One of the fundamental aspects of the theology of the past was its dependence on a super-historical basis for its assurance of truth. In its consistent Catholic form, theology claims the devotion of men because of the alleged divine origin of its dogmas and the alleged divine authority of the church to promulgate and to guard from the error the doctrines of Christianity. Such a claim of divine origin removes doctrine from the realm of history. We do not have to trace the way in which humanity arrived at religious convictions, but rather to validate the supernatural way in which these doctrines came into the possession of man. The conception of "revealed" truth is a familiar one, the assumption being that there has been donated to man in an extraordinary fashion something which his own efforts could never have reached. The Bible, containing this revelation, is thus looked upon as a literature unique in its origin, containing truths which the natural mind of man could never have conceived.