Divine Revelation Discussion
  1. What does the term "revelation" mean?
  2. What are two views of how divine revelation works?
  3. The theory of "revelation by dictation" is the notion that God spoke word-for-word to the human author of the text, while the human simply transcribed this verbal message. If one accepts this dictation theory, which of the two understandings of revelation (from #2 above) is one following? How so?
  4. The theory of communal inspiration is the notion that God worked in the human processes of the early Christians' reflection upon their individual and communal experience of Jesus, first orally and then in the production and selection of early Christian texts. If one accepts this theory of communal inspiration, which of the two understandings of revelation (from #2 above) is one following? How so?
  5. Which theory - or hybrid thereof - do you think is the best way to understand how divine revelation works in producing the Holy Scriptures? Why do you think this?