Thoughts on a Revelation

The author contends that knowledge of the divine cannot be secured by direct perception, unaided faculties, or implanted ideas, and therefore must be conveyed by revelation. He specifies that a valid revelation should be distinctive, authenticated to its first recipients, limited in scope by its purpose and contemporary knowledge, and often presented phenomenally through words and familiar concepts. He analyzes recording and transmission issues, stressing the interplay of divine intent and human language, and the improbability of perfectly exact verbal preservation. He proposes acceptance criteria—moral excellence, corroborating signs, and persuasive effects on belief—and urges candid study of the Bible as a claimed revelation that offers supernatural aid consistent with providence and prayer.