Revelation and the Word of God
Paul Avis,other. I believe that the approach is unusual and distinctive. As both author and
readers, we position ourselves as enquirers who have a number of big questions to
put to the idea of divine revelation and need to be convinced of its validity. In other
words, we recognize the difficulties of believing in divine revelation in the modern
world and we face the intellectual ‘elusiveness’ of our subject head on. My goal in this
book is twofold. First, I aim to get alongside those educated persons who wrestle with
existential questions of belief and faith (and we all wrestle with such questions from
time to time or even all the time; if not, our faith is possibly phony), whether in the
context of formal academic study (aware of how disturbing – even dismaying – the first
encounter with rigorous critical theology can be for a student) or of personal enquiry.
Second, I want to provide students of theology – perhaps third-year undergraduates in
theology and religious studies, or postgraduates going further into theological research
and deeper enquiry – with a unique resource to equip them for that adventure. This
book will help them to lay serviceable and solid foundations for their ongoing work.