__NOTOC__ Special revelation is a

Christian theological Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study 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, ...

term that refers to the belief that knowledge of

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and of spiritual matters can be discovered through supernatural means, such as

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s or the

scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

—a disclosure of God's truth through means other than through

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

. The distinction between ''special'' and ''

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

'' was first elucidated in-depth by the Catholic systematic theologian

St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...

in his discussion of the phenomenon of

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

. According to

Dumitru Stăniloae Dumitru Stăniloae (; – 4 October 1993) 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 th ...

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

’s position on general / special revelation is in stark contrast to

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologies that see a clear difference between general and special revelation. In Orthodox Christianity, he argues, there is no separation between the two and special revelation merely embodies the former in historical persons and actions. Theologians use the term ''Special Revelation'' for the belief in God's intervention to make God's will and knowledge available that would not otherwise be available through General Revelation. They believe that disclosure of this Special Revelation is at specific times to specific persons, and believed by Christian theologians to have been generally given through scripture, miracles, and through the person and ministry of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. 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 defense of their experiences. 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" that sometimes referred to as ''High Intensity''. 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 '' Direct Revelation''. Other means by which God reputedly gave Special Revelation were by Divine Voice or Divine Writing,

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

s, visions,

dream A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

s, dream-visions, Divine Dictation, inspiration, and "Spirit's guidance", or guidance from the Holy Spirit. When reviewing these examples, one can see that they refer to Direct Revelation, which is now the third type of revelation, as a distinction between Special Revelation by way of self-disclosure through the Bible and personal communication from God, some forms of which include actually hearing the voice of God. Special Revelation is a contrast to ''General Revelation'', which refers to the knowledge of God and spiritual matters which reputedly can be discovered through natural means, such as observation of nature, philosophy and reasoning, conscience or providence. 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."Scripture and general revelation
by Andrew S. Kulikovsky at the

Creation Ministries International Creation Ministries International (CMI) is a non-profit organisation that promotes the pseudoscience of young earth creationism. It has branches in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United Stat ...

website—a discussion of the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

notion of revelation in contrast to the common understanding. The forms of special revelation as considered by

mainstream Christianity The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

are # Personal Experience # Miracles # Prophecy # The Earthly Life of Jesus Christ # The Scriptures (as a source of special Revelation). In divine affairs, we are saved by the grace of Christ from our sins and guilt before God

References

{{Revelation Prayer Prophecy in Christianity Christian terminology

See also

References