Continuous revelation
Encyclopedia
Continuous revelation or continuing revelation is a theological belief or position that God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 continues to reveal divine principles or commandments to humanity. In Christian traditions, it is most commonly associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 (Quakers), and with Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

 and Charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...

 Christianity, though it is found in some other denominations as well.

Continuous revelation also forms part of the rituals of gatherings in various chapters of Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

. In the Baha'i Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

, Progressive revelation is an important concept that is similar to continuous revelation. In the world of Islam, Ahmadi Muslims believe that while law-bearing revelation has ended with the perfection of scripture in the form of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

, non-scriptural revelation to non-prophets as well as non law-bearing Muslim prophets continues. They cite Qur'anic verses as well as Ahadith considered by many to be authentic in support of their belief in continuous revelation.

Islam

There is no verse of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 which states that divine revelation has ended with it. The Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 received scriptural as well as non-scriptural revelations, some of which were recorded as Hadith Qudsi. Nor does the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 restrict the sending of divine revelation to prophets/messengers, for the mother of Moses received revelation (28:7). The Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...

 refers to the continuity of messengers (7:35) and promises that those who obey Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...

 and Muhammad will be favoured with the blessings of prophethood (4:69) which includes being given knowledge of the unseen through divine revelation.

The verse (5:3) refers to the perfection of religion and not to the cessation of prophethood or revelation. The verse (33:40) refers to the excellence and superiority of the prophethood of Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...

 and the continuity of prophethood amongst his followers, and not to the complete cessation of all types of prophethoods or revelations. According to a well-known hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

 of Muhammad recorded in Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim
Sahih Muslim is one of the Six major collections of the hadith in Sunni Islam, oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih Al-Bukhari, and is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims...

 , the Messiah would received revelation from Allah during his second advent. Thus, there is no real basis for the common misconception among some modern day Muslims that all types of divine revelations and prophethoods have been discontinued.

Latter-day Saints

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), continuing revelation is the principle that God or his divine agents still continue to communicate to mankind. This communication can be manifest in many ways: influences of the Holy Ghost; vision; visitation of divine beings; and others. By such means God guides his followers to salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...

 and without such His followers will eventually form their beliefs or practices after a god of their own making. Church founder Joseph Smith, Jr. used the example of the Lord's revelations to Moses in Deuteronomy to explain the importance and necessity of continuous revelation to guide "those who seek diligently to know [God's] precepts":
The open scriptural canon of the LDS Church is based on the principle of continuous revelation. Its 9th Article of Faith
Articles of Faith
Articles of faith are sets of beliefs usually found in creeds, sometimes numbered, and often beginning with "We believe...", which attempt to more or less define the fundamental theology of a given religion, and especially in the Christian Church....

 states:
Members of the LDS Church anticipate additions to its canon, including the translation of the remaining two-thirds of the golden plates
Golden Plates
According to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates are the source from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith...

 which was the source of the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...

.

The Community of Christ
Community of Christ
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints , is an American-based international Christian church established in April 1830 that claims as its mission "to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace"...

 (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint), the second largest Latter Day Saint denomination, regularly canonizes revelation into the Doctrine and Covenants. Its Prophet/President present Words of Council to the church usually before it's World Conference. If the conference confirms the Words of Counsel as prophetic, it is added as a Section in the scripture known as Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants
The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...

.

Friends (Quakers)

In the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 (Quakers), continuing revelation comes from the Inner light
Inner light
Inner Light is a concept which many Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, use to express their conscience, faith and beliefs. Each Quaker has a different idea of what they mean by "inner light", and this also varies internationally between Yearly Meetings, but the idea is often...

 or the light within. This light has traditionally been identified as the Spirit of Christ or Christ within, although not all Friends associate the Inner Light with Christ. It is understood as the presence of God
Presence of God
Presence of God is a term used in Catholic theology and devotion.In theology, it refers to the belief that God is present by His Essence everywhere and in all things by reason of His Immensity...

 which provides illumination and guidance to the individual and through individuals to the group.

Some Friends consider the Bible the ultimate authority, but others consider the Inner Light to be above the Bible. Both groups believe that the Inner Light speaks to people directly and not just through the text of the Bible.

Because Friends believe that revelation is ongoing, they have no set creed or dogmas. However, as early Friends listened to the Inner light and endeavored to live accordingly, a common set of beliefs gradually emerged, which became known as testimonies. (See Testimonies for a fuller list and description of them.) Although rooted in the immediate experience of the community of Friends, these Testimonies are based on what Friends believe are verified in the Bible, especially as described in the Gospels regarding the life and teachings of Jesus.

The Testimonies are not formal static documents, but rather a shared collection or view of how Quakers relate to God. They cannot be taken one at a time, but are interrelated. As a philosophical system, they are coherent, even outside of Christianity.

The list of testimonies that Quakers follow is also not static. The following is a generally accepted list.
  • The Peace Testimony
    Peace Testimony
    Peace testimony, or testimony against war, is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends for peace and against participation in war. Like other Quaker testimonies, it is not a "belief", but a description of committed actions, in this case...

  • The Testimony of Integrity
    Testimony of Integrity
    Testimony to integrity and truth, refers to the way many members of the Religious Society of Friends testify or bear witness to their belief that one should live a life that is true to God, true to oneself, and true to others. To Friends, the concept of integrity includes personal wholeness and...

  • The Testimony of Equality
    Testimony of Equality
    Testimony of equality is a shorthand description of the action generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends towards equality, arising from Friends' belief that all people are created equal in the eyes of God. The word testimony describes the way that Friends testify or bear...

