Introduction: Revelation is
viewed as general revelation and special revelation. We will see first the general revelation and
then special revelation below:
1 General revelation
Definition: General revelation can be defined as ‘God’s self-disclosure in thecreation and in
the moral consciousness of humanity’.
Some theologians would add to this definition God’s self-disclosure in
the course of human history and reason.
A general revelation is like studying the works of an artist, while
special revelation is like meeting the artist in person.
If God is personal creator, if all creation is the
manifestation of God’s will, the creation will involve to a certain extent a
self-disclosure of God. The creator
bears the impress of the will and purpose and the nature of the creator. If humanity is created in the image of God,
and if God is always present to all people, their moral experience will reflect
their origin and relation to God. If God
is the Lord of history and effects the divine judgments and carries out the
divine purposes in history, then the course of history will involve a
self-disclosure of God’s will and purpose.
Approaches to
General revelation: There are three
approaches to General revelation in the Bible.
Such as:
(a) Pre-historical myth: In the Noachic covenant of Genesis 8 God is
revealed to and makes a covenant with all humanity. The patriarchal and mosaic covenants are made
with people who are already in covenant with God. The prophets seem to be aware that all people
stand in relation to God which involves moral responsibility.
(b) Faith in God as creator: The approach through faith in God as creator
is seen in the OT most clearly in Ps.19:1-4.
The clearest statement in the NT is Rom.1:18ff. God has manifested the invisible divine
nature, the eternal divine power and deity in the creation. This is the basis of Paul’s interpretation of
pagan religion as idolatry; it is the sinful distortion of God’s revelation in
the creation (cf. Acts 14:17; Jn.1:1-9).
(c) Analysis of the religion and ethics
of the pagans: God’s self-disclosure
is manifest not only in the religion of the pagans but also in their moral
awareness. Several passages in the NT
imply that pagan gentiles know God’s law and can distinguish between right and
wrong (Rom.1:32; 12:17; 13:1-4; 1 Pet.2:12-14).
Limitations of
General revelation: The limitations
of General revelation are that it is relatively non-historical, impersonal and
inadequate. These limitations will be
seen briefly:
(a) Non-historical: General revelation is relatively
non-historical in that it is not given in and through particular historical
events in the sense of the encounter of persons and institutions.
(b) Impersonal: General revelation is relatively
impersonal in that it does not involve conscious personal confrontation with
God.
(c) Inadequate: General revelation is also inadequate in that
it is always misunderstood, distorted, and misinterpreted in polytheism,
pantheism, deism or mysticism.
Richardson, Tillich and Brunner suggest that general
revelation may save society from falling into chaos but that it is not
sufficient to save in the theological sense of reconciling humanity to
God. General revelation can be seen for
what it really is only from the point of view of special revelation. Special revelation is both the judgment upon
the reception of general revelation and its true fulfillment, since it fully
reveals the God who is partially revealed in general revelation. The question has sometimes been raised as to
why God is revealed in general revelation if it is not sufficient for
salvation. Paul’s implication in
Rom.1:19f is that apart from sin God’s revelation in the creation would have
been sufficient for human fulfillment.
This leads us to the study of special revelation which is the
fulfillment of general revelation.
2 Special revelation:
Definition: Special revelation is ‘God’s self-disclosure in the history of
Israel, oldand new, that is, in the events recorded and interpreted in the
Bible culminating in Christ’.
Personal reality is more fully revealed in unusual situations and
actions than in uniform and regular activity.
The main source of unusual and critical situations for a personal being
is the free actions of other personal agents.
That is, personality is more fully revealed in dealing with persons than
with things. Thus it might be expected
that the most fully revealing area of God’s activity will be human history.
Why is the history of Israel any more revealing of God
than the history of any other nation?
The answer from Israel is that God has chosen Israel for this purpose so
that she may become a witness to God before the nations of the world. As to why Israel rather than some other
nation was chosen, there is no answer except the mystery of the divine
choosing.
Basic forms of
special revelation:The basic forms of special revelation will be seen in
the OT and in the NT as given below:
(a) Basic forms in the OT: There are two basic forms of special
revelation in the OT, such as, (i) the acts, (ii) and words of God seen, heard
and interpreted by the prophets, both former and latter, that is, both the
historians and the prophets in the narrower sense. Thus events in the history of Israel are seen
as the acts of God and so interpreted, and the interpretation, being given by
divine inspiration, is understood as the words of God. “The word of the Lord came to the prophet,
and he said, ‘Thus says the Lord …’”
The OT is
primarily a book of interpreted history because its authors saw the hand of God
in the event of their history (Deut.11:2-7; Ps.77:11-15); and Psalms 105 and
106 summarize the history of Israel spoken of as the story of the acts of
God. The greatest of these acts is God’s
deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt which becomes the basis of the
covenant and the law. God’s acts of
mercy and judgment are interpreted by God’s words, the words of the prophets
whom God inspires (Amos 3:7). But also the word itself becomes an act which
determines history (Hos.6:5; Ps.33:9).
In this combination of act and word God reveals the divine self, the
divine name which means God’s very person, and the divine face which means
God’s gracious presence. In revealing
this God also reveals his plan and purpose for Israel, his relation to humanity
and the world, the divine judgment and salvation, and his requirement of
repentance and obedience. But the
revelation in the OT is incomplete; it ends with a promise; it looks forward in
hope to a future fulfillment of revelation.
(b) Basic forms in the NT: The special revelation in the NT takes the
form of the union of word and act in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the union of the act and the word of
God (1 Cor.1:24; Jn.1:14). In the case
of the prophets the one who speaks is different from the one who ultimately
gives the message and from the content of the message, that is, the one who is
spoken about. But in the case of Jesus,
speaker, ultimate giver of the message, and the content of the message are
one. The prophets speak not on their own
authority, but with an authority derived from their message and its author, but
Jesus speaks with his own authority and not like the scribes. Thus the concept of the word of God is
transformed and gains a new meaning. It
means no longer speech from God mediated by the prophets but the very personal
presence of God. Now the word of God is
not simply something which is heard but the one who is seen, touched, and
encountered (1 Jn.1:1). So Christ is the
fullness of the revelation of God (Jn.14:9).
Conclusion: Revelation can
be received only if God the Holy Spirit illumines the mind (heart), only
through the inner testimony of the Spirit (1 Cor.12:3; Mt.16:18; Jn.6:44;
15:26). Revelation is received by faith
which is a gift of the Spirit (1 Cor.12:9).
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