Revelations preserved in sacred texts attest to God's intervention

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Parent debateThis argument is used in the debate Does God exist?.
Argument forThis argument is a justification of There are divine interventions.
Keywords: God, Divine Revelation, Sacred Texts[ edit ].

SummarySummary

QuotationsQuotes

“Another reason for God to intervene in history is to give us information, to reveal truths to us. Without any help, our reason is quite capable [...] of arriving at the conclusion that, probably, there is a God; it is also quite capable of establishing several very general moral truths (for example, that it is good to feed the starving, whoever they may be). But human beings are creatures of limited intelligence, and are notoriously capable of hiding eye-popping conclusions from themselves, when those conclusions are not welcome. Conclusions about religion and morality are the ones we're obviously prepared to dismiss, because whatever conclusions we reach (religious or atheistic), they have consequences for the kind of life worth living; we may be reluctant to accept them because they conflict with our everyday way of life. Human beings therefore need help - help to understand what their obligations are and what their highest good consists of, and help and encouragement to seek that good. In any case, a God who wants to get in touch with us will also have to reveal things about himself, simply so that we can get to know him better. The great Western religions all affirm that God has intervened in history to reveal truths to mankind; they usually add that He has established a means which, to some extent and in some way, can ensure the preservation of these truths among men. The Jews affirm that God intervened in history with Abraham and Moses, and revealed truths that were subsequently preserved by the Jewish people in the Hebrew Scriptures (which form the Christian "Old Testament"). Christians admit this revelation, but add that God's main intervention is that of Jesus Christ, who revealed to us things preserved by the Christian Church in the Bible (the "New Testament", and the "Old Testament" interpreted in the light of the "New"). Islam also recognizes, to a certain extent, Jewish and Christian affirmations, but proclaims Mohammed as the last prophet in whom Revelation reached its culmination, a revelation collected in the Koran.”

Richard Swinburne, Is there a God?, p.116-117, Ithaca, Paris, 2009.

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Arguments forJustifications

Arguments againstObjections

  • Argument againstSacred texts are riddled with errors and contradictions
  • Argument againstSacred texts are the creation of human beings
  • Argument againstRevelations in sacred texts come from invisible beings who are not God.
  • Argument againstThe contents of sacred texts have varied over time

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