Revelation, Revelation

Revelation can originate directly from a deity, or through an agent, such as an angel. One who has experienced such contact with or communication from the divine is often known as a prophet.

It is not of great importance in the Asian religions of Taoism and Confucianism, but similarities have been noted between the Abrahamic view of revelation and the Buddhist principle of Enlightenment.

One of the primary players in this field was Franz Rosenzweig. His major work, Star of Redemption , gives a philosophy in which he portrays the relationships between God, humanity and world as they are connected by creation, revelation and redemption.

According to Tillich, Christ is the "New Being", who rectifies in himself the alienation between essence and existence. Essence fully shows itself within Christ, but Christ is also a finite man. This indicates, for Tillich, a revolution in the very nature of being. The gap is healed and essence can now be found within existence. Thus for Tillich, Christ is not God per se in himself, but Christ is the revelation of God. Whereas traditional Christianity regards Christ as wholly man and wholly God, Tillich believed that Christ was the emblem of the highest goal of man, what God wants men to become. Thus to be a Christian is to make oneself progressively "Christ-like", a very possible goal in Tillich's eyes.

In Aquinas's view, special revelation is equivalent to the revelation of God in Jesus. The major theological components of Christianity, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are revealed in the teachings of the Church and the Scriptures and may not otherwise be deduced. Special revelation and natural revelation are complementary rather than contradictory in nature.

Note here that the Bible is not The Revelation , rather, it points to revelation. Barth emphasizes again and again that human concepts can never be considered as identical to God's revelation. In this aspect, scripture is also written human language, expressing human concepts. It cannot be considered as identical to God's revelation. However, God truly reveals Himself through human language and concepts. Thus he claims that Christ is truly presented in Scripture and the preaching of the church.

This does not imply that the books of the prophets are always read literally. Jewish tradition has always held that prophets used metaphors and analogies. There exists a wide range of commentaries explaining and elucidating those verses consisting of metaphor. Rabbinic Judaism regards Moses as the greatest of the prophets, and this view is one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith of traditional Judaism. Consistent with the view that revelation to Moses was generally clearer than revelation to other prophets, Orthodox views of revelation to prophets other than Moses have included a range of perspectives as to directness. For example, Maimonides in The Guide for the Perplexed said that accounts of revelation in the Nevi'im were not always as literal as in the Torah and that some prophetic accounts reflect allegories rather than literal commands or predictions.

The church has claimed constant revelation by the leaders and members of the church ever since that occasion. The Latter-day Saints believe that revelation continues to flow from heaven to the church's leaders, and that the president of the church receives revelation directly from God for the direction of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Latter Day Saint denominations claim to be led by revelation from God to a living prophet, who receives Gods word, just as Abraham, Moses, other ancient prophets and apostles did.

The Latter Day Saint concept of revelation includes the belief that revelation from God is available to all those who earnestly seek it with the intent of doing good. It also teaches that everyone is entitled to personal revelation with respect to his or her stewardship (leadership responsibility). Thus, parents may receive inspiration from God in raising their families, individuals can receive divine inspiration to help them meet personal challenges, church officers may receive revelation for those whom they serve, and so forth.

In the church, personal revelation is expected and encouraged, and many converts believe that personal revelation from God was instrumental in their conversion.

From an Islamic point of view, Islam is the oldest of the monotheistic religions because it represents both the original and the final revelation of God to Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad. Esposito (2002b), pp.4-5 Members of all sects of Islam believe that the Qur'an codifies the direct words of God.

Afterwards, Bah'u'llh revised and approved these drafts. These revelation drafts and many other transcriptions of the writings of Bah'u'llh's, circa 17,000 items, some of which are in his own handwriting, are kept in the International Bah' Archives in Haifa, Israel.

Source: Wikipedia > Revelation