, Catholics perceive God as caring, one who loves, one who forgives and the crucifixion shows pericherisuis (self-giving love).
What is the principle of Okhams' Razor?
The simplest explanation is the true explanation.
Why does the Bible not prove gods existence?
-written by men thousands of years ago so a book of history not a book of proof
-need religious faith to understand it...so why need faith when it gives you proof?
-Bible must be taken metaphorically and not literally.
-proof requires concrete evidence, which the Bible can never .
-Bible contains lots of stories that defy the laws of nature, making it hard to believe
Why are visions important to Catholics?
-Often contain similar attributes across nations PINT
-strengthen faith, compelling occurrences.
-For the mystic, they cannot be denied and have an indéniable impact, often changing lives.
-they impart noetic truths that would otherwise not be known. E.g."I am the immaculate conception"
Two biblical visions:
-Abrahamic covenant with G-d: "Do not be afraid Abraham..."
-the transfiguration: when Jesus was lifted up by Elisah and Moses and Peter knew he was the messiah. "This is my beloved son, of whom I am well pleased"
One non-biblical vision:
-Joan of Arc was a peasant girl from France who received visions from St. Michael and St. Catherine which led her to the court of Charles VII. She persuaded him to join the royal army and led it to many successful battles with the English. She was caught, put on trail and burnt at the stake by the English at 19 years old.
America, with anything that divides the laws of nature. It is not possible and for religious people, the only explanation is God.
David Hume on miracles
Miracles only occur to ignorant and barbarous nations of illeducated people. "A wise man proportions his belief to evidence, and we have no evidence of miracles."
Holland on miracles:
Miracles are nothing more than remarkable coincidences that are interpreted in a religious fashion.
Just because something has no explanation cannot mean that the explaination is god.
"We end with a god of the gaps" -Dawkins
The placebo effect on miracles
Belief alone causes healing, not god.
Thomas Aquinas on miracles
"miracles are beyond human understanding so too is god. Miracles have a divine purpose, which most people fail to understand.
On of the 69 verified miracles by the CCC
John Traynor - ww1 veteran - lost legs - went to grotto - healed and now can walk
Difference between conversion and numinous experiences
Conversion often involves elements. Not in direct contact with God but can feel his presence. E.g. Saul, God light, Paul.
Numinous experience is when you meet the wholly other. You know you are in the presence of God. "Under it, my genius is rebuked" - William Shakespeare
What does Rudolf Otto say about numinous experiences:
They are Tremendum, mysterium and fascinas (people just know that god is there)
Why is numinous experiance important for Catholics?
It anchors their faith, it reveals gods nature as benevolent, it shows proof that god wants to be involved in his creation, creation does not have to be beautiful, but it is because god is benevolent. "The world is so full of superfluous beauty" -Swinburne
What is the teleological argument (design argument) in a nutshell:
1. The universe exhibits design
2. Anything which appears designed just have been designed.
3. The universe must have been designed
4. So there must be a designer of the universe and that designer is God