Revelation

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What is revelation?

Revelation is the communication of knowledge to man by a divine or supernatural agency.

In monotheistic religions, the term revelation deals with how God has revealed himself, his will and/or other information to humanity.

Through the revelation God's will, we can get a better understanding of what he wants, his plan for humanity, gain deeper understanding into existing knowledge of the world and God, and perhaps even have a conversion experience.

General Revelation

General revelation (AKA universal revelation) shows how God can be better understood through his creation.

More specifically, this can be manifest in physical nature, human nature, and history.

General revelation is available to all people at all times in all places. Examples of general revelation include the beauty of creation and the 'still small voice' of the conscience.

General revelation does not impart truths that are necessary for salvation (e.g. sinfulness of humanity, the atonement, etc...), however, it is argued that God's existence, transcendence, immanence, self-sufficiency, eternity, power, goodness, and hate for evil can be comprehended and seen through his creation.

"What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Rom. 1:19-20).

Because humans are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27), something about God can be learned from the study of human nature. Most evident is the moral and spiritual qualities found within humankind that reflect the character of God.

Paul says that even the law is written on the hearts of people who do not have the specially revealed law (Romans 2:11-16)

Special Revelation

Special revelation is distinguished from general revelation in that it is direct revelation from God. e.g) God's direct speech to various people, such as prophets (Moses and the burning bush) and the Bible.

Special revelation is of himself to specific people at definite times and places.

The revelation of sacred writings fall into this category. Such revelation is sufficient to communicate the gospel, unlike general revelation, and thus salvation is possible only through special revelation.

The nature of revelation depends on whether revelation is given or understood through experience, propositions, culture, scripture, or all four.

Source

Propositional Revelation

Propositional revelation is the process of revelation that involves God revealing facts or information.

For instance, natural disasters such as tsunamis remind us that we are inferior in the presence of such an omnipotent God.

Non-Propositional Revelation

Non-propositional revelation is where God does not reveal facts or information during the process of revelation.

Instead, God just makes himself known to individuals during the experience.

An example of this is where Job's experiences of suffering make him more aware of God.

Is Scripture propositional or non-propositional?

Traditionally, revelation of scripture has been understood in a propositional sense. When God revealed himself to the writers of scripture, he revealed facts about himself.

Aquinas, a supporter of this view, felt that faith can be described as a 'belief that'. In order to accept God's revelation, we must believe that certain propositions are true; for example, Jesus being God's son.

Recently, however, thinkers have started to see the Bible as product of a non-propositional revelation.

When God is revealed to the writers, via religious experiences, facts are not communicated. The whole experience is ineffable.

However, as Schleiermacher notes, the writers reflected on their experiences later and put them into words. He describes faith as 'belief in,' meaning that it is not about facts and information, but trust and relationship.

Key Concepts

Natural theology - revelation based on observation of nature and ordinary experiences, but must be based on reason

Revealed theology - revelation by Scripture and the use of knowledge

Fideism - revelation independent of reason, apostological theory that faith is what reveals particular truth

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Examples of Revelation

Jesus' Death

John 19

Burning Bush

10 Commandments

Fall of Man

Gabriel appearing to Mary

St. Pauls' Conversion

Job

Nicky Cruz

John Wesley

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Can we trust the Bible?

There are two interpretations of the truth of Scripture:

Fundamentalist - Scripture is literally true, 100% accurate and cannot be interpreted.

Liberal - The Bible is not literally true, parts of it are symbolic or analogous. Therefore, it is open to interpretation.

Jesus is a documented historical figure.

Christianity has a lot of followers.

98% of the world has a belief in some form of spirituality or supernatural being - can all these people be wrong? Or is it more likely for the sceptics to be wrong?

Old Testament is very vague and storylike - perhaps suggesting that the events described are mythical.

However, historical documentation and numerous witness statement of Jesus' life make the New Testament more likely to be literally true.