Personal Revelation or Biblical Revelation

Which of these two takes precedence?

In a world filled with many experiences and observations, what does one do when their faith does not match the reality of the the world around them?

In the example of modern day revelators who claim to be inspired by God, how does one reconcile the differences of what they have understood from God and the previous writings before them?

Should one accept the new claims because they are more recent or should one stay with the biblical writings that they learned and grew up with?

If someone claimed to be a revelator for God and after understanding what they had offered, would you believe them or the bible? What would be your reason for this?

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"There is one thing that organized religion is not qualified to teach and that is an individual's purpose."-GOD

I would believe the bible.

2 Peter 1:3 - According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2 Timothy 3:16,17 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Love,
Madeline

As the saying goes "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." To the extent we are willing to make another step in our approach towards God, we will be given the means. Revelation is always personal. Even if it seems to come from an outside source, it is something that is really happening in our minds.


It depends on what you mean by the "reality of the world." Jesus didn't give much reality to the world, which was why he was able to transcend it.


I would listen to anything, but wouldn't accept it or reject it unless/until it spoke to me, not mentally but through my spirit, and for that I would ask for help from God.

In matthew 5: 20 Jesus said that except our righteousness shall EXCEED the righousness of the scribes and Pharisee, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Revelation as Angeleyes already pointed out is always personal. Understanding must come from within us and to each individual and must exceed that of the Bible or/and anyone elses interpretation. Yes, the Bible was inspired by God, yet not written by God. It is the writters interpretation according to his/her understanding. Our understanding must exceed that of the Bible. To believe blind, is not to know God on a personal level, besides the fact that God did not stop inspiring people to write many years ago. The Bible is just one of many, many God inspired books. When we discover the Truth/God within us, we see and hear clearly the Truth within all. Revelation does not come from an outside source (a person nor a book). Revelation is an inner awakening, a conscios connecting to God, all in all.

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May your awareness be perfection

Amazing how anybody actually ever knows, isn't it?

Madeline would believe the Bible, but then quotes Timothy that all scripture is given by God. But do we suspect that means all scripture, including the Baghavad Gita, Qur'an, book of Mormon, and so many others as well? Or does "scripture" only mean the stuff that was accepted to be included in the Bible some 300 and more years after Christ died?

Angeleyes and Vivamis123 accept that all revelation is personal. What can that possibly mean? And by that, I mean how can any individual know whether what they perceive as revelation is from God, or is a product of their own mind, sane or deranged?

Many people throughout history have received what they honestly believed to be divine revelation. Just for starters, Oral Roberts was convinced that God revealed if he didn't get $8 million God would kill him. Do you think God really spoke such a thing to Mr. Roberts?

Abraham, Moses and Paul are all supposed to have received divine revelation, although all are quite different. But then, Mohammed also claims divine revelation, and his revelation directly contradicts that of Paul on the subject of Jesus Christ. Is it possible that God "revealed" both Paul's version (Christ is divine) and Mohammed's (Christ is not divine), and that both are correct? Or was either Paul or Mohammed incorrect, misled or miscreant?

And what about Joseph Smith, or Jim Jones, or Sun Myung Moon, or Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda - who also claims to be Christ (and Satan) and knows this by divine revelation. All of these people have claimed revelations from God. If Angeleyes and Vivamis123 are correct, then there should at least be the possibility that these are in some sense real revelations from God, shouldn't they? How about Marshal Applewhite, and the Heaven's Gate cult? Applewhite claimed divine revelation. Oh, and Pat Robertson gets them all the time (and sometimes has to apologize for them later).

You are left with an untenable situation if you believe that revelation is both personal and availablel, because, like all (or at least some) of those people, you must somehow determine whether your "revelation" is truly from God or is a product of your own mind. And the difficulty with mind is that, since mind is all you really have, you cannot -- under any possible circumstances -- know the difference.

And neither could Moses, Paul, Applewhite, Roberts, Robertson, or Tim McVeigh for that matter.

Thus, in the grand scheme of things, although I do not accept "revelation" the way that it is meant here at all, I would venture to say that if I were to be forced to believe in either biblical (scriptural) or personal revelation, I'd have to go with Biblical. At least we'd all be on the same page. A world with everyone running around acting on their own real or imagined revelations would undoubtedly be chaotic to the point of madness!

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evangelicalhumanist: Greek "eu"=good and "angelos"=messenger. Spreading the good news of Humanism.

In the example of modern day revelators who claim to be inspired by God, how does one reconcile the differences of what they have understood from God and the previous writings before them?

Should one accept the new claims because they are more recent or should one stay with the biblical writings that they learned and grew up with?

If someone claimed to be a revelator for God and after understanding what they had offered, would you believe them or the bible? What would be your reason for this?
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Thanks Cardero for opening post.

These are great questions!

For me there have been many "Revelators" and They are the principle Figures in the great world religions... The most recent the Revelation is the more applicable it is to current issues facing humanity but all the great Revelators have a common Source and reinforce and compliment each other spiritually... I would accept the Bible as part of the great spiritual treasury o fthe human race.

- Art

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

As if the world weren't already a place of madness (but that's another thread)....

I think revelation is alot like love. You know it when you feel it and experience it, but you can't impart that experience to others, nor can you measure it or prove it. The fact that each person has a different way of perceiving and experiencing it doesn't negate what is meaningful to you or anyone else. It's hard to describe in words, but people can relate to some of the feelings/experiences of others if they've had the same feeling or experience. Revelation reveals - it's more like a lightbulb going off than a mental analysis. It doesn't have to be about God. It can just be an experience of truth. It changes the way we see things and inspires us.

A revelation that comes to you is not necessarily going to me meaningful to me or vice versa. In order for something to be meaningful to you, it would have to be communicated in a way you could understand and at the level of understanding you're coming from. It wouldn't necessarily be the highest level you're capable of, but it would be the highest level you're capable of at the time. Two people may not be ready for the same truths at the same time, or using the same mental constructs. It's something that happens when you're prepared for it, so in that way, it seems to come from within you. In a way, your mind must already be joined with certain truths in order to be able to recognize them.

Revelation has nothing to do with theology. A revelation may come through the Bible, or the Q'uran or through a rock-and-roll song. People confuse the the two, thinking that the language or vehicle is the truth and it's not. Dogma is an ego thing. Jesus came and said "you have the power to overcome the world and return to the pure Oneness and Love God) that is already inside you." And look what the world did to him and his message. We need all the personal revelation we can get - including the revelation that religion doesn't work.

Thanks, cardero. These are some great questions.

I think that there is only Truth, and this is not a one Truth fits all kind of world. Just because something is new doesn't mean that it is less valid, but one must be free to make that judgement for themselves. We have some knowledge of God/dess but what we don't know far outweighs what we do know. And since God/dess isn't sitting there telling us the whole story, we need to weed out what is Truth, and what is not.

Thank for the responses everyone with first prize of Greatest Revelation going to evangelicalhumanist for his admission of:


Wow!! I would not have known that unless he told me himself.

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"There is one thing that organized religion is not qualified to teach and that is an individual's purpose."-GOD

Revelation comes from within and never from a book or another person. The Bible it self is contradicting: Which one should it be an eye for an eye or forgive your enemies? The Bible was not written by one person about one person, how can you put the whole Bible together and say it's all true? Now, one can memorize the whole Bible and try (and fail) to live by it, but that has nothing to do with revelation. Memorizing something lacks understanding and can never become someone personal experience. Revelation is ones own connecting to God the source. You can not know God, unless you have experienced God.

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May your awareness be perfection