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Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective...
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Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 11928

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Balázs M. Mezei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Social and Political Sciences, Corvinus University Budapest, 1093 Budapest, Hungary
Interests: philosophy; theology; religious study; political sciences; ethics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure aims at publishing high-quality original articles dealing with the problems of divine revelation and its interpretations in Biblical scholarship, theology, and philosophy. Submissions should address central themes such as the definition of divine revelation in the Bible and Biblical traditions; how revelation is interpreted at the theological and philosophical levels; how revelation is lived in various spiritual cultures and practices; and what kind of logical, hermeneutical, phenomenological, existential, and political problems can be identified and explained in relevant traditions with respect to the forms and contents of divine disclosure. Articles may also deal with the question of various models of divine revelation and their relevance to contemporary religious and intra-religious discussions. Book reviews of important publications about related problems can also be submitted. 

Given the historical, theological, and philosophical background of the problem of divine revelation since the rise of Deism up to the developments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries one can see the growing interest in the related questions in academic communities. These questions date back to the ancient history of religions which also offer important insights into the relevance of divine epiphany on the historical and comparative trajectory. Revelation in the strict sense, i.e., the notion of apocalypsis in Hebrew, Christian, and Muslim authors offered a new focus on the problem of divine disclosure, a focus variously considered in theological and philosophical approaches throughout the subsequent centuries. In contemporary discussions we see sophisticated theological and philosophical debates both in the continental and the analytical traditions as well as in the interreligious comparative approaches that dominate many aspects of religious studies. While many authors emphasize the importance of divine otherness, mystical traditions sometimes offer the opposite view of radical immanence. In other directions, divine revelation is sometimes considered in terms of its relevance to theoretical and practical changes concerning various minorities of race, gender, and personal identities. An important aspect of the problem of divine revelation is the recurring rise of views of dissent, often branded as sectarian or even heretical, that are worth careful consideration.

This Special Issue is open to articles on various aspects of this conglomerate of problems related to the forms, contents, and relevance of divine revelation. 

Prof. Dr. Balázs M. Mezei
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • revelation
  • divine disclosure
  • theology
  • philosophy
  • hermeneutics
  • Scripture, inspiration
  • eschatology
  • mysticism
  • interfaith dialogue

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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17 pages, 314 KiB  
Article
The Concept of Divine Revelation According to Ibn Sînâ and Al-Ghazālī: A Comparative Analysis
by İbrahim Halil Erdoğan and Sema Eryücel
Religions 2024, 15(11), 1383; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111383 - 14 Nov 2024
Viewed by 633
Abstract
This article examines the conceptions of divine revelation held by two prominent figures in Islamic thought, Ibn Sīnā and Al-Ghazālī, through a comparative lens within the context of metaphysical and epistemological processes. Ibn Sīnā views divine revelation as a metaphysical process occurring at [...] Read more.
This article examines the conceptions of divine revelation held by two prominent figures in Islamic thought, Ibn Sīnā and Al-Ghazālī, through a comparative lens within the context of metaphysical and epistemological processes. Ibn Sīnā views divine revelation as a metaphysical process occurring at the highest level of intellect. According to him, divine revelation is an abstract reflection of divine knowledge transmitted to the prophet’s imaginative faculty through the Active Intellect. This process, explained within a philosophical framework, is grounded in the development of human intellectual capacity. In contrast, Ghazālī defines divine revelation as a mystical experience and considers it a divine encounter beyond the limits of human reason. For Ghazālī, divine revelation manifests as an expression of God’s attribute of speech and occurs solely by divine will. Moreover, this experience cannot be fully comprehended by reason. Ghazālī’s approach, imbued with Sufi depth, regards divine revelation as an integral part of spiritual growth. This article explores the fundamental similarities and differences between these two thinkers’ understandings of divine revelation and metaphysics. By analyzing how Ibn Sīnā’s reason-based approach intersects and diverges from Ghazālī’s intuition and inspiration-based Sufi approach, this study provides an in-depth examination of how the concept of divine revelation has been shaped within Islamic theology and philosophy, highlighting the contributions of both thinkers to the discourse on divine revelation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
14 pages, 257 KiB  
Article
An Epistemology of Revelation
by Arpad Szakolczai
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1126; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091126 - 18 Sep 2024
Viewed by 673
Abstract
The aim of this article is to approach the epistemology of revelation through the approach of political anthropology. It departs from Max Weber’s distinction between ordinary and out-of-the-ordinary situations, which led to his idea of charismatic power. This article complements the Weberian perspective [...] Read more.
