Theology of revelation
Theology of revelation expounds on how supernatural beings reveal themselves to humanity. There are two types; public and individual. The public entails God revelation to a large group of people. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, God revealed himself to the followers of Jesus. Also, God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites on Mount Sinai.
Special and general are sub-branches of individual revelation. General focuses on the revelation of God through creation. Special is disclosed directly to a person either through miracles of the Holy Spirit. Although general is not as specified as special revelation, the two complement each other.
God uses both verbal and non-verbal ways to communicate to humanity. Isaiah revealed that he received his message through visions. Other prophets, such as Micah, also received God’s word in the same way. Orthodox Judaism believes that God dictated the books of Moses. God mostly revealed himself to prophets.
Christians believe that the prophets were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to write the bible. Gregory and Nix speak about the biblical inerrancy. It means it is in its original form, and it should not be corrected. It contains all contains the message of God, and thus It is the word of God.
Muslims believe that God revealed the Quran to Mohammed through angel Gabriel. Other religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism do not give much regard to revelation from supernatural beings. Latter-day Saint Denomination believes that the head of the church gets instructions from God.
God reveals himself to humanity so that they can understand him better; to know more about his traits, instructions, and purpose. He uses nature, conscience, scripture, and prophets to communicate. The primary revelation from God is Jesus Christ. The bible is a witness as it contains all that information.
Other religions that acknowledge revelations from God include Sikhism and Judaism. Sikhism believes that God revealed Guru Granth Sahib. Judaism believes that God gave the Torah of truth to Moses on Mount Sinai. They considered Moses the greatest prophets as his revelation was more apparent than that of other prophets.
During the enlightenment, some scholars rejected the concept. According to Thomas Paine, revelation is only valid to the person who receives it. Others depend on hearsay. The miracle of the sun is the most recent revelation. While some termed is it as a revelation from a supreme being, others believed that it was a natural phenomenon.