Biblical Theological Seminary                                                                     Dr. Robert C.Newman

12th Theological Institute                                                                                            June10, 1983

The Christian & the Bible                                                                 "RevelationBeyond the Bible"

 

I. Is There Revelation Beyond theBible?

 

            Answer: of course!

 

                        GeneralRevelation (Psalm 19:1‑6; Rom 1:18‑20; Acts 14:15‑17)

                        SpecialRevelation in Bible times not recorded or not preserved: e.g.,

                                   Manyother acts & words of Jesus (Jn 20:30; 21:25)

                                   Probablysome apostolic teaching, even a letter or so (e.g., 1 Cor 5:9)

                                   Probablynumerous words of Moses & prophets

                                   Planfor temple (1 Chr 28:11,12,19)

 

            Our concern, though, is rather related to what is happeningtoday:

 

II. Do We Have Continuing RevelationToday?

 

            If we exclude generalrevelation, this is a hot topic of controversy, and not so easily answered asone might like

 

            Rev 22:18‑19 commonly usedto exclude continuing revelation; but by itself not decisive, since similar statementsoccur in Deut 4:2 and Prov 30:6; besides, Rev 11:3ff indicates 2 witnesses inlast days (presumably after apostolic period) who are sent from God as prophets

 

            Stronger case can be made from salvation history,where eras of future revelation are predicted:

 

                       ERA               PREDICTION

 

                        Pre‑Mosaic      Abraham=> Mosaic  (Gen 15: 13‑16)

                        Mosaic           Moses => Prophets  (Deut 18: 14‑22)

                        Prophetic         Prophets => Christ  (Ps 22; Isa 7,9,53, Dan 9, etc.)

                        Messianic        Christ => Apostles (Jn 14:25‑26;16:12‑13)

                        Apostolic         Apostles => 2nd Coming(frequently)

 

            But even here, those claiming to havespecial revelation can point to Acts 2:17‑20, where it is hard to arguethis was explicitly intended to cease when the apostles died.

 

            For written revelation, canmake a strong argument that book of Revelation is intentionally designed as mirror‑imageof beginning of Genesis (creation, curse, death, tree of life, paradise, God'spresence, etc.), therefore not to expect further written revelation; this wouldnot rule out more informal, unwritten revelation like that of Agabus, etc.(Acts 11:27‑28; 21:8‑11)

           

            Notpossible to say beyond quibble whether additional revelation today, butfrequent references to false prophets, antichrist, etc. suggests burden ofproof is on one claiming to be a prophet; better not to go beyond Scripture togive dogmatic answer, rather handle problem as Scripture does.

 

III. How Do We Distinguish TrueRevelation from False?

 

            Presence of signsdistinguishes faked revelation from real supernatural (Deut 13:1; 1 K 13:3; 2 K20:8); but Satan has supernatural powers, too!

            Prediction without error amark of true prophet (Deut 18:20‑22; 1 K 22:24‑28); Satan unable topredict w/o error (Isa 44:24‑28).

            Message fitting previousrevelation necessary for true prophet (Deut 13:1‑3; Gal 1:8‑9; 1 Jn4:1‑3); Satan cannot afford to continually agree w/ Bible!

            Lifestyle consistent with holiness also a goodtest (Matt 7:15‑23; 2 Thess 2:7‑12).

 

Conclusions

 

            It is not going to bepossible to satisfy all Christians that prophecy and revelation have ceased,but we should not therefore resort to strained exegesis.

            Rather apply Biblical tests for recognizing trueand false prophets.

            Notice these tests require usto know the Bible, to know what righteousness looks like, and to use our God‑givenmental powers instead of surrendering them to our teachers.