Revelation After Revelation
In many religions, God is believed to have deliberately revealed himself to humanity through a human intermediary. It is commonly believed that religious knowledge or truth was communicated to humanity in a direct and specific way from a omnipotent, supernatural entity.
According to the biblical narrative, Moses received revelations from Yahweh primarily through extraordinary experiences such as the burning bush, where God spoke directly to him, and the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. These encounters were key moments in Moses' life that guided him in his leadership of the people of Israel.
The prophet Zoroaster had a vision or revelation of the Good Thought, Vohu Manah, who appeared to him in the form of a figure nine times the size of a man. Vohu Manah led Zarathustra to an encounter with Ahura Mazda, who revealed his religion to him in all its fullness. This vision was followed by six more, spanning a period of ten years and containing angels of Ahura Mazda. Zarathustra began to proclaim the message of the angels and promised to spread it to all of humanity.
The Gospels report that angels provide preparation, guidance and protection even before Jesus' conception and birth, during his life and after his crucifixion. Jesus was transfigured before three of his disciples: Peter, James and John. During this event, Jesus' appearance changed and he was seen in conversation with Moses and Elijah, two important figures in Jewish history and tradition. Then the angel Gabriel meets Mary and tells her what is to come. An angel of the same name is also said to have appeared to Mohammed and revealed the holy words of the Koran to him. The revelations continued for twenty-three years and are known as the Qur’an.
The founder of Manichaeism, Mani, experienced religious visions in which he received a special gnosis from his divine twin or companion (Greek syzygos). In the visions, he received religious truths that filled him with divine light and made him aware of the origin of his soul.
The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, went to bathe in the river Bein and disappeared. On the third day, Nanak returned after having been in direct contact with the Ultimate Reality. God appointed Nanak as His Supreme Guru, who had a divine mission.
The founder of Hasidism, Israel Ben Eliezer, is said to have had an angel, Achiyah HaShaloni, who taught him the secrets of the Torah and helped him to heal the bodies and souls of his patients.
Joseph Smith's visions of heavenly beings began in 1820. He saw God and Christ, and was later visited by Moroni, the prophet from the Book of Mormon, John the Baptist, Peter, James and John. Jesus Christ, Moses and Elijah had also visited him and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. At the end of his life, he claimed that the angels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael had visited him and given him messages and commissions.
In 1838, a Japanese woman named Nakayama Miki reported that she was possessed by the spirit Tenri-o-no-Mikoto (“Lord of Heavenly Reason”) and started the Tenrikyo-religion based on her experiences.
The Baha'i Prophet Bab proclaimed that he had received a revelation from God and was a bearer of divine truth. The Bahá'i Faith originated when Bahá'u'llah, as he called it, received a visitation from a ”Maiden from God” who told him that he was the Messenger of God of whom the Bab (his forerunner) had spoken.
The leader of the Adventist Church, Ellen White (1827–1915), claimed that God transmitted information to her followers through her while she was in a trance. Jane Roberts, one of the founders of the New Age movement, also channeled messages from a spirit being called Seth.
A spirit named Babaji is said to have appeared to Swami Paramahansa Yogananda at the beginning of the twentieth century. This being allegedly gave Yogananda his mission to teach meditation and yoga in the West. Yogananda then demonstrated the power of the teachings through the imperishability of his body after death.
A man named Ngo Van Chieu worked as a civil servant for the French colonial government in Vietnam. As he was interested in spiritualism, he took part in séances, and at one of these séances he said that he had received messages from a spirit called Cao Dai. The messages outlined various teachings, including vegetarianism and the need for a universal view in religion.
Aleister Crowley, the founder of the Thelema religion, heard the voice of an angel who called himself Aiwass. This was the messenger of the Egyptian god Horus. Aiwass revealed to Crowley a writing, Liber AL vel Legis, or the Book of the Law. Its main theme was that Crowley was the messiah of a new aeon. The organising term for this revelation was the Greek word for “will” (θέλημα, thelema), and its central precept was, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
The founder of the “I am” movement, Guy Ballard, had long been interested in occultism and theosophy. He founded the “I Am” activity in the 1930s. Ballard’s revelations from Saint Germain were disseminated in the Ballards' lectures, who traveled as “Accredited Messengers” of the Masters in the 1930s. Other messages from the Ascended Masters, especially Saint Germain and Master Jesus, were sometimes produced. Saint Germain and Jesus were considered the intermediaries between the “I AM Presence” and humanity.
When God (or his angels) communicates with humanity, He does so locally, through one prophet at a time. No religion is based on a revelation given to two or more people in different places. Why didn't the angels Gabriel or Moroni appear to two or more people to give their revelations? This would at least be a marvelous proof of the reality of the supernatural being who gave the revelation. It would lend tremendous credibility to Islam if the same revelation given to Muhammad was given to someone in South Africa, America or Australia at about the same time. Moroni could have given the plates to someone else on the planet after Smith was done with them.
Instead, he's said to have taken them to heaven. According to the Bible, Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. If he was able to do this, why couldn't he appear to someone further away, where his existence wasn’t yet known? In Palestine, he already had apostles and was known - but not in Denmark, for example. It is peculiar that the gods and angels who give universal messages to humanity that encompass all of humanity and reality always do so with a single person in one place.
If God was behind these revelation, he would also have given humankind contradictory truths. To one people God spoke of heaven, to the next of paradise, to the next of nirvana, to the next of moksha. To one people God said that there is only one life on earth – to another, that there are many. To one people He prescribed meditation, to another, prayer. To one people God said that you can have many wives, but no wine. To the next people He says: you can only have one wife, but plenty of wine.
And at no time did God provide tangible proof that these were actual revelations from an omnipotent being. In his revelations, He offered no advanced scientific, medical, or prophetic data. There is no evidence by which to separate the revealed truth from man-made beliefs.
God would have appeared in different guises to different peoples and given them conflicting messages. So, He would have supported contradictory views about himself, the purpose of life and the divine plan. Is this an evil or mischievous being? A God of confusion?
Perhaps there are other reasons why founders of religions have claimed to have received revelation from God. Claiming to have received divine revelation gives the founders unparalleled authority. Revelation elevates their teachings above human scrutiny because they are seen as purveyors of divine wisdom and not just the personal opinions of erring humans. By presenting their teachings as coming from a divine source, founders can legitimize their authority and the practices they advocate. This can help attract followers and strengthen the credibility of their religious movement. The claim of divine revelation emphasizes the importance of their teachings. In many religious traditions, the claim of divine revelation is consistent with established practices. Religious founders understood the precedent of previous prophets who claimed to have received divine guidance. Their new teachings could not be considered inferior and that is why claims of divine revelation were made.
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