Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation

“Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation possesses all of the qualities that readers have come to expect from the work of one of the liveliest contemporary theologians: wide historical learning, theological discrimination, clarity of thought, and spiritual vigor.”—John Webster, professor of divinity, St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews

“Revelation first arrives as our liturgical response to it. By articulating so well this paradox, Matthew Levering undercuts sterile arguments as to the respective weight to be given to revelation or tradition, pure doctrine or cultural mediation in Christian theology. The ‘liturgical turn’ suggests rather that tradition and mediation were strangely there from the very outset. Since God is not just another creature speaking to us but the transcendent Creator of all things and all utterances, he can only be heard through our invocation and replies, if we take these as participations in the Trinitarian Word that belongs to God himself and the Trinitarian Spirit of his own eternal self-interpretation. Levering both articulates and performs in writing this liturgical reality.”—John Milbank, research professor in religion, politics, and ethics and Director of the Centre of Theology, University of Nottingham

“Matthew Levering’s latest book is an extended argument against the thesis of the ‘ecclesiastical fall,’ according to which the pristine revelation offered in Jesus Christ has been distorted by an all-too-human church incapable of bearing it. His trenchant observation is that such a thesis amounts to a rejection of the missions of both the Son and the Holy Spirit. Anyone interested in the issues of revelation, inspiration, ecclesiology, biblical hermeneutics, and Trinitarian theology ought to read this searching, thoroughly researched, and beautifully written study.”—Fr. Robert Barron, Mundelein Seminary, University of St. Mary of the Lake; author of Catholicism and The Priority of Christ

“Taking his starting point in the missions of the Son and the Spirit, Levering presents a powerful and consistent case for the faithfulness of the mediation of divine revelation in Scripture and the church. It is a testimony to Levering’s theological depth and gentle spirit that he manages to combine his staunch opposition to any and all ecclesial fall narratives with an irenic treatment of the many evangelical theologians with whom he interacts, and whose views on revelation positively enter into his own understanding of God’s faithfulness in divine revelation.”—Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology, Regent College

“How does the Word of God come to us? What communicates divine revelation? With his usual command of the sources, balanced judgment, and lucid style, Matthew Levering explains the rich and multifaceted way in which God reveals himself to us in Scripture as sustained and interpreted by the church—and through the church as illumined and inspired by Scripture.”—R. R. Reno, Editor, First Things

“In recent theology, the doctrine of revelation has become a battleground between personalism and propositionalism, inner experience and ecclesial transmission, Eastern and Western accents. In this remarkable volume, one of our greatest Catholic thinkers breaks new ground on the mediation of revelation seen through the lens of the divine missions, drawing out forgotten wisdom from the Scriptures to settle the debates. Levering’s tour de force will rival Latourelle, Dulles, and O’Collins in its scope, audacity, and impact.”—Peter Casarella, University of Notre Dame

“In his Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation Matthew Levering offers a stunning tour d’horizon of the intense and varied discussion on the mediation of revelation through Church and Scripture before and subsequent to Vatican II. Levering enters fearlessly into some of the most disputed issues in modern exegesis and theology and confronts some of the toughest challenges mounted by critics inside and outside the Church. Levering’s new book astutely formulates the present state of the question and charts a constructive way forward for Catholic theology in its perennial task of understanding and defending the ecclesial, liturgical, and doctrinal mediation of revelation. A ‘must read’ for anyone who wants to understand what is theologically at stake and under dispute when one engages the doctrine of revelation today.”—Reinhard Hütter, Duke University Divinity School; author of Dust Bound for Heaven: Explorations in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas

“Matthew Levering has struck gold with his latest book. For over thirty years, Avery Dulles’s Models of Revelation has been the benchmark. Engaging the Doctrine of Revelation builds on and surpasses Dulles’s work, and should replace it as a standard text for students and seminarians. In clear prose and careful argumentation, Levering offers readers an overview of the status quaestionis, deftly distinguishing between dead ends and living truth. Students and scholars interested in the relevant questions surrounding the doctrine of revelation now have a reliable source that—with a steady hand through bumpy terrain—exercises a retrieval of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of the broad catholic tradition. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.”—Grant Kaplan, associate professor of theology, Saint Louis University; author of Answering the Enlightenment: The Catholic Recovery of Historical Revelation

“Typical Levering: he surveys the theological landscape before taking us to a higher peak of consideration. And what he shows us, in his characteristically gracious but incisive way, is that the Church—its tradition, its liturgy, and its hierarchy—has always been and continues to be the mediator and proper context of divine revelation.”—John Betz, University of Notre Dame