Inspiration and Revelation
What It Is and How It Works
By Roger W. Coon

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Part I

The Prophetic Gift in Operation

Goal Statement
        This continuing education study material is intended to serve as a refresher course for classroom teachers who are called upon in religion courses to explain the methodology God employed in communicating His divine truths and expectations to human beings alienated from His presence because of their sinful condition. For other teachers, this continuing education course may serve to strengthen their commitment as Seventh-day Adventist church members to the work of one believed to have been God's most recent prophet, Ellen G. White, in a day when her prophetic gift and contribution to this church are being increasingly questioned and challenged.

Instructional Objectives
        After studying part 1 of this continuing education minicourse, you should be able to do the following:
        1. Differentiate between the concepts of "inspiration," "revelation," and "illumination" as they relate to the phenomena of prophetism.
        2. Differentiate between the seven modalities employed by God in different ages as He seeks to communicate with mankind.
        3. Differentiate between the correct employment of physical phenomena as an evidence of supernatural activity (whether of the Holy Spirit, or of an unholy spirit) and the incorrect employment of these phenomena as a validating test of authentic prophethood.
        4. Understand the validity of the concept of plenary (thought) inspiration as an adequate explanation of the methodology God uses to communicate through His chosen prophets.
        5. Understand the inherent dangers in uncritical acceptance of the spurious "verbal" and "encounter" concepts of inspiration.

Introduction

        Before the entrance of sin, God communicated with human beings directly through face-to-face contact and personal fellowship. With the advent of sin this relationship was ruptured and man was alienated from his Maker. To bridge this separating gulf, God employed as many as seven modalities of communication-the "divers manners" of Hebrews 1:1-as He sought to bring mankind back into a personal relationship with Him.
        Prophetic night dreams and "open visions" during the day were the methods God most frequently employed in communicating with men and women of His special choosing who came to be known as "seers," "prophets," or special "messengers."
        The lot of the prophet was seldom an easy one, as Jesus intimated by His oft-cited observation that "a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house."^[1]
        Seventh-day Adventists believe, upon the basis of biblical evidence^[2] as well as empirical data, that one "masterbuilder" (1 Corinthians 3:10) of their denomination, Ellen G. White, was the recipient of the gift of prophecy. Solomon averred that "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and criticism of the prophets continues to this day.
        Misunderstanding also continues concerning the manner in which the prophetic gift operates. Satan has a vested interest in creating confusion as well as rejection of the prophetic gift by the people it was intended to benefit, "for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded."^[3] The "very last deception of Satan" in the Seventh-day Adventist Church just before Jesus returns will be the twofold work of (1) destroying the credibility of Ellen White as an authentic, reliable prophet of the Lord, and (2) creating a "satanic" "hatred" against her ministry and writings-satanic in its intensity as well as in its origin.^[4]
        Satan's "special object" in these last days is to "prevent this light from coming to the people of God" who so desperately need it to walk safely through the minefield that the enemy of all souls has so artfully booby trapped.^[5]
        And what is Satan's methodology for securing this objective? He will work "ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies."^[6] For example, in addition to the two methods mentioned above, satanic agencies seek to keep souls under a cloud of doubt,^[7] in a hurried state, and in a state of disappointment.
        This is Satan's plan-his goal and his strategy. This minicourse is dedicated to the proposition that he shall not succeed!

I. Definitions

        Three terms in particular need adequate working definitions as we seek to understand biblical and modern prophetism. The following definitions may be helpful:
         1. Inspiration. Biblical, prophetic inspiration may be said to be a process by which God enables a man or woman of His special choosing both to receive and to communicate accurately, adequately, and reliably God's messages for His people.^[8]
        We sometimes tend to say of a particular painter, author, musical composer, or performing artist, "He was inspired!" Indeed, he may have been. But it was a different kind of inspiration than that which was possessed by the prophets of God. When Paul wrote to the young ministerial intern Timothy, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16), he chose to employ the Greek term theopneusis, which is a contraction of two other Greek words Theos (God) and pneuma (breath). What he was saying, literally, was "All Scripture is God-breathed."^[9]
        While some take this to be simply a delightful literary metaphor, yet it is also true-and significant-that while the prophet experienced the physical phenomena of the trancelike vision state, God breathed, literally; the prophet did not breathe while in this condition.^[10]
        The prophet's inspiration is different in kind, rather than different in degree, from any other form of inspiration.
        The apostle Peter adds to our limited biblical store of information on inspiration by stating that the prophets-these "holy men of God"-spoke as they were "moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21). The Greek term Peter employs is pheromeni, from phero: "to carry a load, to move." Luke employed the expression twice^[11] in describing the action of a tempestuous wind in "driving" a sailing vessel upon which he and Paul were traveling. The implication is clear: The prophets were "moved by the Divine initiative and borne by the irresistible power of the Spirit of God along ways of His choosing to ends of His appointment."^[12]
         2. Revelation. Biblical, special revelation, we would hold, further, to be the content of the message communicated by God to His prophet in the process of inspiration. Adventists hold this content-the prophetic message-to be infallible (inerrant), trustworthy (all sufficient, reliable), and authoritative (binding upon the Christian).
        This concept is predicted on three corollaries: (a) Man is unable, through his own resources or by his own observation, to perceive certain kinds of information; (b) God is pleased to speak; and (c) this act takes place and unfolds within human history.^[13]
        God has revealed Himself, in a limited way, in nature, which gives us glimpses of His power, His wisdom, and His glory. But nature is unable to reveal clearly God's person, His holiness, His redeeming love, and His everlasting purposes for mankind. Thus, supernatural revelation transcends the "natural" revelation of God in nature, and consists chiefly in God's manifesting of Himself and His will through direct intercourse with humanity.^[14]
        God speaks! In Old Testament Jeremiah speaks for all of the prophets when he testifies that "the Lord . . . touched my mouth, And . . . said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth" (chap. 1:9). In the New Testament Paul assures us that the Holy Spirit "speaketh expressly" (1 Tim 4:1). Paul continues, elsewhere, to assure us that God reveals His mysteries to the prophets by revelation, which is a progressive work;^[15] Paul contrasts natural knowledge with information that is revealed by the Holy Spirit. This knowledge is attainable in no other way and from no other source.^[16]
         3. Illumination. Since the implied answer to Paul's rhetorical quest