The aim of this article is to approach the epistemology of revelation through the approach of political anthropology. It departs from Max Weber’s distinction between ordinary and out-of-the-ordinary situations, which led to his idea of charismatic power. This article complements the Weberian perspective by introducing the anthropological term “liminality” for such situations, as well as the term “trickster” for figures who have a specific affinity for appearing in such situations, creating havoc instead of offering a solution. Ordinary knowledge does not apply to liminal void situations of incommensurability; incommensurable knowledge can be gained by magic and religion. Magic forces the transcendent and claims to produce effects, while religion is based on revealed knowledge, the validity of which is established by trust. Under particularly anguishing liminal conditions, the hardly tolerated practitioners of magic might gain positions of power. An important such example is offered by Persian Magi. Turning to the present, modern rationalism, with Bacon and Descartes, undermined both ordinary and revealed knowledge. The possible relevance of revealed knowledge in contemporary times is discussed through the related phenomena of apocalyptic expectations and Marian apparitions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
20 pages, 309 KiB  
Article
Perceiving God: The Spiritual Senses in Bonaventure’s Mystical Theology
by Attila Puskás
Religions 2024, 15(8), 902; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080902 - 26 Jul 2024
Viewed by 831
Abstract
This essay examines the distinctive features; unchanging basic elements and changing emphases of Bonaventure’s interpretation of the spiritual senses based on four works selected from different periods of his life and considered significant for the subject. In the first chapter, I analyse the [...] Read more.
This essay examines the distinctive features; unchanging basic elements and changing emphases of Bonaventure’s interpretation of the spiritual senses based on four works selected from different periods of his life and considered significant for the subject. In the first chapter, I analyse the relevant passages of Bonaventure’s Commentary on the Book of Sentences; in the second the De reductione artium ad theologiam; in the third the Breviloquium; and in the fourth the Itinerarium mentis in Deum. The objects of investigation are as follows: the correlation between the acts of spiritual senses and their object; the basis of the hierarchical order of spiritual senses; the relationship between spiritual senses; mental excesses and mystical transit; and the relation to Dionysian mystical theology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
20 pages, 456 KiB  
Article
Varieties of Revelation, Varieties of Truth—A Comparative Ontological Study of Revelation through Music and Sciences
by Alpaslan Ertüngealp
Religions 2024, 15(6), 695; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15060695 - 4 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1475
Abstract
Accounts of revelation and contemporary views of these are based on beliefs and historical citations. These accounts shall not be limited to the understanding and interpreting of historical and other events within writings but must present the possibility of an objective analysis of [...] Read more.
Accounts of revelation and contemporary views of these are based on beliefs and historical citations. These accounts shall not be limited to the understanding and interpreting of historical and other events within writings but must present the possibility of an objective analysis of the nature of revelation as a phenomenon, an object of our sensory and mental conscious experiences. This paper approaches the act or phenomenon of revelation regardless of the revealer and its nature. Can we abstract the revealer and the revealed from revelation and have an ontological account of revelation solely focusing on the occurrence itself? The central part of the discussion is based on the object/property pair as ontological categories through which the means are analyzed. A comparative method is used where Scripture, musical writings, and mathematical/physical formulae (as potential means of revelation) are scrutinized. As a result, without any need to determine the revealer, revelation can be based on and described through pure properties (not tropes) in human experience, intellect, and understanding. The possibility of revelation beyond Scripture and Jesus Christ—following a type of liberal and general theory of revelation—presents itself in arts and sciences. The “true” of a musical work, when found and experienced during musical performances and scientific truths represented by the formulae, which describe the world and a meta domain, can be derived from the chains of signs and symbols as it is through Scripture. Human cognitive faculties present a universal natural limit to our direct experiencing of the transcendent, of the supernatural. A new dualist conception of logos as a metaphysical category marks the domain bridging the non-transcendent with the transcendent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
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15 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
“Beyond the Window That Can Never Be Opened”—Roger Scruton on “Moments of Revelation” in Human Life
by Ferenc Hörcher
Religions 2024, 15(4), 485; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040485 - 15 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1558
Abstract
This study addresses Roger Scruton’s understanding of what he called “moments of revelation”. In two short essays, both entitled “Effing the ineffable”, Scruton framed his discussion of moments of revelation with reference to the medieval Christian mystical discourse. Introducing the medieval discussion of [...] Read more.
This study addresses Roger Scruton’s understanding of what he called “moments of revelation”. In two short essays, both entitled “Effing the ineffable”, Scruton framed his discussion of moments of revelation with reference to the medieval Christian mystical discourse. Introducing the medieval discussion of this topic, this study provides an analysis of Scruton’s approach to the theme. In tune with the traditional discourse on revelation, his general aim was to demonstrate that there are ways of revealing important truths about the supernatural, of the world “beyond the window”, that do not require words to be pronounced. He calls our experiences of such phenomena moments of revelation and identifies four different transitory sources of revelation. This study deals with them one by one, after considering whether it is right to label such a revelation transcendental. The four sources of Scruton’s moments of revelation are natural beauty, the beauty of painting, the beauty of music, and personal encounters. The first three examples are connected to his thoughts on art and beauty as a substitute of divine revelation. Perhaps the most surprising of these is the last ones, moments of intersubjective human relationships, “our knowledge of each other”. Relying on both Buber and Levinas, Scruton makes the strong claim that it is in the other that we can experience that world “beyond the window”. His phenomenological exploration of human encounters sheds light on concepts like grace, shekhinah, or real presence and gift. He explains the Christian understanding of the human–divine relationship as well along the lines of the nature of interpersonal human relationship, both of them being in a certain sense, he claims, transcendental. From grace, his account moves forward to self-sacrifice and finally arrives at his idiosyncratic understanding of gratefulness for life. His moments of revelation in art and interpersonal exchange turn out to be, indeed, late and secular versions of the Christian understanding of revelation. In its summary, this study claims that revelation, understood by Scruton as a form of general human experience, allows to catch a glimpse of that which is beyond the window, by the direct, sensually based experience of either the existence of another person or of the beauty of nature and art. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
22 pages, 380 KiB  
Article
Phénoménologie de la Vérité: The Phenomenological Roots of Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology
by Balázs M. Mezei
Religions 2024, 15(4), 409; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040409 - 27 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1899
Abstract
Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century, uses the methods and results of classical phenomenology in many ways. Balthasar’s repeated criticism of Husserl, Scheler, and Heidegger conceals the fact of his dependence on these authors in various [...] Read more.
