Special revelation is a concept in Christian theology that refers to God's revelation as it is made exclusively to his chosen people in his divine Word; spoken or written Scripture, for his glory and their salvation.[1] This is a special rather than general disclosure of the knowledge of God through means other those which are available to all people, such as the observation of nature, philosophy, reason, conscience or providence.
According to Dumitru Stăniloae, the Eastern Orthodox Church's position on general and special revelation stands in stark contrast to Protestant and Roman Catholic theology, which marks a clear difference between the two and tends to posit that the former is not sufficient for salvation. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Stăniloae argues, there is no separation between the two and supernatural revelation merely embodies the former in historical persons and actions.[2]
Characteristics
Christian theologians claim that the disclosure of special revelation is at specific times to specific persons, especially during the ministry of Jesus Christ, and is preserved in Scripture. The purpose of special revelation is to impart the knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ, salvation and the Atonement. Essentially it is knowledge and understanding, 'that is requisite to salvation, that is, an explicit knowledge of Christ and his gospel.'[3] Forms of special revelation as considered legitimate by mainstream Christianity include the following.
Personal experience
Miracles
Prophecy
The earthly life of Jesus Christ
Scripture
American Presbyterian theologian B. B. Warfield describes special revelation in relation to general revelation; 'There is the revelation which God continuously makes to all men: by it His power and Divinity are made known. And there is the revelation which He makes exclusively to His chosen people: through it His saving grace is made known. Both species or stages of revelation are insisted upon throughout the Scriptures. They are, for example, brought significantly together in such a declaration as we find in Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God . . . their line is gone out through all the earth" (vv. 1, 4); "The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul" (v. 7).'[4]:73
He goes on to posit a close interdependence with general revelation; 'Revelation, therefore, in its double form was the Divine purpose for man from the beginning. [...] Without special revelation, general revelation would be for sinful men incomplete and ineffective, and could issue, as in point of fact it has issued wherever it alone has been accessible, only in leaving them without excuse (Romans 1:20). Without general revelation, special revelation would lack that basis in the fundamental knowledge of God as the mighty and wise, righteous and good, maker and ruler of all things, apart from which the further revelation of this great God’s interventions in the world for the salvation of sinners could not be either intelligible, credible or operative.'[4]:75 Thus, general revelation can be understood as the everyday experience of life, but is dependent on the interpretation of those experiences as revealing God's involvement in external events or things through special revelation.
The necessity of special revelation in order to truly understand general revelation is expanded upon by John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (1.6.1). Due to the corruption of human nature by original sin, general revelation requires further illumination in the form of special revelation, so that humans may know God more fully.
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.’ He adds that ‘it is necessary to apply to Scripture, in order to learn the sure marks which distinguish God, as the Creator of the world, from the whole herd of fictitious gods. [...] God, the Maker of the world, is manifested to us in Scripture, and his true character expounded, so as to save us from wandering up and down, as in a labyrinth, in search of some doubtful deity.[5]
In view of the specific substance in the immediately below paragraph it is important that recipients of special revelation are provided with a reference perspective for potential defence of their experiences.[citation needed] This can be accomplished by viewing special revelation as consisting of three intensities or levels, with the middle intensity referred to as medium intensity, and the level deemed to be 'above' sometimes referred to as high intensity.[citation needed] Such a triad will allow peace of mind for many, and will remove the challenge of having to potentially defend one's experience against another's (even to oneself), inasmuch as there are no distinct boundary areas regarding those three intensities of special revelation. Also, a special revelation comfort zone, regardless of the intensity of the experience(s), does not oblige one to have to assess implications of one having possibly transitioned to what is referred to below as directrevelation.[citation needed]
Other means by which God purportedly gave special revelation were divine voice, writing or dictation, angels, prophets, visions, dreams, dream-visions, inspiration, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. When reviewing these examples, one can see that there is some overlap with direct revelation, which denotes personal communication from God through hearing a voice, for example, rather than the revelation which is made in Scripture to Christians.
In religion and theology, revelation is the disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities.
Biblical inerrancy is the belief that the Bible "is without error or fault in all its teaching"; or, at least, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact". Some equate inerrancy with biblical infallibility; others do not.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Christian theology:
In Christianity, salvation is the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences—which include death and separation from God—by Christ's death and resurrection, and the justification entailed by this salvation.
In Christian theology, justification is the event or process by which sinners are made or declared to be righteous in the sight of God.
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield was an American professor of Reformed theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 to 1921. He served as the last principal of the Princeton Theological Seminary from 1886 to 1902. After the death of Warfield in office, Francis Landey Patton took over the functions of the office as the first president of seminary. Some conservative Presbyterians consider him to be the last of the great Princeton theologians before the split in 1929 that formed Westminster Theological Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation [of the person] for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God" or divine love. Until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term contemplatio, c.q. theoria, from contemplatio, "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the divine. Christianity took up the use of both the Greek (theoria) and Latin terminology to describe various forms of prayer and the process of coming to know God.
