Through the process of revelation, God reveals himself to you and me, indeed to all people, all the time. Why is it then that people everywhere don’t live in a perpetual state of joy that we have seen and heard and known the Lord, even if only in part and imperfectly? Both theology and science can help us find the answers if we’re willing to put in the time.
Science is secular knowledge and not spiritual at all. In other words, it concerns beliefs and actions without any religious or faith foundation. Revelation is sacred knowledge because it comes from God, both directly and indirectly. The Bible and the historical record are full of instances of revelation.
General revelation was a concept of Thomas Aquinas, who believed that God reveals himself through his creation. In the Latin Middle Ages, this was known as the Book of Nature. Science, of course, has allowed us to expand the study of Earth and the cosmos to a degree that would have astonished people all those centuries ago.
Special revelation was also a Thomist concept. It reveals divine matters through supernatural means rather than reason. For Christian theologians, this includes scripture, miracles and the person of Jesus as God incarnate. Sometimes, those who receive special revelation are required by God to bring the message to others. Special and general revelation complement each other.
Aspects of special revelation include:
Direct revelation, the communication from God to an individual or group by a variety of means, including words and visions.
Continuous revelation refers to the theological stance that God continues to reveal knowledge about himself to all people.
While my mystical experiences reflect aspects of both special and direct revelation, I also adhere to the theological position of continuous revelation. This is where science and reason share a role with theology and faith, both to distinguish genuine from suspect experiences and to discover the processes by which they occur.
Here is what John Polkinghorne, physicist, theologian and Anglican priest, has to say about Christianity and science:
All forms of rational inquiry into aspects of reality have their own particular motivating experiences and indispensable concepts. Therefore, neither science nor theology should make the mistake of supposing that it can answer the other’s proper questions. Nevertheless, there has to be a consonance between the answers that each gives, if it is indeed the case that there is a fundamental unity of knowledge about the one world of created reality.
Divine revelation is a mystical event, with a quality different from ordinary feelings, sensations or emotions. If you have doubts about a particular event, it’s likely to be something other than revelation. If you’re one of those blessed to recognize these events in your life, record and learn everything you can about them. In most cases, they are God’s way of willing you into a closer relationship with him.
Accept the fact that you’ll face skepticism. Those who have yet to become aware of God’s presence in their own lives are unlikely to respect your new-found understanding. Such skepticism is a throwback to the Enlightenment, when all but general revelation was viewed with suspicion. Atheism and materialism were just two of the beliefs that viewed revelation as an unlikely phenomenon.
Prepare for ongoing study and research. The more you know about revelation from the Bible and history, the better you’ll be able to appreciate it. You’ll find examples of similar events shared by others before you. Don’t underestimate the warmth and reassurance you’ll gain from a kinship with the people of God who preceded you. I began my studies in this field over a decade ago, and although they are ongoing, I have only scratched the surface thus far.
Broaden and deepen your knowledge of science. You don’t have to be a genius to read about physics, chemistry or even mathematics. There are talented writers who specialize in making it easy to understand scientific ideas and concepts. If your public library is open, explore the sciences sections with an open mind. Take your time and read your chosen books a few pages at a time, leaving the rest of the day to think about what you’ve read. Over time you’ll begin to find connections between the realms of scientific reason and divine revelation.
Personally, I object to people using the word “supernatural” to describe divine revelation. I have never liked it in this context for two reasons. As a noun, “the supernatural” refers to the occult, or to magical effects and forces. It’s what people today usually think of first when they hear it, but there is nothing occult or magical about divine revelation. If anything, it’s more real than most of what fills an average day.
As an adjective, supernatural refers to a force above the laws of nature, but God made those laws part of his creation, and he never breaks them or cheats by using his divine power to bend or elude them. Instead, he moves creation to the good by creatively willing it within those laws. There is much yet to be discovered by using reason to ask meaningful questions about the processes that lead to revelation.
Being open to the possibility of God’s revelation to you and willing to commit to the use of reason to better understand it, requires a beginner’s mind. This is identified with the Zen Buddhist concept Shoshin, meaning an open and eager approach to learning no matter how advanced your level of study.
Many centuries before the notion of Shoshin arose, Jesus spoke about the need to become like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven. This means setting aside what you think you know and being open to wonder. The mind of a small child is free of skepticism and doubt, a necessarily humble state of mind to accept divine revelation when it comes.
What kind of divine revelation have you experienced, and how did theology or science help you understand it? You’re welcome to leave a comment on this post below. The comments policy for this website is near the bottom of the Nuts & Bolts page.
Further reading:
Clayton, Philip, editor. Simpson, Zachary, associate editor. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.
This “handbook” is really a doorstopper of a book, but it’s full of riches. The essays are written by people with deep knowledge of their subjects, often the fruit of a long life of study and dedication. It will feed your mind for many a month.
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Ferguson, Kitty. The Fire in the Equations: Science, Religion, and the Search for God. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2004.
Written by an independent scholar from a lay perspective, this is one of the most readable books on science and philosophy and how they relate to religion. The author makes it all seem easy. I highly recommend it to you if you haven’t given science a thought since your high school days.
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Feynman, Richard P. Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books; 1995.
Also written for non-scientists, this classic by the late Nobel Prize winner will introduce you to “atoms, basic physics, the relationship of physics to other topics, energy, gravitation, and quantum force. There is no technical jargon to make you yawn either.