Books by Paul Avis

Divine revelation is one of the most fundamental of all theological questions. Indeed, some might say, if we could be clear about whether there is a revelation from God - where it is located, what form it takes, and who has the authority to interpret it - we could solve all other theological problems. Although the question of revelation is crucial, it has not received the attention commensurate with its strategic significance in theology. The seminal approaches of Barth, Rahner, and Pannenberg, for example, are conducted at such an abstract and sophisticated level as to be inaccessible to beginners, and although the work of several individual modern theologians is worthwhile, there is a significant lack of comprehensive resources on the topic. Several years in preparation, this volume aims to redress that deficiency. The contributors, originating from England, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, and Canada, represent a spectrum of religious traditions and views. The aim is to provide biblical, historical, contemporary, and reflective resources on the ways in which divine revelation has been understood in the history of Christian theology and is now understood in theological discussion. Ideal for students of theology in universities, colleges, and seminaries, for those attending training courses for the priesthood, and for lay Christians of all denominations, 'Divine Revelation' enables readers to think constructively about this vital topic in a way that is conducive to a critical, informed, and living faith.

Have the 'fires' of modern criticism melted away Christianity's claim to truth? Seminal thinkers such as Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche and Freud argued that religious belief is nothing more than an illusion, triggered by our own psychological and social needs. Jung claimed that traditional Christianity was a gross distortion of the divine. Paul Avis does not deny the reality of those human factors which shape our beliefs, but he argues that it is possible to take seriously both human distortions of religious truth and also the reality of the transcendent God. These in-depth studies of the most unsparing critics of Christianity point to the possibility of a faith chastened and refined in the fires of criticism.

In God and the Creative Imagination, Paul Avis argues that metaphor, symbol and myth, are the key to a real knowledge of God and the sacred.