What is a genuine revelation?

Answer 1

A:A genuine revelation from God, against which there could be no possible dispute, would be one in which the revelation:

1. is unambiguous - it can only have one meaning, regardless of the beliefs of the reader;
2. reveals something about which persons at the time of the revelation could have no possible knowledge;
3. was clearly written down just as received, circulated widely and continuously available until evidence of the revelation becomes a fact, so that it could not have been written retrospectively;
4. reveals something that became known at a later time with such clarity that the revelation could only have been of this matter;
5. reveals something that, when it occurs, is undeniably evidence of the revelation and not merely a claim made after the event;
6. is necessary and logical: God should not be expected to make revelations without a purpose;
7. can have no alternative explanation and is necessarily from God.

No revelation has ever been documented that meets all these requirements. In almost all cases of a supposed revelation, the revelation is ambiguous and can be given whatever meaning future generations choose to give it. In other cases, a prophet claims to have received a revelation that is known only to him or to people long dead, or a prophecy is made and the outcome of that prophecy are both written by the same author, often in the same book. Another instance of a false revelation is anything said to have been prophesied but which is yet to occur.