''Neo-revelationism'' is a term for the beliefs of religious groups, especially Christian or Christianity-derived who claim direct

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

beyond claims of

divine inspiration Divine inspiration is the concept of a supernatural force, typically a deity, causing a person or people to experience a creative desire. It has been a commonly reported aspect of many religions, for thousands of years. Divine inspiration is ofte ...

associated with the

Christian Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

proper, but the term is also applicable relative to the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, and

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

movement relative to mainstream Islam, and to Messiah claimants in a context of Judaism. The English term is a translation of the German ''Neuoffenbarung''.

Within the Christian church

The Roman Catholic Church in principle accepts the possibility of "

private revelation In Christian theology, a private revelation is an instance of revelation, in a broader sense of the term, of divine reality to a person or persons. It contrasts with revelation intended for humanity at large, which is sometimes termed public reve ...

s", and recognizes certain instances (in practice mostly

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...

s) in the sense of ''nihil obstat'', i.e. the Church proclaims the possibility of a revelation being genuinely of divine origin without placing any positive claim to the effect. The Catholic Church agrees with Protestants in that public revelation ended with the death of the Apostle John. Private revelation is not binding on Catholics and does not inform any new doctrine. Some Protestant Reformers held different views, and taught that the miraculous gifts (including prophecy) ended with the death of the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

or soon thereafter. This doctrine, called

cessationism Cessationism versus continuationism involves a Christian theological dispute as to whether spiritual gifts remain available to the church, or whether their operation ceased with the apostolic age of the church (or soon thereafter). The cessa ...

, is still held by conservative

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

(especially some

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and

Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

), who believe that the Bible is the final and complete revelation of God. By contrast, the

Charismatic Movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity, with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gift ...

emphasizes the claim that

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

is available to contemporary believers.

Visions of Jesus and Mary A number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary. Discussions about the authenticity of these visions have often invited controve ...

have been common throughout the history of Christianity. The technical term of receiving revelations verbally, as opposed to in visions, is

interior locution An interior locution is a mystical concept used by various religions. An interior locution is a form of private revelation, but is distinct from an apparition, or religious vision. An interior locution may be defined as "A supernatural communica ...

. For example,

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

stated that she had been experiencing interior locutions, but that she preferred to remain private as to their contents. There are numerous examples of such instances in

Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

, during the medieval period and in the modern era e.g.

Jacob Boehme Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

(1575–1624) and

Emanuel Swedenborg Emanuel Swedenborg (; ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 168829 March 1772) was a Swedish polymath; scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian theologian, philosopher, and mysticism, mystic. He became best known for his book on the ...

(1688–1772), and later

Jakob Lorber Jakob Lorber (22 July 1800 – 23 August 1864) was a Christian mystic and self-professed visionary from the Duchy of Styria who promoted liberal Universalism, and who referred to himself as "God's scribe". He wrote that, on 15 March 1840, he bega ...

(1800–1864), Gottfried Mayerhofer (1807–1877), Bertha Dudde (1891–1965) and others. Proponents of neo-revelationism point to John 16:12–14, taking "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" as an announcement of continued revelation outside of the biblical canon. 12th-century mystic

Joachim of Fiore Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora (; ; 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to theologian Bernard McGinn, "Joach ...

also pointed to Revelation 14:6 which presages an "everlasting gospel" yet to be taught in the future. Opponents, on the other hand, tend to point to the warning against

false prophet In religion, a false prophet or pseudoprophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some peop ...

s in Matthew 24.

New religious movements

Outside

mainstream Christianity Nicene Christianity includes those Christian denominations that adhere to the teaching of the Nicene Creed, which was formulated at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and amended at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381. It encompasses ...

, there have also been numerous

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

led by people either claiming to be directly inspired by Jesus, or indeed to be Jesus returned. Other examples of notable neo-revelationist movements are the

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

Universal Life Universal Life (, unofficially abbreviated UL) is the name of a controversialhttp://members.aol.com/bbsaktuell/weristue.htm and http://members.aol.com/bbswerth/weristue.htm new religious movement based in Marktheidenfeld, Germany, United States ...

, Church of the Last Testament and

Fiat Lux "Let there be light" is an English translation of the biblical Hebrew , Hebrew (''yehi 'or'') found in Genesis 1:3 of the Torah, the first part of the Hebrew Bible. In Old Testament translations of the phrase, translations include the Greek l ...

. A number of movements of

Spiritual Christianity Spiritual Christianity () is the group of belief systems held by so-called folk Protestants (), including non-Eastern Orthodox indigenous faith tribes and new religious movements that emerged in the Russian Empire. Their origins are varied: som ...

in tsarist Russia also fall under this category.

References

* Matthias Pöhlmann (ed.), ''"Ich habe euch noch viel zu sagen …" Gottesboten – Propheten – Neuoffenbarer'', EZW-Texte 169, Berlin 2003.

External links

The New Revelation of Jesus Christ through Jakob Lorber and Gottfried Mayerhofer

His New Word - Lord's revelations through Jakob Lorber and Gottfried Mayerhofer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neo-Revelationism Revelation Christian new religious movements Christian terminology

Within the Christian church

New religious movements

See also

References

External links