Part Four: The History of Direct Revelation in the Church
An Orthodox friend of mine wrote, "Mysticism cannot be separated from Catholicism. Or Orthodoxy, for that matter." I would agree wholeheartedly. (I'm going with Wikipedia's definition of "mysticism," "knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience of and even communion with a supreme being.") The belief that God can still directly reveal something to a person's heart has been accused of being mysticism, but I would argue that, as Christians are supposed to commune with the Supreme Being, one can hardly be Christian without being mystic.
Not all Christians receive direct revelation, of course. There are, however, several notable examples of Christians who have. I am particularly fond of the Catholic Encyclopedia's statement on prophecy: "The prophetic spirit did not disappear with the Apostolic times, but the Church has not pronounced any work prophetic since then, though she has canonized numberless saints who were more or less endowed with the gift of prophecy..."
A few notable examples of Christians who are alleged to have received direct revelation from God (either through voice, dream, vision, or otherwise) include:
- Caedmon, 680, heard a voice telling him to sing. He was illiterate, and protested that he did not know how or what to sing. The voice told him to sing of Creation, and Caedmon found himself able to sing. The result is the oldest poem we have in the English language.
- Edward the Confessor, 1066, received a vision while has been interpreted (after the fact) as prophesying the split of the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church.
- Abdullah (pseudonym), 1998, Muslim who, after a series of troubling dreams, heard an audible voice which told him, "I am Jesus. I am the way to heaven." Subsequently converted to Christianity, and was almost executed for it.
The fact is, there is a strong history of direct revelation within Christianity. We should treat such revelations with caution, and always place them alongside Scripture for analysis, testing them for accuracy, but they can and do exist. To say otherwise, I'm worried, might be placing words in God's mouth--the very thing that those who reject modern direct revelation are trying to avoid.
Plus, I like to remember that direct revelation is a promise given for the eventual future:
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."Do these examples of direct revelation convince you that it occurs today? Are there other examples of direct revelation occurring today?
True 
Comments (2)
where are the other parts? :D
Anyplace except in the weird world of Christianity would peope who Hear voices not be considered crazy