Revelation, (ἀποκάλυψις), a disclosure of something that was before unknown; and divine revelation is the direct communication of truths before unknown from God to men. The disclosure may be made by dream, vision, oral communication, or otherwise (Daniel 2:19; 1 Corinthians 14:26; 2 Corinthians 12:1; Galations 1:12; Revelation 1:1). Revelation is not to be confounded with inspiration. The former refers to those things only of which the sacred writers were ignorant before they were divinely taught, while the latter has a more general meaning. Accordingly revelation may be defined that operation of the Holy Spirit by which truths before unknown are communicated to men; and inspiration, the operation of the Holy Spirit by which not only unknown truths are communicated, but by which also men are excited to publish truths for the instruction of others, and are guarded from all error in doing it. Thus it was revealed to the ancient prophets that the Messiah should appear, and they were inspired to publish the fact for the benefit of others. The affecting scenes at the cross of Christ were not revealed to John, for he saw them with his own eyes (John 19:35); but he was inspired to write a history of this event, and by supernatural guidance was kept from all error in his record. It is therefore true, as the apostle affirms, that every part of the Bible is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), though every part of the Bible is not the result of immediate revelation. For convenience’ sake, we call the whole Bible a revelation from God, because most of the truths it contains were made known by direct communication from God, and could have been discovered in no other way; and generally it is only the incidental circumstances attending the communication of these truths that would be ascertained by the writers in the ordinary modes of obtaining information.
Concerning a divine revelation, we remark that,
1. It is possible. God may, for aught we know, think proper to make known to his creatures what they before were ignorant of; and, as a Being of infinite power, he cannot be at a loss for means of communication.
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Revelation
Bible reference(s): 1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Peter 1:13, 2 Corinthians 12:1, 2 Timothy 3:16, Daniel 2:19, John 19:35, Luke 2:32, Revelation 1:1, Romans 8:19
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.