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PRESENTS |
Revelation and Belief
All proofs of the existence of God are based on arguments from reason, primarily deductive reason. Within the three religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the primary reliance is not on avenues of knowledge but on revelation. The Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament), the New Testament, and the Muslim Koran are all founded on the belief that there is a God who has revealed himself in a variety of ways. (See also Bible; Koran.)
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| The notion of revelation excludes all possibility of direct knowledge. It calls instead for a response called belief or faith because God, these religions hold, is never revealed directly to the senses but through actions and persons. Jews believe that God was revealed in the freeing of Israel from Egyptian captivity and in the giving of the law (see Judaism). Christians assert that God was revealed in the life of Jesus (see Christianity; Jesus Christ). Muslims hold that God spoke directly to the prophet Muhammad (see Islam). |
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