Dumitru Stăniloae, also Anglicized as Demetrius Staniloae, was a Romanian Orthodox Christian priest, theologian and professor. He worked for over 45 years on a comprehensive Romanian translation of the Greek Philokalia, a collection of writings on prayer by the Church Fathers, together with the hieromonk Arsenius Boca, who brought manuscripts from Mount Athos. His book, The Dogmatic Orthodox Theology (1978), made him one of the best-known Christian theologians of the second half of the 20th century. He also produced commentaries on earlier Christian thinkers, such as St Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Maximus the Confessor, and St Athanasius of Alexandria. He is a canonized saint of the Romanian Orthodox Church, venerated globally.
The infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit preserves the Christian Church from errors that would contradict its essential doctrines. It is related to, but not the same as, indefectibility, that is, "she remains and will remain the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world." The doctrine of infallibility is premised on the authority Jesus granted to the apostles to "bind and loose" and in particular the promises to Peter in regard to papal infallibility.
Sacred tradition, also called holy tradition or apostolic tradition, is a theological term used in Christian theology. According to this theological position, sacred Tradition and Scripture form one deposit, so sacred Tradition is a foundation of the doctrinal and spiritual authority of Christianity and of the Bible. Thus, the Bible must be interpreted within the context of sacred Tradition and within the community of the denomination. The denominations that ascribe to this position are the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Assyrian churches.
Binitarianism is a Christian theology of two persons, personas, or aspects in one substance/Divinity. Classically, binitarianism is understood as a form of monotheism—that is, that God is absolutely one being—and yet with binitarianism there is a "twoness" in God, which means one God family. The other common forms of monotheism are "unitarianism", a belief in one God with one person, and "trinitarianism", a belief in one God with three persons.
General revelation, or natural revelation, is a concept in Christian theology that refers to God's revelation as it is 'made to all men everywhere', which is discovered through natural means, such as observations of nature, philosophy and reasoning. Christian theologians use the term to describe the knowledge of God purported to be plainly available to all of humanity. General revelation is usually understood to pertain to outward temporal events that are experienced within the world or the physical universe. The definition may be extended to include human conscience or providence.
Vladimir Nikolaievich Lossky was a Russian Eastern Orthodox theologian exiled in Paris. He emphasized theosis as the main principle of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Eastern Orthodox theology is the theology particular to the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is characterized by monotheistic Trinitarianism, belief in the Incarnation of the divine Logos or only-begotten Son of God, cataphatic theology with apophatic theology, a hermeneutic defined by a Sacred Tradition, a catholic ecclesiology, a theology of the person, and a principally recapitulative and therapeutic soteriology.
A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding". The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
The Church's Magisterium asserts that it exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging Catholics to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
The knowledge of Christ refers to one of two possible, and at times related, topics in Christology: one addresses how Christians come to know Christ, the other focuses on the knowledge of Christ about the world. Discussions regarding the knowledge of Christ have had a central place in Christology for centuries. In the 20th century, the interplay between the two concepts was epitomized in the title of a book by Hans Urs von Balthasar: "Does Jesus Know Us? Do We Know Him?"
Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the Christian denominations which arose out of the Protestant Reformation. While critics may praise some aspects of Protestantism which are not unique to the various forms of Protestantism, Protestantism is faced with criticism mainly from the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Protestant denominations have also engaged in self-critique and criticized one another. According to both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, many major, foundational Protestant doctrines have been officially declared heretical.
The Catholic theology of Scripture has developed much since the Second Vatican Council of Catholic Bishops. This article explains the theology of scripture that has come to dominate in the Catholic Church today. It focuses on the Church's response to various areas of study into the original meaning of texts.
Ștefan Buchiu is a Romanian Orthodox cleric and theologian known for his work in Orthodox dogmatic theology. He is an emeritus professor at the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Orthodox Theology and holds the position of Honorary Diocesan Vicar at the Archdiocese of Bucharest within the Romanian Orthodox Church. He served as the dean of the Faculty of Orthodox Theology from 2008 to 2018.
References
↑ Needham, Nick, ed. (2021). The Three Forms of Unity. Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press. p.1. ISBN9781954887176.
↑ Staniloae, Dumitru (2000). Orthodox Dogmatic Theology: The Experience of God v. 1 (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Volume 1: Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God). T.& T.Clark Ltd. ISBN978-0917651700.
1 2 Warfield, Benjamin Breckenridge (1948). Craig, Samuel G. (ed.). The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. ISBN9780875525273.
↑ Calvin, John (1855). Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Beveridge, Henry. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society. pp.83–85.
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