Page 5 - Moravian Messenger April 2019

A Perspective from John Amos Comenius
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development of the human mind “whose light increases with each succeeding age.”ii With this version of progressive revelation Comenius was engaging the view that Christians and Muslims of his day held, in which it was argued that later revelation superseded earlier revelation. However, his use of the terminology of gradual increase allows him to avoid the language of one religion superseding another. Of course, this did not mean that Comenius was unconvinced of the truth of Christian revelation. However, he does not proceed as if that truth is self-evident but it had to be demonstrated in the same way that he would expect Muslims to demonstrate the truth of any assertion they would make about the Qur'an.
The idea of gradual increasing light is consistent with the third aspect of the internal criteria, which he termed, agreement between the revelation in the book in question with previous revelations in the written Word, the natural world and sound reason. The word of a book that is divine must then be consistent with what is enacted in the other two theatres of God's revelation, namely, the external world and the human mind. Comenius argued that, “although God can make many revelations above the level of reason, he must not do so contrary to reason and risk conflict of truth or the destruction of either side.” If God made revelation contrary to reason, then God would risk contradicting himself. God must also show internal consistency whether he is expressing himself through his works in nature, or through reason in the human mind or through dictating his revelation in scripture.
Alongside the external and internal criteria for determining an authentic revelation, Comenius also mentions a third set, which he describes as the intimate criteria. This idea of intimacy is meant to refer to the way in which individuals are affected by the revelations. A truly divine book, he argued, must make a three-fold impression on the human mind. The first is that the enlightenment and joy it gives must be more than can be derived from other human writings. Secondly, divine books must show themselves capable of bringing about a conversion or a supernatural transformation towards full obedience and surrender to the will God. Thirdly, divine books must be able to communicate the strength of the Holy Spirit, which is most clearly seen in the example of martyrs who are prepared to give their lives as a witness to revelation. These intimate characteristics are positioned at the centre of contemporary debate about scriptural authority. For Comenius, the authority of a divinely inspired book is intimate in the sense that it makes a personal challenge for commitment rather than a demand for intellectual assent to something that is clear-cut and absolute.
Attitude to the Bible as Revealed Text
In summary then, there are three sets of criteria, the external, the internal and the intimate, which can be used to determine the revelatory character of sacred writings. The significance of these for today is that Comenius recognises the different perspectives from which one had to consider the question of the divine revelation in religious texts. If we take the case of the Qur'an, for example, the temptation in discussion today is to look at the extent to which the Qur'an agrees with the Christian Bible. However, if one were to apply Comenius' approach, it would be insufficient simply to try to use the Bible to correct the Qur'an or vice versa. His approach is to subject both the Bible and the Qur'an to the same test, using the criteria he outlined.
Comenius' criteria are complex and in some way confusing but he challenges the modern reader to be sophisticated and comprehensive in our assessment of the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon or any other book claiming a revealed status. It is not enough simply to dismiss them without reading them and without subjecting them to the same test to which we subject the Bible. Comenius also challenges people claiming to be Christians today to check their attitude to the reading of the Bible. Do we find, as the internal characteristics suggest, it brings enlightenment, leads to conversion and communicates the strength of the Holy Spirit? The difficulty of course is that many Christians do not read the Bible and do not know why we treat the Bible as revealed. Many read the Bible as much as they read the Qur'an, which is not at all. We cannot experience the revelatory character to the bible if we do not read it and any dismissal of another book without reading it is irresponsible and unwise. It might be helpful that we know the Bible and experience its revelatory character before we begin to dismiss other books claiming to be divinely revealed. The future shape of the Christian community will turn
significantly on the attitude to the Bible as revealed text and what we see at the moment does give some cause for concern.
Br Livingstone Thompson
Minister of University Road and Kilwarlin Congregations and PEC
i Panaugia, VII, 12. Muslims believe that the authenticity of the claims of Muhammad's Prophethood is indicated by the fact that he was ummi, which means illiterate (Surah 7:157). This condition of ummi meant that the Prophet was a clean vessel for receiving the revelation of the Qur'_n. The coincidence of these ideas suggests that Comenius was aware of and sympathetic to this Islamic claim.
Ibid., VII, 16. Comenius is alluding here to the view that the revelations of the New Testament are developments and expansions of the revelations given in the Old. His conception of the developing capacity of the human mind was similar to the view held that the Renaissance and the Enlightenment represented an emergence from the darker ages. Here Comenius is using evolutionary language before the notion of evolution came into philosophical discourse.
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