Introduction
God is the source of all knowledge. When He reveals that knowledge to us through our study of the created world that is called natural (or general) revelation. When He reveals that knowledge to us directly through miraculous means, that is called special revelation. Natural revelation is possible because we all can observe repeatable natural phenomena. Special revelation is only possible through God’s direct communication to us (dreams, visions, Bible, Jesus). Ref: www.gotquestions.org/general-special-revelation.html, www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/general-and-special-revelation-reformed-approach-science-and-scripture, http://www.youthpastortheologian.com/blog/teaching-students-about-natural-and-special-revelation)
Natural/general revelation
God’s revelation through creation invokes both the external physical world we live in and the internal world of our conscience, our mind and spirit. If our conscience is not hardened, it can perceive the work of God in the external world. Psalm 19 declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” We are never neutral in discerning the world. Our presuppositions affect our ability to discern the work of God in the world. Because their minds were open to the work of God in the world, the order revealed in the universe prompted Christians to develop the field of science throughout the centuries as they sought to understand God through His ordered creation. Those who are predisposed to not accept the work of God, are unable to see or accept God’s handiwork.
Sometimes the church has confused the process of general revelation by insisting on holding onto certain scientific views as inspired when those scientific views are always incomplete subject to changing and updating. This happened when the Church held on to Aristotle’s geocentric view of the universe when evidence began to point to the contrary, causing unnecessary conflict between science and the church.
Special revelation
General revelation is good for general knowledge about God. But Special revelation, that is direct revelation from God is necessary for us to more clearly about who he is, who we are, what our purpose is and what is expected of us. This special/direct revelation from God is his direct communication to us through his inspiration of the people who wrote scripture and through his revelation to those of us hearing or reading those inspired words. (re: Tseng, Shao Kai. “The theological foundations of natural science” www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/november-web-only/science-christian-worldview-theology-apologetics.html, Spencer, Nicolas. “Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion” Oneworld publications, 2023, www.amazon.com/Magisteria-Entangled-Histories-Science-Religion/dp/0861544617).
Faith and knowledge
Our consciences affect our ability to understand general or special revelation. Our understanding is affected by two impulses in tension with each other. On the one side, we have a tendency to sin in thought, word, and deed – and that tendency can interfere with understanding the message contained in the Bible. On the other hand, our faith in God can enable the Holy Spirit open our understanding the message in the Bible (See Luke 24:13-27). Daniel Migliore has titled his book on theology, “Faith Seeking Understanding” which is based on a saying of Augustine of Hippo, “I believe in order to understand.”
Whether through general or special revelation, our goal is not trying to understand about God but to understand God. We are not trying to know about a person but to know a person. To know a person, we need to be with that person and experience things with that person. By means of our present and past experience with that person we get to know the character of that person and what to expect of that individual in the future. From our experiences we can then develop expectations of that person, to learn to trust by faith what that other person will do in different future situations. The Christian faith is not a blind faith in God, but a faith developed out of experiences with God.
Beyond faith: the literary context
Understanding the Bible is not just a matter of both the right attitude but of asking the right questions of the text and of having the right skills to understand the literary methods used in creating the text, to not only use the same skills as reading modern literature, but the particular kinds of literature found in the Bible.
The questions we need to ask are who wrote to whom and when, what is the topic being addressed not just within a particular paragraph but within the entire text we are reading, what idioms and figures of speech are being used that would have been understood by the author and his recipients. To more fully understand the context of the author it would help to know the how the particular text we are studying fits within other things written by the author, and within the context of how the text being studied is placed in the Bible.
There are things relating to the type of text that the Bible is:
• The Bible is a theological text containing several literary genres: history, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, laws, letters, etc.
• The Bible is a literary text using numerous types of genres (narrative, law, wisdom, parables, poetry, prophecy, letters) and literary techniques: parallelism, allusions, chiasms, many types of figures of speech, etc.
