1. Christian Revelation

2. Religion Vs Science
Believing in God and believing in the methods and findings of science do not need to be contradictions as they are just different ways of understanding.
Religious people believe that ‘religious method’ helps them to understand and answer ‘religious questions.’
The Scientific method helps them to understand ‘scientific questions,’ therefore there’s no tension between the two.
Strength of faith

3. Learning Intentions In these lessons you will:
Explore the meaning and implications of Christian Revelation
Weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of revelation and consider if it is a reliable source of knowledge and understanding.

4. Revelation in Christianity
One of the important features of Christianity is that it is a faith. Acceptance of Christianity is based upon belief and is a matter of free choice.
Christians believe that God has revealed his presence throughout the ages and continues to do so.
The way God has revealed himself to humanity is , according to Christians, varied, but done in a way which makes sure you’re not forced to believe in Him.

5. What is Revelation?
Revealing or disclosing some form of truth or knowledge through communication with the divine.
Revelation
Revelation is the term used to describe how religious people come to a deeper understanding of God through personal experience:
Through seeing, recognising and experiencing God in the world
Through sacred writings such as the Bible for Christians.
People may describe a sense of the numinous – of being in the presence of an awesome power.
Such experiences are described as mystical or transcendent because they are outside of normal, everyday experience.
These experiences are often a result of prayer, meditation and reflection.

6. General and Special Revelation
God reveals himself to creation in many ways.
These are grouped under the headings General and Special revelation.

7. Revelation General Revelation Special Revelation
General revelation refers to experiences which are available to everyone:
Acts of nature, conscience and morality
Religious scripture
The work of religious leaders
Special revelation describes experiences of God revealing himself directly to an individual or to a select group:
Worship
Visions, Dreams and Prophecies
Miracles of healing

8. Revelation
Theists believe that God is totally different from humans but that he makes himself known in 2 ways:
General Revelation
Special Revelation
General revelation refers to ways that anyone can experience God.
Special revelation refers to unique, individual experiences.
REVELATION CAN BE GENERAL (EVERYONE) OR SPECIAL (PERSONAL VISIT)

9. Genesis 1 and 2 You should be able to:
Retell the Genesis narrative in your own words, both Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
Know the variety of Christian interpretations regarding the narrative.

10. General and Special Revelation Quick Questions
What is meant by revelation?
Give 2 examples of General and Special Revelation.
Do you think either of these forms of revelation is more reliable than the other? Why?
Which do you think would be the most persuasive?

11. General Revelation
The sorts of things that can be considered as general revelation are:
Acts of creation – nature - the order, purpose and complexity in our world and universe all point to God.
Through His actions – delivering human from suffering or acting in other ways to show who He is.
Awareness that God is around – a feeling that we may have or God is our conscience.

12. The complexity of human life and the creation of new life is evidence that He is IMMANENT – in the HERE AND NOW

13. The heavens declare the glory of God: The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1
For since the beginning of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 1:20
The first Bible source makes it quite clear – look around you, what you see points to God.
Paul’s letter to the Romans supports this idea and suggests that it would be hard to deny God’s existence having looked around you at creation.

14. Special Revelation

15. Special Revelation
A special revelation occurs when God is believed to have spoken directly to an individual or group of people.
It is not a general everyday experience.
It is ‘specially’ for the person or group.

16. Special Revelation
The sorts of things that can be considered as special revelation are:
Specific miracles – feeding the five thousand and parting the Red Sea.
Visions – Saul on the road to Damascus.
Dreams – Joseph learned of God’s purposes through a series of dreams.
‘Appearances’ – burning bush, delivery of The Commandments.
Speaking directly – God spoke to Samuel.
Becoming human – Jesus taught us how to live a human life and gave a glimpse at the true Nature of God.

17. Christian Revelation Summary
Religious experience is believed to be direct experience of God.
It can come in many different forms.
The experience reveals the nature of God.
Religious experiences are very personal and unique.
So they may be unique revelations about God – valuable for everyone.
Or they might be meaningful only for the person who has them.
God may reveal himself through order in nature.
The structure and design of the Universe might point to the character of God.
Understanding God’s revelation is central to the life of a Christian.
It helps give meaning to all aspects of life.

18. Genesis 1 and 2

19. Learning Intentions In these lessons you will:
Look at the creation of the universe in Genesis 1;
Consider different interpretations of the story and consider where it may have come from;
Weigh up the strengths and limitations of different interpretations of Genesis 1.

20. Genesis Genesis means ‘how things came to be’ or ‘origins’
Jews, Muslims and Christians all accept the Genesis creation story.
It is from an Earth-centred or human-centred view point.

21. It actually happened exactly like it says.
LITERAL
It actually happened exactly like it says.
SYMBOLIC
It is just a story – the message is true, but the actual story is not.

