Book Description

David Granskou's translation into English of Revelation as History makes available to the English-speaking world for the first time one of the controversial works of modern theology. In it, a group of young German theologians, led by Wolfhart Pannenbrg of Mainz University, propose a reinterpretation of the concept of revelation--that is directed against both the Barthian and the Bultmannian understanding of the word of God as the basis of theology. Bultmann, who is skeptical of the historic character of Christian revelation, holds that the divine will is known only through God's word as contained in Scripture. Barth strongly emphasizes the uniqueness of God's revelation in Christ. Pannenberg and his group hold as limited these authoritarian ideas of the divine word and of the obedience it calls for, and argue instead that all of history is an indirect revelation of God's existence. The idea of the divine word and of the obedience it calls for, and argue instead that all of history is an indirect revelation of God's existence. The idea of the divine word is not excluded in their reinterpretation, but it is reinstituted to a more modest and subordinate role within the context of revelation as history. Pannenberg first reviews the modern history of the concept of revelation, introduces the theme of the book, and constructs the framework of the presentation. The subsequent exegetical investigations by Rolf Rendtorff and Ulrich Wilkens argue the evidence for the case in the Israelite and primitive Christian testimonies of faith expressed in the Old and New Testaments. Pannenberg then fully states the new interpretation of revelation as history, and Trutz Rendtorff concludes with an exploration of the problems created by this point of view when applied to the church. Revelation as History represents a significant attempt to resolve the conflicting positions of the existential and historical schools of thought on the theological issue of revelation--one that rejects the authoritarian style of theological thought in favor of an open rationality combined with a concern for the substance of the Christian tradition. -Publisher