Testing "revelation"

As some responses to the last blog pointed out, intuition in itself, yet alone when identified with divine revelation, is a very broad reality, very difficult to tie down. It is a reality that needs to be tested if people are not to proclaim recklessly that the judgments, decisions or actions based on their intuition or the ‘inner voice’ they hear stand above any critique.

So, how might we test intuition, revelation, the ‘divine voice’ embedded in every human?

As I wrote in the previous blog, Jesus believed the same ‘divine’ reality within him was in the people listening to him. He not only wanted to set them free from whatever restricted or strangled that reality within them, he also gave clear guidance for how anyone might recognize that divine reality in themselves and in others.

He insisted:

You are not to be proud-hearted, elitist, exclusive, or to set yourself over others.

You are to mourn with those who mourn.

You are to work for justice; you are to be of service to others.

You must be neighbor to all.  You must be inclusive of all people.

You must never be violent or seek to dominate or rule over others.

Your intent must be ‘pure’, free from seeking power and prestige.

You must be willing to stand up for what you believe.

Believe that the ‘kingdom of God’ is here, within and among you; it is in your hands and in your power - and it is your responsibility - to bring it to expression in the human community.

There are some clear implications from Jesus’ preaching about the ‘kingdom of God’. On the one hand, people are to be set free from any belief that they need middle management to bring God’s presence to them, On the other hand, no one should think of themselves as bringing God’s presence to others; Jesus never ministered to others under that delusion.

There is always the possibility of self-delusion when someone wants to follow the promptings of their ‘inner voice’. I suggest that Jesus’ criteria create an objective benchmark and prove an excellent checklist for anyone wanting to evaluate, integrate and act on what they have ‘heard ‘from within.

When we start to think about ‘divine revelation’ as giving expression to a reality within all people rather than coming from a God external to humanity, scripture becomes problematic.

Consider how much of scripture, heralded as ‘divine revelation’, fails the criteria of Jesus dismally. Think of one ethnic group claiming to be ‘God’s own people’ and how divisive and elitist that claim is. Think of a new religious movement claiming to have exclusive access to God’s dwelling place. Think of women being suppressed and not having a voice in society. Think of a God ordering violent actions. Think of cultural norms and man-made community laws elevated to ‘God’s law’. Think of punishments listed in the name of God for violations of these laws. Think of adherents to a religion who generally believed that God could not possibly be near the likes of them. Think of the idea that humanity was said to be ‘dead in its sins’, disconnected from God, and in need of a savior figure for redemption. And think of one of the most foundational ideas in our scriptures, that God resides in the heavens above the earth.

Much of what is claimed to be ‘divine revelation’ is a man-made system of community control. It is not inclusive of all people. Rather it serves the claims of unique religious institutional identity, and of power and absolute authority - in the name of God. Should we be surprised that Jesus thought it all needed a total makeover if the ‘kingdom of God’ was to be established? Perhaps we should not be surprised that it took less than a century for Jesus’ insights to be pushed aside in favor of a grandiose theological schema that created a new religion which eventually claimed absolute control over people’s access to God and over their thinking and religious practice. All in the name of ‘divine revelation’, of course.

Theology also becomes problematic when we consider ‘revelation’ in a new way.

Consider Jesus’ criteria above. This is not theology. You cannot take this teaching and turn it into doctrine. It is not tied to a particular time in history. It is not dependent on a particular worldview. It is not limited to one cultural or ethnic group. No one has control over these insights.  They express a universal truth about humanity and how we should live. They are true for all time.

The prophets spoke a similar message, as did men and women in other places and cultures throughout human history. Here, I believe, is genuine revelation, the human expression of a ‘divine voice or presence’ embedded in all of us, speaking of possibilities based on co-operation, compassion, care and respect for all.

Now consider the writings of Paul, held up to Christians as divine revelation, and as such, never to be questioned.  There is, however, a fundamental difference between Jesus and Paul that needs to be noted in terms of ‘revelation’. Paul gives us ideas, a big picture of reality as he understood it in the first century.  Paul’s teaching can be, and was, turned into doctrine. His teaching is reliant on a religious culture and on a worldview that are not ours today. As such, it does not stand the test of time. Paul’s teaching led a new religious movement to articulate a theology of disconnection from God and a Christology about Jesus who became the Christ figure who redeemed humanity from that disconnection. It led to a new religion claiming unique access to God in and through belief in the risen Jesus.

And this is ‘divine revelation’ never to be questioned?

No, it isn’t. It is human thinking trying to make sense of religious questions and ideas at a particular time in human history. It should be respected as such, because at any time in history we are challenged to make sense of our relationship with ‘God’ with the data we have on hand. But I’d want to understand ‘revelation’  as something more timeless, as a reality like a stream running through all human history, a stream that everyone in every place and every time can dip into and find what is timeless wisdom about how we humans can give best expression to the divine within us all.

I think Jesus wanted all his hearers to strip off and swim in that stream.