Obstacles to Divine Revelation

He is an Honorary Lecturer in the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham, UK. He was formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theology at Newman College (now Newman University College), Birmingham. He is currently engaged in research projects at both the University of Birmingham and the University of Aberdeen.Rolfe King is currently based at the University of Birmingham as an Honorary Lecturer engaged in research in philosophy of religion, as well as being a Research Associate at the Queen's Foundation in Birmingham.

"What is original is King's taking obstacle to divine revelation as the focal issue through which to view much discussed issues in the epistemology of religious belief. Conducting the inquiry from this fresh perspective proves both stimulating and fruitful: Philosophers of religion-and epistemologists generally-will profit from engaging with King's work." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (reviewer: John Bishop, University of Auckland)

• Chapter 1: Initial Reflections 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Identifying our topic1.3 Comments on method1.4 Some key assumptions1.5 Adjusting the focus1.6 Some illustrationsChapter 2: The God of History? 2.1 Recording history 2.2 Revelation as history 2.3 Hermeneutics 2.4 Some general features of obstacles to revelation Chapter 3: Starting the Process 3.1 The Eden parable 3.2 Revelation and necessity 3.3 Analysing God's options 3.4 God's limited options 3.5 Evidence and the best plan3.6 Some possible criticisms Chapter 4: Evidence and Direct Cognition of God4.1 Some background 4.2 Internalism v. externamlism 4.3 Models of direct knowledge of the truth of testimony4.4 Evaluation of the modelsChapter 5: Knowledge and the Perception of God5.1 Can God be perceived? 5.2 Language games and the name of God5.3 Seeing the essence of God5.4 Seeing the glory of GodChapter 6: Knowledge and Obstacles to Direct Cognition 6.1 Direct cognition: a summary6.2 Plantinga and the maximum pace of revelation6.3 Obstacles to direct cognition6.4 Coherence rationality and union with God6.5 A Theory of Knowledge6.6 The Eden parable revisited Chapter 7: Major and Discreet Revelation 7.1 Great evidence 7.2 The "Gal" thought-experiment7.3 Results and application 7.4 Obstacles to major revelation 7.5 Discreet revelation: the best strategy? Chapter 8: Eschatological Revelation 8.1 The parable of the Throne and the Seed 8.2 Judgment and revelation 8.3 Judgement and the vision of God 8.4 The general problem of special revelationChapter 9: Divine Hiddenness 9.1 A third factor 9.2 The choice to hide 9.3 Obstacles or hiding? 9.4 Apophatic theology Chapter 10: The Necessary Structure of Revelation10.1 The story so far10.2 God's limited opinions: types of divine self-testimony10.3 Evidence, divine plans and the "Version B Model"10.4 Features of the necessary structure10.5 Approaching assurance10.6 Miracles and necessity10.7 Does Kant make any difference?Chapter 11: Divine Self-testimony and the Journey to God11.1 God and the contemporary debate over testimony11.2 Journey-epistemology11.3 Two kinds of rationality11.4 Traditions and the awakening of the human ideal11.5 The knowledge of God: head and heartChapter 12: The Journey of Faith 12.1 Confident faith?12.2 Choosing to trust?12.3 The moral ideal and the journey towards God12.4 Faith and reasonChapter 13: Providence and Revelation13.1 The problem of evil13.2 Modest theodicy13.3 Providence and free will13.4 Modeling omnipotenceConclusionReferencesIndex