Analysis and Investigation of Richard Swinburne's Perspective on ‘Propositional Revelation’

Document Type : Original Research

Author
Reza Naghavi
Ph.D. Graduate in Philosophy of Religion, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
10.30497/prr.2023.244258.1822
Abstract
Richard Swinburne discusses ‘Propositional Revelation’ in his book Revelation: From Metaphor to Analogy. In his view, propositional revelation is genuine and true only if (1) it consists of truthful propositions about important religious facts, (2) it is accompanied by a miracle, (3) it constitutes an institution such as the Church as the authoritative interpreter of the revelation, and (4) the interpretations of this institution regarding the contents of the revelation are not false or implausible. Swinburne believes that Christian revelation meets all four criteria in the best way and therefore is the only authentic religious revelation. , the resurrection is the great miracle of Jesus; Secondly, Jesus established the church by appointing 12 apostles to spread his teachings; Thirdly, if we distinguish between non-historical content and historical form of revelation and different genres of the Bible, the content of Christian revelation and the interpretations of the church from this revelation contain no false claims. In criticizing Swinburne's perspective, we have argued that firstly, according to McLean, Swinburne lacks a historical-hermeneutical approach. Despite claiming a supra-historical position, he focuses on the Christian perspective to define the standards of authentic revelation and tries to prove the truth of Christian revelation with circular reasons, and ultimately attempts to impose the hegemonic discourse of Christianity on all other religions. Secondly, adhering to the distinction between proposition and statement, or form and content, is a conservative method to make the Bible unfalsifiable, which has also been applied to other mythical texts. Thirdly, the confirmation of the testimony of the narrators of Jesus' miracles is not reasonable, and Swinburne does not provide a convincing answer to Hume's criticism of the narration of miracles.
 
 
Keywords
propositional revelation
Swinburne
miracle
church
genre
Subjects
کتاب مقدس. 2015. ترجمۀ انجمن کتاب مقدّس در ایران.
اصغری، محمد جواد، و سید محمود موسوی. 1392. «برهان تجربۀ دینی از دیدگاه سوئینبرن». مطالعات اسلامی: فلسفه و کلام 90.
باربور، ایان. 1379. علم و دین. ترجمۀ بهاءالدین خرمشاهی. تهران: مرکز نشر دانشگاهی.
جعفری، حسن، و محمد فتحلی‌خانی. 1397. «پاسخگویی ریچارد سوئینبرن به انتقادات هیوم در مسئلۀ معجزه». فلسفۀ دین 15(4).
کورتنی موری، جان. 1381. «مسئلۀ خدا در شورای نیقیّه». ترجمۀ هدایت علوی‌تبار. فرهنگ 41 و 42.
مجتهد شبستری، محمد. 1384. نقدی بر قرائت رسمی از دین. تهران: طرح نو.
وایلز، موریس. 1386. «اسطوره در الهیات». در اسطورۀ تجسّد خدا، ویراستۀ جان هیک، ترجمۀ عبدالرحیم سلیمانی اردستانی و محمدحسن محمدی مظفّر. قم: مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات ادیان و مذاهب.
هیک، جان. 1386. «عیسی و ادیان جهانی». در اسطورۀ تجسّد خدا، ویراستۀ جان هیک، ترجمۀ عبدالرحیم سلیمانی اردستانی و محمدحسن محمدی مظفّر. قم: مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات ادیان و مذاهب.
هیوم، رابرت ا. 1379. ادیان زندۀ جهان. ترجمۀ عبدالرحیم گواهی. تهران: دفتر نشر فرهنگ اسلامی.
یانگ، فرانسیس. 1386. «دو منشأ یا کلافی در هم پیچیده؟» در اسطورۀ تجسّد خدا، ویراستۀ جان هیک، ترجمۀ عبدالرحیم سلیمانی اردستانی و محمدحسن محمدی مظفّر. قم: مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات ادیان و مذاهب.
Hume, David. 2007. An enquiry concerning human understanding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Julian The Apostate. 1913. Hymn to the mother of the gods, Volume I. Orations 1-5, Loeb. Translated by Wilmer C. Wright. London.
Locke, John. 1999. An essay concerning human understanding. Pennsylvania: State University.
McLean, B. H. 2013. “Lessons learned from Swinburne: A critique of Richard Swinburne’s Revelation: From metaphor to analogy.” Toronto Journal of Theology 29(2): 369-388.
Moon, Beverly. 2010. The role of revelation in the world’s religions. Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Salutius, Saturninius Secundus. 1793. On the gods and the world; and the Pythagoric sentences of Demophilus. Translated by Thomas Taylor. London.
Swinburne, Richard. 1970. The concept of miracle. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Swinburne, Richard. 2004. The existence of God. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, Richard. 2007. Revelation from metaphor to analogy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, Richard. 2008. Was Jesus God?. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Swinburne, Richard. 2021. "God and Revelation." Pp. 338-355, in The Oxford handbook of Divine Revelation, edited by Balázs M. Mezei, francesca Aran Murphy, and Kenneth Oakes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 21, Issue 2 - Serial Number 42
October 2023
Pages 239-262