Article – Revelation

Revelation Article – Revelation

In the prophetic religions, God communicates his revelations through prophets and religious practitioners who are commissioned to be God’s messengers to spread the divine message to others sharing God’s will and his character.

Religious Revelation in Different Religions

Let’s discuss spiritual revelations and the revelation of God’s meaning in various religions of the world:

In the Baha’I faith, “progressive revelation” refers to the central belief that all great prophets from the various religions throughout human history are messengers of the same God who reveal teachings that are suited to the particular times and places in which they have appeared.

In the Abrahamic traditions, revelation refers to how God speaks to us, through his prophets, with the sacred books—known as revealed texts—codifying these revelations. In mystical religions such as sufism, the revelations are ineffable experiences of the gracious self-manifestations of the divine contributing to a deeper affirmation of faith for the person.

In Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, revelation refers to the inward process of self-realization and the attainment of enlightenment.

Significance of Religious Revelations

Revelatory experiences can be potent and transformative. Religions gently nudge all followers to prepare themselves to be like receptive vessels. At their core, the revelations of most religions are not so different.

The common message of religious revelations is one that celebrates our common humanity and calls for action and service that promotes love, compassion, and peace in the world.

We are all searching for answers—how great it would be if we could be graced with revelation from some booming voice above, clearing up all our confusion.

Alas, these events are rare, but the insights left to us through the words of prophets and scriptures can be just as valuable.

The problems arise when sacred revelatory texts are held to be the literal, infallible, and unfiltered words of God, for then they fail to adapt with the times, causing the religion to stagnate and become rigid. Instead, revelation should be seen as an evolving process of constant reinterpretation.

Christianity Revelation

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
—The New Testament (1 Revelations 1:8), Christian text

Revelation in Islam

“We sent them with clear signs and scriptures. We have sent down the message to you too [Prophet], so that you can explain to people what was sent for them, so that they may reflect.”
—The Qur’an (16:44), Muslim text

Judaism Revelation

“The powerful revelations that stand at the beginnings of great communities, at the turning-points of human time, are nothing else than the eternal revelation […], a new form of God in the world.”
—Martin Buber, Jewish philosopher

Revelation in Hinduism

“It is extremely difficult to obtain the vision you have had; even the gods long to see me in this aspect. Neither knowledge of the Vedas, nor austerity, nor charity, nor sacrifice can bring the vision you have seen. But through unfailing devotion, Arjuna, you can know me, see me, and attain union with me.”
—The Bhagavad Gita (11:52-54), Hindu text

Buddhism

“Wisdom is something which will come out of your mindfulness. So the point is to be ready for observing things, and to be ready for thinking. This is called the emptiness of your mind.”
—Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Buddhist monk and teacher

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About the author

Akhilesh Gupta

Akhil Gupta is the founder and director of Universal Enlightenment Forum, a 501(c)3 corporation. He has been associated with Harvard University since 2015, first as a fellow at Advanced Leadership Initiative and later as an Impact Leader in residence in 2023. Akhil currently serves on The Dean’s Leadership Council at Harvard Divinity School, on the Advisory Board of Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, and on the Advisory Board of Harvard’s Chan Initiative on Health and Homelessness.
He is the author of two books “Bridges Across Humanity” published in 2023 and “To Flourish is To Love Learn Play” to be published in December 2025.He was inspired to write these books while studying at Harvard University.
Prior to Harvard, he was the founder Chairman of Blackstone India & Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group. He also served in senior positions at Reliance Industries Limited and Hindustan Unilever
Akhil has a B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He served on the Advisory Council of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University from 2014 to 2021

See All Commonalities Across Religions