  • The Testimony of Simplicity
    Testimony of Simplicity
    Testimony of Simplicity is a shorthand description of the actions generally taken by members of the Religious Society of Friends to testify or bear witness to their beliefs that a person ought to live his or her life simply in order to focus on what is most important and ignore or play down what...

  • The Testimony of Unity with Creation
  • The Testimony of Living In The World

Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians

Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

 and Charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...

 Christians generally believe that Christians, especially "Spirit-filled" Christians can receive revelations from God in the form of dreams, visions, and audible or inaudible voices. They also believe that certain individuals are able to transmit revelations from God in the form of prophecy, words of knowledge, and speaking in tongues
Glossolalia
Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...

 and interpretation of tongues.

While most Pentecostals and Charismatics believe the Bible to be the ultimate authority and would not say that any new revelation can ever contradict the Bible, they do believe that God continues to speak to people today on extra-biblical topics as well as to interpret and apply the text of the Bible.

Taoist

In various designated offshoots of Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

 like the De
De (Chinese)
De is a key concept in Chinese philosophy, usually translated "inherent character; inner power; integrity" in Taoism, "moral character; virtue; morality" in Confucianism and other contexts, and "quality; virtue" or "merit; virtuous deeds" in Chinese Buddhism.-The word:Chinese de 德 is an ancient...

 Schools in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and the Dao
DAO
DAO may refer to:* D-amino acid oxidase, a peroxisomal enzyme.* Data access object, a design pattern used in object-oriented software engineering* De-asphalted oil, a crude oil refinery process stream...

 Schools in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, weekly or sometimes monthly gatherings are held at temples to receive and understand communications from above by way of two mediums holding rattan sifts writing on sand, who are 'dictated' with news ranging in contents from current affairs, religion, to arts and morality, the writings are called Sift Text or '乩文'. Different gods in the Daoist pantheon are designated for temples which have to go through the rigour of acceptance before the contents are recognized as authorized communiques from heaven. Examples of instructions from the heavens are (web pages only in Chinese):

Baha'i Faith

Progressive revelation is a core teaching in the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

 that suggests that religious truth is revealed by God progressively and cyclically over time through a series of divine Messengers
Manifestation of God
The Manifestation of God is a concept in the Bahá'í Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization...

, and that the teachings are tailored to suit the needs of the time and place of their appearance. Thus, the Bahá'í teachings
Bahá'í teachings
The Bahá'í teachings represent a considerable number of theological, social, and spiritual ideas that were established in the Bahá'í Faith by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, and clarified by successive leaders including `Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh's son, and Shoghi Effendi, `Abdu'l-Bahá's...

 recognize the divine origin of several world religions as different stages of in the history of one religion
Bahá'í Faith and the unity of religion
The Unity of Religion is a core teaching in the Bahá'í Faith that states that there is a fundamental unity of many of the world's religions. The principle states that the teachings of the major religions are part of a single plan directed from the same God...

, while believing that the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh
Bahá'u'lláh , born ' , was the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and...

 is the most recent (though not the last—that there will never be a last), and therefore the most relevant to modern society.

Bahá'ís believe God to be generally regular and periodic in revealing His will to mankind through messengers/prophets, which are named Manifestations of God. Each messenger in turn establishes a covenant
Covenant (religion)
In Abrahamic religions, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition.An example of a...

 and founds a religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

. This process of revelation, according to the Bahá'í writings, is also never ceasing. The general theme of the successive and continuous religions founded by Manifestations of God is that there is an evolutionary tendency, and that each Manifestation of God brings a larger measure of revelation (or religion) to humankind than the previous one. The differences in the revelation brought by the Manifestations of God is stated to be not inherent in the characteristics of the Manifestation of God, but instead attributed to the various worldly, societal and human factors; these differences are in accordance with the "conditions" and "varying requirements of the age" and the "spiritual capacity" of humanity.

Thus religious truth is seen to be relative to its recipients and not absolute; while the messengers proclaimed eternal moral and spiritual truths that are renewed by each messenger, they also changed their message to reflect the particular spiritual and material evolution of humanity at the time of the appearance of the messenger. In the Bahá'í view, since humanity's spiritual capacity and receptivity has increased over time, the extant to which these spiritual truths are expounded changes.

Criticisms

The notion of progressive or continuing revelation is not shared by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 and by Eastern Orthodoxy, who instead favor the idea of tradition and development of doctrine, while progressivist and continuationist approaches are specifically condemned in the declaration Dominus Iesus
Dominus Iesus
Dominus Iesus is a declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was approved in a Plenary meeting of the Congregation, and bears the signature of its then Prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and of its then Secretary, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, now...

.

See also

  • Direct revelation
    Direct revelation
    Direct revelation is a term used by some Christian churches to express their belief in a communication from God to a person, by words, impression, visions, dreams or actual appearance. Direct revelation is believed to be an open communication between God and man, or the Holy Spirit and man, without...

  • Terton
    Tertön
    A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or "terma". Many tertöns are considered incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava. A vast system of transmission lineages developed...

  • General revelation
    General revelation
    General revelation is a term used by theologians which refers to a universal aspect of God, of God's knowledge and of spiritual matters, discovered through natural means, such as observation of nature , philosophy and reasoning, human conscience or providence or providential history...

  • Progressive revelation (Christian)
    Progressive revelation (Christian)
    Progressive revelation in Christianity is the concept that the sections of the Bible that were written later contain a fuller revelation of God compared to the earlier sections. For instance, the theologian Charles Hodge wrote,...

     - the belief of progressive revelation in the Christian Bible
    Bible
    The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

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