22. What is the Origin of the Universe?
Created by God

23. Genesis 1 Creation from nothing, ex nihilo
‘In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate... Then God commanded, “Let there be light”—and light appeared.’
God created order from chaos

24. Day 1
God separated the light from the darkness, and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.”

25. Day 2
“Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”— and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it. He named the dome ‘sky’.

26. Day 3
“Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear”...He named the land “Earth,” and the water ...he named “Sea.”

27. God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit”—and it was done.

28. Day 4
“Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night... God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars... and these separated light from darkness.

29. “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.”
Day 5

30. Day 6
“Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”

31. “I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.” – This is interpreted by Christians that humans are the pinnacle of God’s Creation.
So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female

32. “I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.” – This is interpreted by Christians that humans are the pinnacle of God’s Creation.
So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female

33. Day 7
God saw that everything was good, and He rested

34. Questions
Describe General revelation, with examples, in your own words.
Describe Special revelation, with examples, in your own words.
What do you think are the strengths of revelation as a means of finding out what the world is like?
What are the limitations of revelation as a means of finding out what the world is like?

35. Strengths and Limitations of General and Special Revelation
God chooses to reveal His nature and existence to the things he has created. He does not need to but chooses to. This suggests that we are important to Him and there is reason for His revelation.
All of the ways in which God has ‘revealed’ Himself to us are ambiguous – they are open to debate, argument and disagreement. They could be interpreted in different ways, and because they are so debatable they’re not very reliable.
He has revealed himself throughout history and continues to do so in many different ways, such as through scripture, visions, religious experience, miracles, the traditions of the church and the order and design found in nature.
Humans find things out through investigating, testing and using evidence. The ‘evidence’ for God which comes from the kinds of revelation examined so far is not very strong. If God wanted to reveal Himself to humans, why not just do it in a more obvious way which would not be open to debate.
Christians believe that the person of Jesus – God made flesh – is the ultimate revelation of who God is and how He wants humans to live.
It is not clear how far the ‘Jesus story’ is ‘as it happened’ or ‘as it was later edited by the Church’.

36. Genesis 1
Describe what is meant by a literal interpretation of something.
Describe what is meant by a symbolic interpretation of something.
Write a brief overview explaining what happens in Genesis 1 in your own words.
Creation from nothing, ex nihilo.
Order from chaos.
God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7th.
Different things were created on the different days, starting with light and ending with humans.
Humans could be considered the pinnacle of God’s creation.

37. Genesis 2

38. Genesis 1:1, 2:4-6 In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth
Genesis 1:1, 2:4-6 In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. No plant or shrub had yet sprung up, for God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the soil. Moisture would well up from the earth and water the surface of the ground.

39. Genesis 2:7 God formed man from the soil of the ground.

40. Genesis 2:7 And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

41. Genesis 2:7 And man became a living creature.

42.  Genesis 2:8-9 God planted a garden in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. God caused to sprout every tree that is pleasing to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

43. Genesis 2:15 God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to look after and maintain it. 

44. Genesis 2:16-17 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, 'From every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'

45. Genesis 2:18 God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone
Genesis 2:18 God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone. I shall make him a helper.'

46. Genesis 2:19 From the ground God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky.

47. Genesis 2:19-20 He brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, every bird of the sky, and every animal of the field. But no suitable helper was found for the man. 

48. Genesis 2:21 Then God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man.

49. Genesis 2:21 And as he slept, Yahweh God took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 

50. Genesis 2:22 And from the rib which Yahweh God had taken from the man...

51. Genesis 2:22 ...he made a woman, and brought her to the man.

52. Genesis 2:23 The man said, 'This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken out of man.'

53. Genesis 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

54. Homework: Genesis 2
Write a brief overview explaining what happens in Genesis 2 in your own words. (bullet point if you like)
In the beginning there was nothing on earth, no plant, animal or human.
God created man from the soil and breathed life into him.
He put the man in the Garden of Eden and decided he needed a companion so he created all the animals and birds.
None of these animals were suitable companions so he put the man into a deep sleep, took out one of his ribs and from that rib he formed woman.

55. Where did this story come from?
How does anyone know about it? Surely only God was around at the time... Christians understand the Bible in different ways:

56. Christian Interpretations
Divine revelation
The story has come directly from God through the humans who wrote the Bible – God spoke to them.
Why would God have them write it if it were wrong?
Discuss

57. Christian Interpretations
Spoken tradition
God speaks directly to Adam and Eve so He presumably told them something about the creation of the world. This could have been passed on from generation to generation – once writing was developed it was written.
The story could be unchanged since Adam and Eve or it has become more poetic and less accurate as passed down
Chinese Whispers

