Deity and history

'If deity not only exists but is personal, the possibility follows that deity may reveal itself to mankind. This possibility is inherent in personality. We ourselves, being persons, may take the initative and reveal ourselves to whom we will, soo, too with personal deity, it may reveal itself to whom it will... [And] Once deity has acted to reveal itself, then the event passes into history. From that moment on, it is an historical event which cannot be eliminated with the passage of time.' - Broughton Knox, The Everlasting God (1982).

This passage really stood out when I came across it this week. (The mothers' bible study group I've joined has just started reading Knox's book). It makes a lot of sense to me - because I adhere to an essentially historical religion. Christianity is centrally concerned with a particular person who lived in a specific place and time. It stands or falls on the life, death and resurrection of a first century Jew, Jesus of Nazareth. It is a religion that invites historical investigation.

Knox's comment made me wonder, though, about the limits of history as a discipline. Does it really give us sufficient tools to settle the general question of the existence and character of the divine? Is history as essential to the integrity or otherwise of non-Christian faith traditions? Perhaps not in cultures that do not conceive of time in a linear fashion, among peoples who do not record or recount their past in ways accessible. I suspect that, while Knox's approach applies well to Christianity, it is inadequate - or rather inappropriate? - for understanding and evaluating a belief system like the Aboriginal Dreaming. Hmm...