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
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
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 Hutter,
Duke University Divinity School
