Revelation: what is it and its meaning

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The term "revelation" in theology is commonly understood as those actions through which God reveals Himself and His will to people. At the same time, revelations can be sent down both by the Lord himself, and come from any intermediaries or through sacred texts. Most people in the modern world practice three main religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which are based on Divine Revelation.

What is supernatural revelation?

In all major world religions, it is customary to separate such concepts as supernatural revelation and natural knowledge of God, which is also often called revelation. The supernatural form is understood as a wide range of Divine actions aimed at transferring to people the knowledge necessary for their salvation. In this regard, among theologians (theologians) there are two different concepts - general and individual Revelation.

What is its general form, it is clear from the name itself - this is a Divine message addressed to a significant number of people, maybe even a separate nation or humanity as a whole. Such a common Revelation is the Holy Scripture and the HolyThe giving of the New Testament, as well as the statements of the prophets and apostles, which were the result of the influence of the Holy Spirit on them.

Revelations are given in them to people created in the image and likeness of God, but as a result of original sin who have lost unity with their Creator, and, as a result, are doomed to eternal death. It was for the salvation of all mankind that Jesus Christ appeared in our world, bringing with Him the greatest teaching that history has not known before. The same category includes the Revelations of angels and other incorporeal forces, for example, the gospel of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.

Gospel Revelation

In the general Revelation, revealed through the holy evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as in the epistles of the apostles, people were taught the foundations of a new creed, in which the truth about the Divine Trinity, about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, about His crucifixion, was revealed, and subsequent resurrection. In the same place, it was reported about the second, coming coming of the Savior, about the general resurrection and the Last Judgment. These were no longer Old Testament commandments, but Revelations to the people of the New Testament.

Prophecies and their fulfillment

The supernatural nature of the Christian Revelations is undeniably evidenced by the fulfillment of the prophecies contained in them, which in their essence could not be made on the basis of any calculations or historical analysis. They stretch into the distance for many centuries and even millennia.

It is enough to remember the gospel words of Jesus Christ that over time the Gospel will be preached to all nationsand throughout the universe. He spoke them to a narrow circle of His followers, and meanwhile, having gone through all the persecutions, Christianity today has become one of the main religions of the world.

The words of the Virgin Mary that all births would glorify (appease) her could seem incredible, but meanwhile, for almost 2 thousand years, the entire Christian world has been honoring her. And how can one naturally explain the prediction of Jesus about the destruction of Jerusalem that came true in forty years? Thus, all subsequent history has undeniably proved that the gospel prophecies are nothing but the Revelations of the new age that has come on earth with the coming of the Son of God. They could not be the fruit of the activity of any, even the most powerful human mind.

Individual Revelation

What are the Revelations bestowed on individuals (most often saints) can be understood by reading patristic literature - books written by the church fathers, canonized after they completed their earthly journey. As a rule, they do not communicate new, previously unknown truths, but only create prerequisites for a deeper knowledge of what was revealed in the general Revelations.

A characteristic feature of individual revelations is that, according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul, set forth in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, they “cannot be told verbatim” to other people. Therefore, from the patristic writings and hagiographic literature (lives of the saints) one can learn only the external side of the miracle that happened. They usually refer to the condition of people inthe moment of the Revelation given to them, their experiences and feelings.

Danger of unauthorized intrusion into the spirit world

Concerning the issue of individual Revelations, the Christian Church draws the attention of its followers to the inadmissibility of attempts to arbitrarily penetrate into the spiritual world. In this case, curiosity, combined with frivolity and daydreaming, can lead to the most disastrous consequences.

That is why Orthodoxy is extremely negative about spiritualism. There are many cases when attempts to communicate with the spirits of dead people ended in severe mental disorders and even suicide. The Church Fathers explain the reason for this by the fact that in most cases, it is not those to whom they turn to who come into contact with spiritualists, but demons - gloomy spirits of the underworld, bringing madness and death with them.

Falsification of Divine Revelations

Unauthorized entry into the spiritual world is not only dangerous, but also fraught with the generation of false revelations. A vivid example of this is the activity of such organizations, deeply alien to true Orthodoxy, as the Mother of God Center and the White Brothers. The extreme arbitrariness allowed by them in the interpretation of Christian teaching often leads people who have fallen under their influence to severe mental and physical trauma. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that they are trying to pass off their fabrications as Divine Revelation.

What is natural knowledge of God?

In addition to the above forms of knowledge of God, in the traditionIn the Christian Church there is also the concept of a natural or universal revelation. In this case, we mean the possibility of knowing God, which He gives people through the world he created, nature and man himself. A characteristic feature of natural Revelation is that it does without the intervention of supernatural forces, and for its comprehension, only the mind of man and the voice of his conscience are needed.

Since ancient times, when a person realized himself as a part of the world around him, he never ceases to sing of its beauty and harmony. An endless number of examples of this can be found in religious and secular literature, in the oldest monuments of bygone civilizations, and in contemporary art.

Since the question of who is the creator of this world, believers give an unequivocal answer - God, then they attribute the merit in creating all the magnificence surrounding them to Him. Further, it is easy to draw a parallel between how, contemplating the work of an artist, we get a clear idea of the depth and features of his talent, and how, when we see the diversity, grandeur and harmony, forms of the world, we draw a conclusion about the wisdom, goodness and omnipotence of his Creator.

The gospel in the world

Visible nature is a kind of book in which the language accessible to all people of the world eloquently tells about the deeds of God. This was repeatedly testified not only by the ministers of the church, but also by people of science. It is well known, for example, the statement of Mikhail VasilyevichLomonosov, in which he calls nature the Gospel, incessantly proclaiming the gospel of the creative power of God. The scientist adds at the same time that the visible world is a true preacher of the wisdom, omnipotence and greatness of the Creator.

However, with all this, it should be borne in mind that natural Revelation, like any other, cannot give an idea of the fullness of Divine existence, and the human mind is powerless in comprehending it. It is for this reason that, revealing Himself, God Himself descends to man. The Holy Fathers teach that it is impossible to know the Creator without His will, manifested in various Revelations given to people.

Modern evidence of God's will

The innumerable number of messages addressed to people from the Mountain World suggests that the concept of "last revelation" often found in literature can be perceived only in its ordinal meaning, but not as the final process of God's communication with man, which began with creation peace. Starting from the time when the Lord spoke through the Old Testament prophets with His chosen people, and throughout all subsequent centuries, evidence of His will has invariably appeared.

Therefore, in our days, waiting for the promised second coming of the Lord, Christians are closely watching everything that in one way or another may contain the Revelation of God. In this case, we are talking mainly about ancient texts that have received new interpretations and new understanding from the lips of modern theologians.

In addition, mention should be made of extremely rare, butoccurring in our days, when the Lord in one form or another expresses His will through the servants of the church, chosen by Him for this high mission. In this regard, we can mention the so-called Revelations to the people of the New Year, that is, manifestations of the Divine will at the turn, when the old year gives way to the new one.

Straight Talk

In conclusion, we note that the word "revelation" itself, in addition to the purely religious meaning in which it was considered above, also has its own secular interpretation. In most dictionaries, it is defined as an explanation of something hidden in secret and inaccessible to a wide range of people. Usually these are confessions of some facts that were not previously made public.

With the development of the Internet, various forums have become widespread, where people have the opportunity, remaining anonymous, to openly share the most painful with their virtual interlocutors and tell them what they could not trust real people. An example of this is the very popular My Family revelation forum these days.