Revelation

{{bronze}}{{religion}} 
{{hatnote|For the Biblical book of "Revelation", see [[Book of Revelation]].}}

{{Cquote|God told me to skin you alive…|||"I Kill Children" by [[Jello Biafra]] of the Dead Kennedys,<ref>[https://genius.com/Dead-kennedys-i-kill-children-lyrics I Kill Children] ''Genius'.</ref> quoting [[Jack Chick]]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/why-no-revival-1970/page/n15/mode/2up Why No Revival] by Jack Chick (1970) Chick Publications (archived).</ref><ref>[https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/chick_jack-t.htm Jack T. Chick] ''Lambiek Comiclopedia''.</ref>}}

'''Revelation''', in the simplest form, means "[[God]] told/showed me this".

As a [[term of art]] in theological studies, a revelation is what is believed by the followers of certain [[religion|religions]] to be a divine message. Reports of revelation are pretty common throughout the world.<ref group=note>Other terms used in similar ways as revelation: theophany, epiphany, vision, {{wpl|wahi||,}} {{wpl|darshan||,}} visio beatifica, transmission, and download (more common in modern [[New Age]] circles).</ref> A revelation can take the form of words spoken by a [[god]], voices which only the [[prophet]] can hear, a dream, or divine inspiration. People who claim to have experienced revelations are either called prophets or [[psychopath]]s, depending on what they have been told to do, and the perspective of those they tell about the revelations. [[Abraham]] might qualify as both, since he was told to kill his son, and was about to do so when the voice told him it was "[[just kidding]]". 

Revelatory events are common throughout many religions; the Abrahamic religions (like [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], [[Mormonism]], and [[Islam]]) are major examples of religions based on revelation narratives.

==As a code word==
'''Revelation''' can also be used as a [[code word]], denoting "[[PIDOOMA|Stuff made up]] which is [[Self projection as god‎|attributed to God]] in order to claim [[Argument from authority|authority]] for it."

Using it as an excuse is a very easy way to gain [[Argument from morality|moral high ground]], [[George W. Bush|power]], [[Televangelist|money]], [[Jim Jones|get laid]], [[Oral Roberts|etc]].

The argument for this usage is that from the point of view of everyone other than the prophet, [[Authenticity of divine revelation|it is impossible to distinguish]] between "God told this to the prophet" and "The prophet made this up and they are claiming God as the authority behind it."

==Authenticity==
{{main|Authenticity of divine revelation}}
Even from the prophet's point of view, we encounter the problem posed by the following theorem:

{{cquote|It is utterly impossible to validate the authenticity of ''any'' divine revelation.}}

In essence, due to the inability to correctly identify the revealing agent to be God, one cannot prove a claim to any genuine divine revelation. This does not stop people from having the revelations or making such claims, however. A detailed proof of this theorem can be found [[Authenticity of divine revelation|here]].

Another related problem is that it's impossible to distinguish between a revelation sent by God (or an equivalent) and Satan (or an equivalent) acting as the former, as there are no reliable ways to do it,<ref>[https://religions.wiki/index.php/Distinguishing_between_God_and_Satan Distinguishing between God and Satan]</ref> even if some have tried to weasel around that — claiming, for example, that [[PIDOOMA|Jesus cannot be imitated due to Him being unique]], so, for example, what Paul saw on the road to Damascus was Jesus instead of Satan impersonating the latter.

==Revealed religions==
A revealed religion is a religion based on what believers accept as divine [[revelation|revelations]].

Examples of revelation religions, and some of their major revelators, include:
* [[Judaism]]: [[Moses]] being saved as a baby, and receiving the revealed [[Ten Commandments]] as a grownup<ref group=note>Though as with almost anything involving Judaism and religion, there is considerable debate about it.</ref>
* [[Christianity]]: [[Jesus]], as [[Trinity|God]]/Son of [[God]], foreshadowed by numerous inspired prophets (up to and including [[John the Baptist]]), and announcing a New Covenant; {{wpl|John of Patmos||,}} predicting the end of the world in, appropriately enough, [[Book of Revelation|''Revelation'']]
* [[Islam]]: [[Muhammad]] receiving messages (from God through the [[Angel]] Gabriel) which became the [[Quran]]
* [[Mormonism]]: [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] translating the providentially discovered and subsequently lost [[Book of Mormon]] into Jacobean [[English]] by {{strikethrough|divine inspiration}} staring at a rock in a hat.
* [[Seventh-Day Adventism]], which supplements a revealed Western-Christian [[Bible]] with revelations vouchsafed to [[Ellen G. White]]
* [[Christian Science]]: [[Mary Baker Eddy]] reinterpreting the Bible in ''Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures''
* [[Jim Jones|People's Temple]]: [[Jim Jones]]; God wants you to drink the cyanide-laced [[koolaid]]
* [[Heaven's Gate]]: [[Heaven's Gate|Marshall Applewhite]]; God is an [[Extraterrestrial|alien]] and wants you on board his [[UFO]]; all ya gotta do is kill yourself.

