Introduction to Holy Scriptures

Chapter Six

6. Revelation, Inspiration, and Illumination of the Bible

Objectives of the Study

At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:

 To define the word revelation.

 To elaborate the two differences of general and specific revelation.
 To define the word inspiration, its theories and illumination
 To demonstrate the major distinction between Inspiration, Revelation, Illumination.

6.1. What is the Term Revelation (አስተርእዮ)?

6.1.1. Revelation:-is defined as God making known (or revealing) to man who He is, what He is
like, and what His truth is.

 Revelation can be either general or specific.

 God reveals Himself through His actions and through His Word.

A. General revelation is defined as God revealing Himself in nature, the human conscience,
and in His sovereign control of the world. The doctrine of revelation has well-recognized
divisions, general revelation. This termed "general" in that it is available to all men
(Romans 1:19-21 and John 1:9). It is sometimes designated "natural revelation" because
its source is in "nature," including man himself who is made in the image of God. While

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the doctrine of general revelation is grounded in the teaching of the Old Testament
(Genesis 1 and 2, Psalm: 19:1, etc.; [Link]
1_16.pdf).

We know that in Hebrews 1:1 says that He spoke long ago in various portions and in various
ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

 Creation and natures reveals God. (Psalm 19:1-6)

 Through angels (Dan. 9:21-27; Luke 2:8-14; etc.)
 Through a loud voice (Gen. 3:9-19; Ex. 3:14)
 Through dreams (Gen. 28:12; Matt. 1:20; Matt. 2:12) (https:/2014/05/21/revelation-
inspiration-illumination-word-of-god-the-bible/).
B. Specific revelation is defined as God revealing Himself in Jesus Christ and in the Scripture.
(Hebrews 1:1-2) –“in these last days He spoken to us in a Son….

 God revealed Himself through the acts and the words of Jesus. (John 10:36-38)
 There is a relationship between the living Word of God (Jesus), and the written Word of
God (the Bible). (John 5:39; [Link]).

አስተርእዮ፡-እንግዲህ እስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔር /ኢንስፓይሬሽን/ ቅዱሳን ሰዎች ቃሉን

እንዲጽፉና እንዲናገሩ እግዚአብሔር አእምሮአቸውን ያነሣሣበት ተግባር ሲሆን ይኸው ተግባር የሚፈጸመው በአስተርእዮ
ነበር፡፡
አስተርእዮ ሰዎች ከፊትም ከኋላም ሊያውቁት የማይችሉትን ነገር እግዚአብሔር ያስታወቀበት መንገድ ነው፡፡ ሙሴ ስለ
ሰማይና ምድር ተፈጥሮ ስለ ሰው ውድቀትም የሚያውቀው ነገር አልነበረም /ዘፍ ም 1÷4/ ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር በልዩ
አስተርእዮ /መገለጥ/ እንዲያውቅ አደረገው/ ዘፀአት 24÷12-18/

እነሆ እግዚአብሔር ለሰው ልጆች ያቀደውን መልእክት የያዘው መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ስለተካተተ መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን ለጻፉ ሰዎች
የተሰጠው እስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔርም ሆነ አስተርእዮ ዛሬ አይጠበቅም /ዘዳግም 4÷2፣ ምሳ 3 ዐ ÷6፣ ራእይ 22
÷18-19/፡፡ እንዲህ ስለተባለም መጽሐፍ ቅዱስን በተመለከተ ነው እንጂ እግዚአብሔር ለወዳጆቹ አስተርእዮ
አያደርግም ማለት አይደለም (አጭር የብሉይ ኪዳን ጥናት/መጋቤ ብሉይ ሰይፈ ዩሐንስ 1994 ዓ.ም)።

6.1.2. Inspiration (እስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔር)

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This question is best answered by Scripture itself. It defines its own terms best. In 2 Tim. 3:16
we read as follows:

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God."

Holy Scriptures are written with the inspiration of the spirit of God or the breath of God. They
are also described as Holy Books containing the word of God (Fiteha Negest 1988:Art.2).
Illustration that Holy Books are the breath of God or are written by the inspiration of the spirit of
God; the apostle St. Paul states in 2 Tim. 3:17 “ all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” Saint Cyril of Alexandria also
wrote that “Holy Books are the breath of God” (Faith of Fathers 78:67).

