| This dissertation poses the questions of whether, on what terms, and to what extent, phenomenology can clarify the theology of revelation. Interest in the specific question of revelation, initially inchoate within historical phenomenology, has become an unavoidable area of philosophical inquiry. To date, however, scholars within theological circles have paid inadequate attention to this development. Jewish and Christian scriptures recount appearances and manifestations of God, and Christian theology gathers the entire historical relationship of God to humanity under the heading Revelation. Yet the aptness of this term becomes less obvious in the modern period as the notion of "appearance" is increasingly determined by empirical constraints and questionable assumptions about the conditions of experience. Against this tendency, Michel Henry redefines appearing in terms of affectivity, which serves as the centerpiece for his phenomenology of life and paves the way for a distinctive philosophical engagement with Christianity. This dissertation examines and appraises the theological and philosophical character, adequacy, and results of this project in view of current debates within systematic theology. After considering the background theoretical developments that situate the question in recent phenomenology, it examines Henry's precise criticisms of Kant, Husserl, and Heidegger with regard to the determination of time as the form of appearance, the role of affectivity within fundamental ontology, and the relationship between immanence and transcendence. The inquiry proceeds to explain how Henry's thesis on the duplicity of appearing moves beyond the basic problems of metaphysics with regard to the definition of the human being, the phenomenality of the world, and the philosophy of language. It concludes by showing how the parallel Henry envisions between phenomenology and Christianity legitimates and justifies the theological affirmation that Christ is the word and revelation of God. The dissertation thus establishes a connection between theology and philosophy by clarifying the historical and conceptual relationship between revelation and phenomenality. |