Some religions do not rely on supernatural revelation, but instead evolve/develop from their early founders working out a religious [[philosophy]] from their observations of the world. These include [[Taoism]].

==Revelations of convenience==
Given the difficulty in authenticating true divine revelation, followers have traditionally had to trust that their prophet is not inventing revelations for their personal gain. This is obviously open to abuse, and some revelations appear conveniently timed to get a prophet out of a tough spot, or useful for lending authority to something a prophet wanted to do. Here are some examples of dubious revelations.

===Muhammed===
[[Muhammed]], the prophet of [[Islam]], was well known for his convenient revelations &mdash; particularly with regard to his sexual exploits.<ref>[http://www.wikiislam.net/wiki/Muhammad's_Just_In_Time_Revelations Muhammad's Just In Time Revelations] WikiIslam has a more detailed analysis of Muhammed's handy messages from God.</ref> 

Muhammed relayed some fairly generous (at least for the men) revelations that permitted men to have up to four wives.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/004.qmt.html#004.003 Qur'an 4:3] Before those revelations, men were actually allowed to take up an unlimited number of wives. Men can have only four wives, so spayketh the Lord!</ref> It wasn't all fun though, since men were also required to avoid favouring any one wife above the others. Muhammed, having already reached his limit, chanced upon someone else he wished to marry, but rather conveniently received a revelation from God that allowed Muhammed to exceed the limit every other man was held to.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/033.qmt.html#033.050 Qur'an 33:50] The Lord spaketh that Muhammed is special and deserves to have more wives.</ref> As well as this stroke of good fortune, Muhammed was also given permission to treat his wives unequally to allow him to spend more time with those he preferred. God certainly held Muhammed in high esteem &mdash; to the point of insisting that Muhammed engage in an incestuous marriage to Zaynab (the wife of his adopted son).<ref>[http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/025-Muhammads-sex-life.htmThe Sex Life of the Prophet]</ref> Based on the Qur'an and Hadith, it's reasonable to surmise that had Muhammed wished to have sexual relations with a donkey then a revelation would not be too long in coming.

As well as enhancing Muhammed's sexual enjoyment, God seemingly thought it very important to be on hand when Muhammed needed to explain away his military failures and assorted acts of brutality. Whenever Muhammed's revelations went obviously wrong, such incidents were explained away as Satan impersonating God and sending him incorrect revelations ("[[Satanic Verses]]"). This reasoning is the basis of [[Salman Rushdie|Salman Rushdie's]] novel ''The Satanic Verses''.

===Joseph Smith, Jr.===
[[Joseph Smith, Jr.]], the prophet of [[Mormonism]], received his most convenient revelations while he was engaged in translating the texts engraved on divinely delivered golden plates into English. To begin with, Smith was told by the Angel Moroni that no-one else was allowed to see these plates on pain of death.

Smith's translation efforts were assisted by Martin Harris acting as a scribe and a financial supporter. Lucy Harris, the wife of Martin Harris, was a little more [[Skeptic|skeptical]] than her gullible and by then heavily indebted husband, and asked to read the 116 pages that had to date been produced. The manuscript promptly vanished, and Mrs. Harris suggested that Smith and Harris should be able to translate the plates again and arrive at the same result &mdash; assuming of course that Smith wasn't simply making stuff up. Fortunately, Smith received a revelation advising him that the plates should not be translated again, and in their place he received replacement plates.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/2165033/entry/2165039/ Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion]</ref>

Conversely, though, some of Smith's revelations turned out to be rather poor advice from God. In a more notable case, he was told by God to found a bank. The bank collapsed within a month, leading Smith to flee an arrest warrant for illegal banking &mdash; leaving behind many bankrupted followers who'd been told that investing in the bank was a religious duty.<ref>Wikipedia has a detailed write-up of the events surrounding Smith's divinely inspired bank, the {{wpl|Kirtland_Safety_Society | Kirtland Safety Society}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Argument from morality]]
*[[Kuzari principle]]
*[[Anecdotal evidence]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:End of the world]]
[[Category:Euphemisms]]
[[Category:We're on a mission from God]]

Categories: End of the world, Euphemisms, We're on a mission from God