Theological Term of the Week: Special Revelation

special revelation

God’s self-disclosure through direct, supernatural revelation.

• From scripture:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…. (Hebrews 1:1-2a ESV).

… [F]rom childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV).

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith:

CHAPTER 1 Of the Holy Scripture

1. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham, page 62:

The central purpose of special revelation is gracious: to bring salvation. Unfolding progressively over wide epochs, it is rooted in human history and historical events. Above all, revelation centers in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son (John 14:10-9; Col. 1:15-20; Heb. 1:1-14). 

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is general revelation and special revelation?
2. Blue Letter Bible: What Is Special Revelation?
3. Simply Put: Special Revelation
4. Keith Mathison: General and Special Revelation
5. Louis Berkhof: Revelation

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• general revelation
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture

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Sunday Hymn: Comfort, Comfort Ye My People

Comfort, com­fort ye My peo­ple,
Speak ye peace, thus sa­ith our God;
Comfort those who sit in dark­ness,
Mourning ’neath their sor­row’s load;
Speak ye to Je­ru­sa­lem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cov­er,
And her war­fare now is ov­er.

For the her­ald’s voice is cry­ing
In the des­ert far and near,
Bidding all men to re­pent­ance,
Since the king­dom now is here.
O that warn­ing cry ob­ey!
Now pre­pare for God a way!
Let the val­leys rise to meet Him,
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

Yea, her sins our God will par­don,
Blotting out each dark mis­deed;
All that well de­served His an­ger
He will no more see nor heed.
She has suf­fered ma­ny a day,
Now her griefs have passed away,
God will change her pin­ing sad­ness
Into ev­er spring­ing glad­ness.

Make ye straight what long was crook­ed,
Make the rough­er places plain:
Let your hearts be true and hum­ble,
As be­fits His ho­ly reign,
For the glo­ry of the Lord
Now o’er the earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the to­ken
That His Word is ne­ver brok­en.

—Jo­han­nes G. Ole­ari­us

Theological Term of the Week: Source Criticism

source criticism

The field of biblical studies that seeks to “establish the literary sources the biblical author/editor drew upon.”1

• From 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible by Robert Plummer, page 300:

Source criticism seeks to establish the literary sources the biblical author/editor drew upon. For example, Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918), a liberal Old Testament scholar, argued that the Pentateuch was composed of four literary strands: the Yahwist or Jehovist (J), Elohistic (E), Priestly (P), and Deuteronomistic (D) sources. The evidence for the JEPD construction is actually quite tenuous. The data support traditional Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, while obviously allowing for some gathering and editing of the Mosaic material. 

In the New Testament, source criticism is especially applied to Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) because of their close similarity in wording and order. The majority of New Testament scholars believe that Luke and Matthew used two main sources in their composition—the written gospel of Mark and “Q.” “Q” is an abbreviation for the German word Quelle (source) and stands for a collection of written and oral sources that Matthew and Luke had in common. Indeed, Luke explicitly indicates that he drew upon multiple sources in the composition of his Gospel (Luke 1:1-4). As many early church fathers comment on the literary sources behind the Gospels (i.e., which Gospel author(s) were dependent on others), source criticism is truly an ancient discipline. 

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is source criticism?
2. Christianity.com: What Is Source Criticism?

Related terms:

• autographs
• inerrancy of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• manuscripts
• redaction criticism
• text criticism

Filed under Scripture

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.