During 2013 I will be using my newsletter articles to address core Christian doctrines. I am going to be using and defining the technical terms that are used by pastors and theologians. So this will be a kind of brief twelve part systematic theology. This month I will be discussing the doctrine of revelation.
The doctrine of revelation does not refer to the Book of Revelation or to the End Times, but rather it is the doctrine that says that God has revealed himself, has made himself known, has disclosed himself and his will, to us.
The doctrine of revelation assumes the existence of God but teaches us that, on our own, apart from God’s revelation, we cannot know that God exists or know anything about him. Fortunately for us, God has made revelation available to each and every human being, if only we will pay attention. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has, “set eternity in the heart of every person.”
The doctrine of revelation is divided into two main types of revelation: general revelation and special revelation. There is also a third type that is often called private or personal revelation.
General revelation is how God is revealed in nature through creation. Romans 1:19-20 says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse.” The doctrine of general revelation says that God reveals himself to all of us through nature, so no one can claim ignorance. If we respond to general revelation and begin to seek to know more about God, God will reveal himself to us more and more. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him,” and in Jeremiah 29:13 God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
But we have to be careful; general revelation will only take us so far. If we do not take the next step and seek God in special revelation, we will end up with an empty “Man Upstairs” kind of faith which the Bible warns against in James 2:19, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.” Even Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” We must move beyond general revelation to special revelation.
Special revelation is a fancy way of referring to God’s revelation in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (Inspiration is also a theological term that is used to describe the way in which the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of the Bible to write, and the way the Holy Spirit has inspired the Church to collect, translate, and interpret the Scripture right down to today.) The only way we can really know who God is and what God wants is through the Bible.
While it is up to us to interpret and apply the Bible to our lives, and while those interpretations can and will vary from person to person, from place to place, and from time to time, we cannot simply pick and choose which parts of the Bible to believe and obey and which ones not to. If we do that the Bible falls apart.
The main thing to remember in order to help us understand the Bible is that the Bible, from beginning to end, is about Jesus. From Genesis all the way through the Old Testament we are told about the Messiah who was to come. In the New Testament we are told that Jesus is that Messiah and that he came to earth, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, and will return to earth one day to establish his Kingdom. Perhaps John does the best job of describing the purpose, not only his Gospel, but the whole Bible in John 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
As United Methodists we have a tool that has come to be known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. It has four sides: Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience. Of these Scripture is primary and the other three are used to help interpret, understand, and apply Scripture.
Finally, there is also a doctrine of personal or private revelation. These are revelations that God makes to us by the Holy Spirit as individuals. Usually these come in the form of strong impressions, feelings, and insights that we get from prayer or Bible study. God may help us understand something better, or call us to do something specific. However, some people in history have reported having dreams, seeing visions, or even hearing an audible voice.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, described an experience in which his heart was “strangely warmed” during a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. This moment of personal revelation would become a new beginning for Wesley and would result in the United Methodist Church we know today.
We must use EXTREME CAUTION here to make sure that it is God who is speaking and not our own imaginations, or worse. A personal revelation will never ever contradict the Bible. If we feel that we have had a personal revelation we need to check it against the Bible and consult with other Christians in the Church to make sure we are not getting off track.
The whole point of the doctrine of Revelation is that God wants us to know him, and that we can know him and have a relationship with him, because he has revealed himself to us.
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