Actually revelation can come from a donkey.
I was about to make one comment about Thomas but as I type this it occurs to me the intended archetype of that story is having faith in the face of reason to the contrary because who could possibly believe the dead could rise again, and especially after God had apparently abandoned Him by permitting such a horrible death.
How did the prophets teach the Word before they had it written down, that is to say before man had the gift of documentation? There is actually one school of thought that written language existed as far back as Seth when he ruled the earth. There is also a possibility that he built the Great Pyramid. So far I just find it interesting. But the point is that what we were told was more of an oral tradition may actually not have been the case after all.
So let me ask you this. Is the Bible any less true if it says an angel (a messenger) flew through the air and proclaimed the Gospel but meant that a satellite in low earth orbit transmitted the message via television and radio? My only problem with that is a lot of what is called Christian television seems more than a bit misguided in focus. Be that as it may you cannot deny the role of satellites in having spread the Gospel to the whole earth.
I am of the opinion that the truly miraculous overriding of the natural is at best the rare exception. Otherwise why would any Christian ever be sick? An actual angel well could appear for all to see but I find it far more likely that it was never intended for the reference to be fully understood until the time of the end.
Why do you think it says that the whole world will whore after Satan in the latter days just prior to Christ returning? Even this early on a case actually can be made that people are whoring after President Obama. And before you go off the deep end over that statement what does whoring mean? Look at the deep pockets of Wall Street and corporate America and their contributions to Obama and the Dems in 2008, and now all these questionable bailouts and even how efforts were made to preserve the executive bonuses but then put the blame for them on the recipients when caught in the act. It all sounds very much like whoring around to me.
It will be nice when the Christian community has it's act together because Christ will be here. I do not belong to a 'church' according to man's definition. The walls will be falling from their buildings, and His People will be praising Him in the streets. Why would I want to follow imperfect sources when I have His Perfect Word? No one can know everything, but I surely know enough to be a part of the small remnant who will not be a whore.
You should double check because it is not a subtle error. Thomas is representative of people like you who say they believe but can't get enough proof to satisfy your flesh.
'revelation can come from even an imperfect source'. Your definition of imperfect is quite different than mine. Baptist, Catholic, take your pick because most mainstream churches of today do not teach the complete truth. They have candied it over teaching with their commentaries about one verse. They don't teach precept upon precept. Mucho knowledge lost because of it. Most Christians don't know enough of the real Truth to save themselves. Back in the day, there were certain Scriptures read before the people at certain times of the year, and the Scriptures are one year worth of lessons when it is taught correctly. