The Bridge: Revelation and Its Implications

Philosophers of religion and theologians have long wrestled with the concept of revelation. Does God reveal truth to human subjects primarily through sacred texts or audible voices? Through inner experiences or pronouncements of religious leaders? What is the relationship between the truths given in revelation and those discoverable by reason? Revelation is a challenge not only to scholars but also for churchgoers. How can the same God command one person to do one thing and another to do something quite different? In The Bridge Michael McGowan explores how a number of great twentieth- and twenty-first-century thinkers understand the concept of revelation. Using insights from their work and some recent advances in literary theory and communication studies he constructs a model of revelation in which symbol and narrative figure heavily. Ancient ideas are given new life in this contemporary explication of the nature of revelation God as the Revealer and revelations implications. The Bridge . . . is a careful and thorough investigation of Christian views of divine revelation. McGowan brings paradigm thinkers from three divergent theological perspectives into conversation with one another. Building on their thought he has developed both a helpful resource for grasping the theology of the last seventy years and an original proposal for integrating these insights into a comprehensive view. This is a work to read carefully and to ponder. Theologians biblical scholars and philosophers of religion will all benefit. --Gregory E. Ganssle Professor of Philosophy Talbot School of Theology Michael McGowan is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Florida SouthWestern State College in Naples Florida. He has written for Christianity Today International Journal of Systematic Theology Reviews in Religion and Theology Theological Book Review Journal of the Evangelical Theology Society Journal of Religion and Film and Pastoral Psychology.