more on inspiration and revelation

Thesis: Not every revelation is accompanied by inspiration.

Definition of Terms: Inspiration: the special positive Divine influence and assistance by which a human agent is not merely preserved from liability to error but is guided and controlled in such a way that what he says or writes is truly the word of God; that God Himself is the principal author of the inspired utterance.

Revelation: the supernatural making known by God of some truth previously unknown (or at least not vouched for by Divine authority).

Argument: In every inspired utterance God is the chief author; therefore, every inspired utterance also falls under the province of revelation. When God inspires, He is making known some truth in a supernatural way. Inspiration then is a mode of revelation, a way in which God reveals Himself or some other truth. But there is nothing in the definitions above that calls for inspiration being the only mode of revelation. God can give a revelation without inspiring the person to whom it is given. For example, as Moses stood before the burning bush he received a revelation, though Moses was not at that moment inspired. Furthermore, Jesus taught the crowds; that is, they heard Christ reveal God, but the crowds were not inspired as they received that revelation. Finally, when we read Scripture we are reading a revelation given to mankind by God, although we are not inspired when we read it or talk about it. Therefore, not every revelation is accompanied by inspiration.

private judgment and revelation

The intellect of man is active and independent: he forms opinions about everything; he feels no deference for another's opinion, except in proportion as he thinks that that other is more likely than he to be right; and he never absolutely sacrifices his own opinion, except when he is sure that that other knows for certain. He is sure that God knows; therefore, if he is a Catholic, he sacrifices his opinion to the Word of God, speaking through His Church. But, from the nature of the case, there is nothing to hinder his having his own opinion, and expressing it, whenever, and so far as, the Church, the oracle of Revelation, does not speak. (Newman Differences Among Catholics No Prejudice to the Unity of the Church)

inspiration and revelation

Preliminary: All truths known by the human mind fall into one of three categories: (1) truths known only by revelation (e.g., the Trinity), (2) truths known by both revelation and reason (e.g., the existence of God, the historical existence of Jesus), and (3) truths known only by reason (e.g., the Pythagorean theorem, the color of my shoe, the bitterness of my Czech beer last night). Even though human reason, after much labor and possibility of error, can find truths which are highly important and ought to be believed, God includes these truths in His revelation so that we may more readily believe them (since few have the genius of a Plato or an Aristotle).

Definitions: Inspiration is that special positive Divine influence and assistance by reason of which a human agent is not merely preserved from liability to error but is guided and controlled in such a way that what he says or writes is truly the word of God. God Himself is the principal author of the inspired utterance. Revelation on the other hand is the supernatural making known by God of some truth previously unknown (or at least not vouched for by Divine authority).

Reflections: By virtue of being a word of God, then, every inspired utterance is a revelation. And yet not every revelation is accompanied by inspiration. For example, when Moses stood before the imperishable bush he received a revelation of the Divine Essence, though he was not at that moment inspired; but when the author of Exodus told the story of Moses that author was inspired, whether or not he wrote of that history with an immediate communication from heaven. In fact, the historical books of the Old and New Testament seem to be written without any awareness of a supernatural dictation. How do we explain this? Of course they could be revealed without being inspired (as St. Francis received a divine message without being inspired), but we say they are inspired and therefore certainly revealed. So what accounts for their inspiration?

The definition of revelation given above is broad enough to include what, at first glace, does not appear to be revelation, namely the historical books in the Old and New Testament. The prophetic works fall into the first half of the definition, truths not previously known (e.g., "a virgin shall conceive and bear a son" etc.) and the historical works fall into the second half, truths not previously vouched for by Divine authority. Human reason unaided by revelation would later discover the truth of monotheism, but the Divine had already revealed Itself as One; historians could have pieced together the story of the early Church, but the Divine has already prepared for us an account of it. In Acts Luke may only have been telling the story of the early Church as it happened to him or as he heard it reported, but the narrative remains a revelation because it is inspired. And it can be called revelation, not because Luke supernaturally received knowledge of the events recorded (though that is possible), but because, granting its inspiration, the mode of the story's composition bears the stamp of Divine approval.

But the question remains, why do we say the New Testament is inspired? Because it was incorporated into the canon of Scripture and all Scripture is inspired. So why and by what authority was it incorporated into the canon of Scripture?

In general, because in those books the flock of God heard the voice of their Shepherd. This is the authority of the beloved who knows the call of her Lover.

Christian doctrine

What the church of Jesus Christ believes, teaches, and confesses on the basis of the word of God: this is Christian doctrine. Doctrine is not the only, not even the primary, activity of the church. The church worships God and serves mankind, it works for the transformation of this world and awaits the consummation of its hope in the next. "Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" -- love, not faith, and certainly not doctrine. The church is always more than a school; not even the Enlightenment managed to restrict or reduce it to its teaching function. But the church cannot be less than a school. It's faith, hope and love all express themselves in teaching and confession. Liturgy is distinguished from ceremonial by a content that is declared in the Credo; polity transcends organization because of the way the church defines itself and its structure in its dogma; preaching is set apart from other rhetoric by its proclamation of the word of God; biblical exegesis avoids antiquarianism because it is intent on discovering what the text teaches, not merely what is taught. The Christian church would not be the church as we know it without Christian doctrine. (Jaroslav Pelikan The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600) [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971] 1)

revelation and philosophy

Jerusalem has plundered Athens. And she will plunder the world.

revelation

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16).

This was the first teaching revealed to the Church: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It is therefore at all times the first teaching of the Church and, with respect to mankind, the most important. And it was indeed revealed, for Jesus answered him saying, "Blessed art thou, Simon son of John: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (16:17). Peter was blessed with the knowledge of who Christ is, which was given to him by the Father and therefore was infallible: for God does not lie.