The word "Scripture" in the above passage is another name for the book that today we call the
Bible. What the above verse tells us is that the entire Bible (“all Scripture”) was given by
inspiration of God. The phrase "by inspiration of God" is actually one word in the Greek text, the
word "theopneustos". This word is composed by the word "theos" that means God and the word
"pneustos" that means breathed. Therefore, when the Bible says that it is "theopneustos" what it
means is that it is "God-breathed", it is God’s conception, God’s idea, God’s inspiration.

Hence, all that is written in the Scriptures is the absolute truth. Nothing can be added or deducted
from it. It can neither be modified nor changed. It was written by Holy men guided by the spirit
of God.

The Bible again gives us the answer. So, 2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us: "Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy never came by the
will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." Thus, what 2

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Peter tells us is that no part of the Bible (“no prophecy of the Scripture”), came by the will of
man. The answer is in the latter part of verse 21 where we are told that the prophecy of the
Scripture i.e. the Bible was written by holy men of God who spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit ([Link]

The statements of the Scriptures regarding Inspiration may be summed up as follows: Holy men
of God, qualified by the infusion of the breath of God, wrote in obedience to the divine
command, and were kept from all error, whether they revealed truths previously unknown or
recorded truths already familiar. In this sense, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," the
Bible is indeed and in truth the very Word of God, and the books of the Bible are of divine origin
and authority (William 1902:56).

እስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔር (ኢንስፓይሬሽን)፡- እግዚአብሔር በቅዱሳን ሰዎች በኩል ቃሉን ለሰዎች ያስተላለፈበት
መንገድ እስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔር (ኢንስፓይሬሽን) ይባላል፡፡ ስረዩ/ተርሙ/ ቅዱሳት መጻሕፍት በመንፈሰ እግዚአብሔር
መጸፋቸውን የሚያመለክት ነው፡፡ በመንፈሰ እግዚአብሔር ተጻፉ ሲባልም እግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ቅዱስ ጸሓፊዎችን
እየመራና አእምሮአቸውን እያንቀሳቀሰ እንዲጽፉ የፈለገውን በትክክል አስጻፈ ማለት ነው፡፡ /2 ጴጥ 1 ÷19-21 ፣
ማር 12÷ 36፣ 2 ጢሞ 3 ÷16-17/፡፡

በዚህ መሠረት መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ሰዎች ከራሳቸው ሃሳብ አመንጭተው የተናገሩትና የጻፉት ሳይሆን መንፈስ ቅዱስ በቅዱሳን
ሰዎች አእምሮና አንደበት ውስጥ ያኖረው ከዚያም በእርሱ ትእዛዝ የተናገሩትና የጻፉት ነው፡፡ /ዘፀ 4÷12፣
34÷27፣ ኢሳ 51÷16፣ ኤር 1÷9-1 ዐ፣ 36÷2፣ ዘካ 7÷12፣ ኢዮብ 32÷8፣ ዕብ 1÷1/፡፡

የመንፈስ ቅዱስ አነሣሽነትና መሪነት እንዳለ ሆኖ ጸሐፍቱ ቅዱሳን ሰዎች የራሳቸው የሆነ ድርሻ እንዳላቸው መገንዘብ
ይገባል፡፡ ጸሐፍቱ በራሳቸው ቋንቋ በራሳቸው ቃላትና የአጻጻፍ ስልት በራሳቸው ባህልና ሥርዐት ምሳሌና የአነጋገር
ዘይቤ የመጠቀም ድርሻ አላቸው፤ ከዚህ በስተቀር እንዲናገሩና እንዲጽፉ ከታዘዙት ውጭ ጸሐፍቱ አይጽፉም፤ አይናገሩምም
ነበር (ኤር 1÷7 ፣ ሕዝ 2 ÷7-8፣ አሞጽ 3÷7) ከታዘዙትም ውጭ አንዳች ነገር ቢያደርጉ ወዲያውኑ ቅጣት
ይደርስባቸው ነበር (1 ነገሥ 13÷22)፡፡

[Link]. Theories of Inspiration

‘Theory is a statement of leading idea for explaining reality’

Following are some of the views of Inspiration held at the present day.

