Theology Ditty 5: “Does Special Revelation Exist Outside of the Bible?”

When God reveals some truth to us, be it during Bible study or prayer or even in some reflection on creation or life experiences, that truth in order to be special revelation must certainly align with existing Scripture (Deuteronomy 13:1-3) and must be a previously unknown truth. In this regard, much of what is proposed to be new insight or revelation in recent years is in fact false teaching meant to distract us from the worship of the true God and from obedience to His eternal precepts and requirements. So is that insight I had two days ago during quiet time really revelatory or something else?

Some insights are not revelatory, but merely inspiratory. Sometimes when we read and meditate on Scripture, we see something new, but not something not already known or revealed. Maybe we find a new reference to Christ in the Old Testament. Maybe we see a new connection in the wording or themes of two different biblical authors. Perhaps we find a refreshing hope or renewed joy from an obscure passage. These are not revelatory, in the sense that they tell us and all other believers something not previously understood. These have been revealed by the inspiration of the Spirit, but being not unique, are not equal to a new addendum to Scripture.

Some insights are not revelatory, but sadly contradictory to the tenor of previous revelation. Much of the re-interpretation that results from a reader-centered view falls in this category. Along with this heterodoxy, there is outright heresy as is seen in contemporary and recent cults, where major doctrines or whole passages are ignored or re-worked. In doing so, this “revelation” achieves nothing more than springboarding off the name or reputation of Christianity in order to promote a new (or old) alternative to true faith. It is this kind of insight that the Deuteronomy passage seeks to guard against. These are not revelatory because this “new light” often seeks not to support previous revelation, but undermine it.

My New Year’s resolution (that one I hope to keep)

As I was cruising the Internet today, I stumbled upon Newsweek’s 50 Most Powerful People for 2009 and the Lord laid upon my heart that I (and I hope you too) should pray for these leaders in world society. I Timothy 2:1-4 invokes us to pray for “all those in authority”. So I took some time and organized the list so that each person is prayed for 3 times (there are three exceptions, for which a general prayer request is replaced when a person would be prayed for twice in the same week).

Feel free to copy and re-post this as I want as many people as possible to be anointing these people. I am planning to pray for one person from the list each week as my Sunday School class’s focus, one for my on-campus prayer group’s focus, and one for my personal focus for any moments of “redeeming the time”. I also encourage you to write each person during that week and tell them that you have prayed for them.

This is a resolution for the year, with benefits in eternity!

Prayer list of 2009 50 most powerful people:
(Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com, 12/20/2008, for issue dated 1/5/2009)

1/4/2009 Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud (Saudi Arabia)
Barack Obama (USA)
E. A. Adeboye (Nigeria-leader of Redeemed Christian Church of God)

1/11/2009 Amr Khaled (UK-Muslim televangelist)
Hu Jintao (China)
Nuri al-Maliki (Iraq)

1/18/2009 Angela Merkel (Germany)
Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (UAE)
Nicolas Sarkozy (France)

1/25/2009 Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud (Saudi Arabia)
Ben Bernanke (USA)
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Pakistan)

2/1/2009 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iran)
David Axelrod (USA-senior adviser)
Jean-Claude Trichet (EU Central Bank)

2/8/2009 Barack Obama (USA)
Masaaki Shirakawa (Bank of Japan)
Pope Benedict XVI (Vatican)

2/15/2009 Ben Bernanke (USA)
Gordon Brown (UK)
that greed and vice will not overwhelm the souls of America

2/22/2009 Angela Merkel (Germany)
Jeff Bezos (USA-Amazon.com)
Pope Benedict XVI (Vatican)

3/1/2009 Bill Clinton (USA)
Michael Bloomberg (USA-NYC mayor)
Vladimir Putin (Russia)

3/8/2009 Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud (Saudi Arabia)
Bill Gates (USA)
Gordon Brown (UK)

3/15/2009 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iran)
Carlos Slim Helú (Mexico)
Warren Buffett (USA)

3/22/2009 Dr. Margaret Chan (WHO)
Kim Jong Il (North Korea)
The Dalai Lama (India)

3/29/2009 David Axelrod (USA-senior adviser)
Hillary Clinton (USA)
The state of the Union

4/5/2009 Bill Clinton (USA)
Gen. David Petraeus (USA)
The Holy Spirit to convict all men of sin

4/12/2009 EASTER

4/19/2009 Dominique Strauss-Kahn (IMF)
The Dalai Lama (India)
Timothy Geithner (USA-Treasury)

4/26/2009 E. A. Adeboye (Nigeria-leader of Redeemed Christian Church of God)
Gen. David Petraeus (USA)
Jamie Dimon (USA-JPMorgan Chase)

5/3/2009 Eric Schmidt (USA-Google)
Mike Duke (USA-WalMart)
Sonia Gandhi (India)