58. Christian Interpretations
A myth based on the observable universe
For some Christians, the Genesis story is a myth. This doesn’t mean that it’s untrue, just that it’s a kind of writing where an attempt is made to explain the unexplainable.
Humans decided that something powerful must have made this earth, based upon what they could see.
There is truth in the story but it is hard to pinpoint. The general idea – God made the universe – is more important than the specific details which are not to be taken too literally.
Breaking a mirror will earn a person seven years of bad luck.
Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.
Making silly faces when the wind direction changes will make the silly face permanent.
Chocolate leads to acne.
Feed a cold, starve a fever.
Eating carrots will improve your eyesight.
Too much TV is bad for your eyes.
Cracking knuckles causes arthritis.
Old wives’ tales

59. Genesis: A Literal Interpretation
Creation story is true in every aspect
It may be difficult to understand, but this is
FAITH
Bible is the word of God = everything must be accepted
Humans are not God – we cannot see into His mind – He is omnipotent – all-powerful = He can do anything,
e.g. Create the world in 6 days as Genesis 1 says, and man from the soil and woman from man’s rib.
We must TRUST and BELIEVE.
We do not need to understand it, we just need to accept it.
Genesis is not a science text book
The Bible is God’s word – His Truth
Science that goes against the Bible’s teachings is simply wrong.
Creationists believe the literal truth of the Biblical creation story.

60. Genesis: A Literal Interpretation
Summary of literalist position:
If it is in the Bible, it’s true.
God can do anything – even the story as it is written.
The Bible is a book of faith, not science.
The Biblical creation story does all that is needs to – pointing to God as the creator or all.

61. BBC Article on Creationist Museum
Creationists
Creationists are Christians who believe in the literal truth of the biblical creation story.
The Bible is God’s truth, therefore the creation story is true – exactly as it happened.
Scientific evidence which goes against this is simply wrong.
creationist museum opening
BBC article
BBC Article on Creationist Museum

62. Genesis : A Literal Interpretation
Strengths
Limitations
Requires faith alone – no need to understand complicated scientific theories.
It means that the Bible can be accepted as an authoritative source without having to spend too much time interpreting it – it is simple.
Does not take into account scientific evidence which contradicts biblical teachings.
Is too simplistic. Ignores the possibility that the Bible is there as a general guide rather than as something which is to be taken completely at face value.
If the Bible is taken at face value then that means that many other teachings in it might have to be accepted too – some which might not seem all that desirable in today’s world.

63. Genesis: A Symbolic Interpretation
Creation story is symbolic
e.g. ‘days’ may be understood as geological time periods.
However, Christian literalists would say that Christians are just trying to accommodate scientific findings.
Not taking ‘days’ too literally
Imagery, allegory and metaphor are used in the Genesis creation accounts
The lack of specific detail in Biblical accounts may be less important
What is important is that God did create the universe, and everything in it – including human beings
Advantage of this interpretation
Scientific discoveries, e.g. Dinosaurs, extinct species, etc. Do not mean you have to accept that God created life as it is now.

64. Genesis : A Symbolic Interpretation
Summary of symbolic position:
If it is in the Bible, it can be true, but can be symbolically expressed rather than factually.
God can do anything, but the story describes that in ‘pictures’ we can understand.
The Bible is a handbook of faith, but we still need to use our intelligence and match religious claims with scientific findings – symbolically interpreting the creation story allows us to do that.
The Biblical creation story points to God as the creator but it does so through a story which has to be interpreted as symbolism and myth.

65. Is a symbolic interpretation of the creation story just a cop-out?
Discuss in your groups, be prepared to feedback to the class.

66. Genesis : A Symbolic Interpretation
Strengths
Limitations
You can explain away things which would be ridiculous if they were interpreted literally.
Considered the correct use of God-given intelligence – analysing and interpreting a complex source.
You are part way to accepting scientific findings and less likely to reach a standoff between your religious and scientific beliefs.
Which things are meant to be taken literally and which symbolically – in danger of ‘picking and choosing’, could be seen as ‘making God in your own image’.
If you ignore some parts of the Bible and not others there is a danger you may lose your faith entirely.
If you doubt the Bible you may be swayed by the power of scientific findings into complete religious disbelief.

67. Genesis 1 and 2 Summary
Christians believe the universe and life was created by God and the bible describes this.
The Biblical creation stories may have been divinely inspired by God.
The stories may have been passed down through the ages.
The stories may only have symbolic meaning.
Christian literalists believe that the universe and mankind was created by God exactly as the Bible describes it.
Creationists believe the Biblical creation stories are literally true.
Some Christians believe that the Biblical creation stories are a myth – including some truth but also metaphor and allegory as well as symbolic meaning.

68. Genesis 1 and 2
A literal interpretation of the Genesis Narrative about the origins of life is a weak/strong argument for Christians because ( give 2 reasons why)
A symbolic interpretation of the Genesis Narrative about the origins of life is a weak/strong argument for Christians because ( give 2 reasons why)