[Link]. [Link] Inspiration

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This theory identifies Inspiration with genius of a high order. It denies that there is anything
supernatural, mysterious, or peculiar in the mode of the Spirit's operation in and upon the
Scripture writers. It claims that they were no more inspired than were Milton, Shakespeare, and
Confucius.

Such a theory we absolutely reject. For if such be the character of the Inspiration possessed by
the Scripture writers, there is nothing to assure us that they were not liable to make the same
errors, to teach the same false views of life, to give expression to the same uncertainties
concerning the past, the present and the future as did these shining lights of mere human genius.
When David said, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue,"

[Link].2. Mechanical, or Dynamic Inspiration

This theory ignores the human instrumentality in the writing of the Scriptures altogether, and
claims that the writers were passive instruments, mere machines, just as insensible to what they
were accomplishing as is the string of the harp or lyre to the play of the musician (William
1902:22).

6.1.3. Illumination: is defined as an ability which is given to the person who has believed Lord
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, is born again that gives him the ability to understand
spiritual truth.
Insights:

 It is part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of the believer. (John 16:13)
 The more we meditate and obey God’s Word, the more we will understand it (Psalm
119:130; 104).
 It is like shining a light on the meaning of the Bible.( 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; B1-
[Link])

ክሥተት፡- እግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ቅዱስ ቃሉን ለሚያጠኑ ሁሉ ማስተዋልን የሚሰጥበት መንገድ ክስተት ይባላል፡፡ ክስተት
ከተጻፈው ውጭ ሌላ አዲስ ነገር ለማወቅ ሳይሆን በእስትንፋሰ እግዚአብሔር በልዩ አስተርእዮ የተሰጠውን ቃል ትርጓሜ
ለማስተዋል የሚያስችል በመሆኑ ምንጊዜም የማያቋርጥ ነው፡፡/ መዝ. 118÷18፤ ሉቃ.24÷27/፡፡

6.2. The Distinction between Inspiration, Revelation, Illumination

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6.2.1. The distinction between inspiration and Revelation

It is of the greatest importance in considering the theme of Inspiration to distinguish it clearly

from Revelation.

The most cursory perusal of the Scriptures reveals the fact that they consist of two different kinds
of records:

 First, records of truth directly revealed and imparted to the mind of the writer by God,
and which he could have learned in no other manner (example, as the story of Creation) ;
and,
 Second, records of events that occurred within the writer's own observation and of
sayings that fell upon his own ears (such as Moses' account of the Exodus).

Now, Revelation is that act of God by which He directly communicates truth not known before
to the human mind. Revelation discovers new truth, while Inspiration superintends the
communicating of that truth.

All that is in the Bible has not been "directly revealed" to man. It contains history, and the
language of men, even of wicked men. But there is absolutely no part of the Bible record that is
not inspired. The history recorded in the Bible is true. The sacred writers were so directed and
influenced by the Spirit that they were preserved, in writing, from every error of fact. (2 Tim.
3:16). Nevertheless, all these things were written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is
Inspiration.

Though all Scripture is inspired, in the book of Job, for example, Inspiration gives with equal
accuracy to the speeches of Job and his three friends; but it does not therefore place them all on
the same level of authority. Each speaker is responsible for his own utterances (William
1902:18).

6.2.2. The distinction between Inspiration and Illumination

Inspiration is about how the Bible came into existence without errors or mistakes.

Illumination means that spiritual truth is made clear to the Christian, and makes it easier for the
Christian to understand the Bible ([Link]).

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Spiritual Illumination refers to the influence of the Holy Ghost, common to all Christians. It is
only the spiritual man who can understand spiritual things. "The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit" (I Cor. 2:14). Flesh and blood cannot reveal God to men (Matt. 16:17).

There is a vast difference between "a divine revelation of the mind of God," and "a divine action
on the mind of man." The former is Revelation; the latter is Spiritual Illumination (William
1902:20).

Study Questions for Chapter Six

 How define the word revelation?
 At what level to elaborate the two differences of general and specific revelation?
 How to distinguish between the word inspiration, its theories and illumination?
 Which are major distinctions between Inspiration, Revelation, and Illumination?

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