Revelation
Authority is based on experience. When you want the authoritative word about a novel, listen to the author.
Thus, the rich man, not the artisan, is the authority on riches; the soldier, not the lawyer, is the authority on war; and God, not man, is the authority on God.
This is an argument for the necessity of revelation. A three-year-old’s guesses about a thirty-year-old’s life are found to be ridiculously off the mark, unless the thirty-year-old tells the three-year-old. Even less hope is there for our understanding of God unless He takes the initiative and tells us, that is, reveals Himself.
When we want to know something much less than ourselves – for example, a rock – it is easy. All the activity is ours; the rock cannot hide. When we want to know an animal, it’s harder. It’s active. It can run away. It can hide. We have to win its confidence. Yet most of the activity is on our side. When it comes to knowing another human being, the activity is shared fifty-fifty. Unless both parties open up, there is no communication. When it comes to knowing God, all the activity is His. There must be revelation.
~Peter Kreeft
Thus, the rich man, not the artisan, is the authority on riches; the soldier, not the lawyer, is the authority on war; and God, not man, is the authority on God.
This is an argument for the necessity of revelation. A three-year-old’s guesses about a thirty-year-old’s life are found to be ridiculously off the mark, unless the thirty-year-old tells the three-year-old. Even less hope is there for our understanding of God unless He takes the initiative and tells us, that is, reveals Himself.
When we want to know something much less than ourselves – for example, a rock – it is easy. All the activity is ours; the rock cannot hide. When we want to know an animal, it’s harder. It’s active. It can run away. It can hide. We have to win its confidence. Yet most of the activity is on our side. When it comes to knowing another human being, the activity is shared fifty-fifty. Unless both parties open up, there is no communication. When it comes to knowing God, all the activity is His. There must be revelation.
~Peter Kreeft
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