5/10/2009 Gordon Brown (UK)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil)
Rahm Emanuel (USA)

5/17/2009 Hassan Nasrallah (Lebanon-Hezbollah)
Sonia Gandhi (India)
Warren Buffett (USA)

5/24/2009 Bill Gates (USA)
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Pakistan)
Hillary Clinton (USA)

5/31/2009 Hu Jintao (China)
Melinda Gates (USA)
Nuri al-Maliki (Iraq)

6/7/2009 Bill Gates (USA)
Jamie Dimon (USA-JPMorgan Chase)
Timothy Geithner (USA-Treasury)

6/14/2009 Carlos Slim Helú (Mexico)
Jean-Claude Trichet (EU Central Bank)
Melinda Gates (USA)

6/21/2009 Jeff Bezos (USA-Amazon.com)
Nancy Pelosi (USA)
Valerie Jarrett (USA-senior adviser)

6/28/2009 Hu Jintao (China)
Jim Rogers (USA-Duke Energy)
Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE)

7/5/2009 John Lasseter (USA-Pixar)
Mike Duke (USA-WalMart)
Steve Jobs (USA-Apple)

7/12/2009 Katsuaki Watanabe (Japan-Toyota)
Kim Jong Il (North Korea)
Rahm Emanuel (USA)

7/19/2009 Eric Schmidt (USA-Google)
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Pakistan)
Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (UAE)

7/26/2009 Amr Khaled (UK-Muslim televangelist)
Jamie Dimon (USA-JPMorgan Chase)
Kim Jong Il (North Korea)

8/2/2009 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iran)
David Axelrod (USA-senior adviser)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil)

8/9/2009 Dr. Margaret Chan (WHO)
Shahrukh Khan (Bollywood star)
Valerie Jarrett (USA-senior adviser)

8/16/2009 Dominique Strauss-Kahn (IMF)
Masaaki Shirakawa (Bank of Japan)
Osama bin Laden (Afghanistan?-Al-Qaida)

8/23/2009 John Lasseter (USA-Pixar)
Melinda Gates (USA)
Rex Tillerson (USA-ExxonMobil)

8/30/2009 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil)
Michael Bloomberg (USA-NYC mayor)
Steve Jobs (USA-Apple)

9/6/2009 Angela Merkel (Germany)
John Lasseter (USA-Pixar)
Mike Duke (USA-WalMart)

9/13/2009 Michael Bloomberg (USA-NYC mayor)
Nancy Pelosi (USA)
Rupert Murdoch (Australia-NewsCorp)

9/20/2009 Hassan Nasrallah (Lebanon-Hezbollah)
Nicolas Sarkozy (France)
Pope Benedict XVI (Vatican)

9/27/2009 Barack Obama (USA)
Katsuaki Watanabe (Japan-Toyota)
Nuri al-Maliki (Iraq)

10/4/2009 Nancy Pelosi (USA)
Oprah Winfrey (USA)
Rupert Murdoch (Australia-NewsCorp)

10/11/2009 Gen. David Petraeus (USA)
Jeff Bezos (USA-Amazon.com)
Osama bin Laden (Afghanistan?-Al-Qaida)

10/18/2009 Rahm Emanuel (USA)
Shahrukh Khan (Bollywood star)
Vladimir Putin (Russia)

10/25/2009 Jim Rogers (USA-Duke Energy)
Osama bin Laden (Afghanistan?-Al-Qaida)
Rex Tillerson (USA-ExxonMobil)

11/1/2009 Hassan Nasrallah (Lebanon-Hezbollah)
Nicolas Sarkozy (France)
Rupert Murdoch (Australia-NewsCorp)

11/8/2009 Dr. Margaret Chan (WHO)
Eric Schmidt (USA-Google)
Shahrukh Khan (Bollywood star)

11/15/2009 Carlos Slim Helú (Mexico)
Masaaki Shirakawa (Bank of Japan)
Sonia Gandhi (India)

11/22/2009 Dominique Strauss-Kahn (IMF)
Steve Jobs (USA-Apple)
The Dalai Lama (India)

11/29/2009 Oprah Winfrey (USA)
Rex Tillerson (USA-ExxonMobil)
Timothy Geithner (USA-Treasury)

12/6/2009 Amr Khaled (UK-Muslim televangelist)
Jean-Claude Trichet (EU Central Bank)
Valerie Jarrett (USA-senior adviser)

12/13/2009 E. A. Adeboye (Nigeria-leader of Redeemed Christian Church of God)
Katsuaki Watanabe (Japan-Toyota)
Vladimir Putin (Russia)

12/20/2009 CHRISTMAS

12/27/2009 Jim Rogers (USA-Duke Energy)
Oprah Winfrey (USA)
Warren Buffett (USA)