• The Bible is Ancient Near East Meditative literature. Before the advent of the printing press, texts were always read out loud, usually with other people present. To grasp the subtleties of the Bible, it was necessary for people to have memorized the biblical text so that they could meditate on it so that they could fully grasp the meanings and implications of each text and be able to relate different texts of the Bible to each other such that they added to each other’s meanings.
• The Bible is both perspicuous and complex. That is, at one level, the Bible is able to be understood by the average person, but at another level, the Bible is complex enough to challenge the most educated of Biblical scholars. We should not be complacent with perspicuous nature of the Bible as we try to understand it.
In our current culture, we usually associate “literature” with “fiction,” but that is a limited perspective. Non-fiction works, such as the Bible, can also use extensive literary techniques and thus also be considered as literature. We should be aware that just how much the Bible is literature, a literary work. For an introduction into literary styles, you may view the video animations at bibleproject.com/explore/video/literary-styles-bible.
To see the extent of the literary context of the Bible read my blog entry transcendenttouched.com/2023/04/25/the-literary-bible. For those who are not trained in reading literature and therefore not familiar with many literary terms mentioned in that entry, don’t feel overwhelmed – the goal is just to become aware of how much the Bible is truly a work of literature.
Beyond faith: scripture interprets scripture
Examples of quoting scripture out of context
Example 1: Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (from Matthew 18:20)
The common understanding of this verse is that whenever believers gather together, typically for prayer, God is with them. But that interpretation suggests that God is only present when two or three are gathered and not when a believer is alone. The actual context for this verse is connected to Jesus’ instructions about how to handle sin within the body of believers.
The actual context. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. (Matthew 18:15-20)
This verse addresses the great burden contained in church discipline. Our church community is given the authority to bind and loose as a part of church discipline a matter of not only earthly authority, but spiritual authority. This can be a tremendous burden. But if we lead as a community of leaders who are Spirit-led and are in agreement on the course of action, then Jesus is with us. The unmentioned pastoral context is that dismissing a brother is very difficult and can weigh heavily on those making the decision. This verse then reassures those who find themselves in this position.
Example 2: ‘God Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle’ (from 1 Corinthians 10:13)
The actual context. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor 10:13)
This verse does not promise that God won’t give us more than we can handle – Almost every story in the bible is about someone who was given more than they could handle. What this verse does address is temptation – that you don’t have to sin whenever you’re tempted. Even though we won’t be perfectly sinless on this side of eternity, God tells us that we have the power to resist temptation, that God will provide a way of escape, that God will provide the power so that we don’t have to give in at that moment.
Example 3: “All things work together for good to them that love God.” (from Romans 8:28)
Actual text: And we know that God works together all things for good to those loving God, to those being called according to His purpose, (Rom 8:28, BSB))
This quote is typically used as a spiritual version of “Every cloud has a silver lining,” or “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” The intention is to comfort and reassure us that things will all work in the end. However, the KJV does not interpret this verse the best way. It is better phrased, not that “all things work together” but that “God works together all things.”
Just as all the individual ingredients for a cake may not taste good by themselves, when they are combined together the right way, they can make a delicious cake. In the same way, God can take the total of our experiences of those who he has called and take the sum of our experiences – if you will, redeem all the bad experiences – so that together they work for our good.
Using scripture passages to interpret each other.
Example 1
Gen 9:20-24 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.”
Lev 18:8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
The question from Gen 9 is, why was Canaan, the son of Ham, cursed Canaan instead of Ham? From Lev 18 we can see that “uncovering” Noah could be interpreted as having sex with Noah’s wife, and Canaan was the son of Ham and Noah’s wife. That is why Canaan is cursed.
Example 2
Rom 1:18-20 – The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Psalm 19:1-6 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Psalm 8 For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Deuteronomy 4:19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
Together these verses make it plain that for those whose hearts are open, Creation is evidence of God, but to those whose hearts are closed, Creation is the god.
Transcendent Touched 