Top five countdown: Four

James Crossley has just mentioned another thing which, alas, has not made it on to my countdown of the five greatest achievements of modern theology. But let’s press on—here is number four:

Revelation as self-revelation. This concept, which can be traced back as far as Hegel, has shaped the whole course of modern theology. Here revelation is understood as a living event in which God discloses and communicates himself; and since God discloses himself, God is (by definition) identified with his act of revelation. Such a conception of revelation has profound implications for every aspect of theological reflection. In particular, it forms the basis of the stunning developments in trinitarian theology which have marked the past several decades.