Hans Urs von Balthasar, one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century, uses the methods and results of classical phenomenology in many ways. Balthasar’s repeated criticism of Husserl, Scheler, and Heidegger conceals the fact of his dependence on these authors in various ways. The present text examines the implicit and explicit phenomenological elements in Balthasar’s thought. As a starting point, the title of the first French translation of one of his early books, Phénoménologie de la vérité, is used to outline the context of Balthasar’s endeavor. In what follows, I will show the phenomenological features of some of his major writings, analyze what he himself calls supernatural phenomenology, and argue for a more consistent phenomenological methodology that Balthasar could have worked out had he carefully considered the internal development of the phenomenological movement. “Apocalyptic phenomenology” emerges as the general title of an approach that links Balthasar’s methodology to that of the major phenomenological works, properly examined and extended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
15 pages, 285 KiB  
Article
Christian Revelation as a Phenomenon: Jean-Luc Marion’s Phenomenological “Theology” and Its Balthasarian Roots
by Beáta Tóth
Religions 2024, 15(2), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020216 - 14 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1671
Abstract
This essay examines Jean-Luc Marion’s phenomenal model of the Trinity expounded in his recent book D’Ailleurs, la révélation (2020) and attempts to give an initial assessment from a theological perspective. Since Marion’s programme is largely indebted to the Roman Catholic theologian Hans [...] Read more.
This essay examines Jean-Luc Marion’s phenomenal model of the Trinity expounded in his recent book D’Ailleurs, la révélation (2020) and attempts to give an initial assessment from a theological perspective. Since Marion’s programme is largely indebted to the Roman Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar’s own project, first I give an overview of the Balthasarian phenomenal approach to revelation famously termed “aesthetic theology”. Next, I present Marion’s ideas concerning the convergence between the phenomenological and the theological enterprise. The third part examines the theological rationale behind Marion’s phenomenal model of the Trinity that again can be seen as relying significantly on Balthasarian trinitarian theology. In this section, I give an overview of the idea of the relationship between the immanent and the economic Trinity, and I inspect notions, such as trinitarian distance, kenosis and Marion’s own concept elsewhere. The fourth section gives an outline of Marion’s phenomenal model of the trinity where he develops a new trinitarian triad based on a phenomenal approach. The closing section reflects on the advantages and difficulties of Marion’s project. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
15 pages, 1435 KiB  
Article
Scribal Revelations in Ancient Judaism
by Ida Fröhlich
Religions 2024, 15(1), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010131 - 20 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1328
Abstract
Revelations, visions and their interpretations create in themselves authority. In early Jewish Aramaic tradition, however, this is increased by the role of writing. Enoch receives revelations of the secrets of heaven from heavenly tablets by the Holy Watchers. The Fallen Watchers teach the [...] Read more.
Revelations, visions and their interpretations create in themselves authority. In early Jewish Aramaic tradition, however, this is increased by the role of writing. Enoch receives revelations of the secrets of heaven from heavenly tablets by the Holy Watchers. The Fallen Watchers teach the earthly women magic and sorcery from tablets stolen from the heaven. Scribalism in Second Temple period Judaism and Enoch is becoming more and more researched. As is known, Enoch has a Mesopotamian scholarly tradition behind it, which saw the movement of the celestial bodies as a heavenly writing, the transmission of the will of the gods. Enochic scribes had a good familiarity with the Mesopotamian scribal tradition that took place in the sanctuaries from the Persian period onwards and whose purpose was to record astronomical observations, write diaries, prepare astronomical tables and produce almanacs recording events. Scholarly texts were considered as “secret” or “exclusive” knowledge. The omen list Enūma Anu Enlil, based on a 360-day calendar, was the pinnacle of the scribal tradition and the basis of Mesopotamian astral magic. The Mesopotamian revelatory form in Enoch serves to assert the authority of a calendrical system of its own, the 364-day year and the Holy Watchers and other angelic beings who govern it. The scribal form of revelation is known in Daniel 7 (also in Aramaic), in which the books opened in heaven contain a revelation about the fate of the fourth empire. The book-revelation of cyclic and linear time is present together in the book of Jubilees, whose chronology is based on the 364-day year, and in which Enoch keeps a record of earthly events on heavenly tablets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Varieties of Revelation: Scripture, Theology, and Philosophy in the Perspective of Divine Disclosure)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Landscape and human being: The sacral architecture of Peter Zumthor
Author: Gajer
Highlights: It is worth discussing more about the contemporary Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s sacral buildings and his theoretical and philosophical background in relation to the interpretation of sacred space and the phenomenology of sacrality.

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