The Epistemology of the Book of Revelation

Abstract

Recent developments in Christian philosophy, in particular epistemology, need to be enriched by a study of epistemology in the Bible. This article uncovers the epistemological assumptions of the Book of Revelation (specifically related to spiritual experience, revelation, and eschatological vindication) and points out how they may advance the development of a contemporary Christian epistemology.The modern approach to epistemology made religious or spiritual knowledge problematic. Statements about metaphysical questions (such as the existence of God or the ultimate nature of reality) were often dismissed as meaningless. 1 Over the past half-century, however, Christian philosophy has experienced a renaissance parallel to the rise of postmodernism, and Christian approaches to epistemology are being seriously considered again. 2 In spite of this, until very recently, the Christian Scriptures have rarely been appealed to for insight. As Cornelius Bennema, a Professor in New Testament, writes, Contemporary Christian philosophers and theologians have devoted considerable time to the study of epistemology, but biblical scholars have largely neglected the subject. As a consequence, Christian philosophical and theological examinations of human knowledge often draw only superficially upon Scripture. 3 This essay is one attempt to redress this neglect by examining aspects of the epistemology of the Book of Revelation. I will isolate the main features of Revelation's epistemology, examine their strengths and problems, discuss how knowledge claims may be tested under these proposals, and sketch a few implications for Christian epistemology in general.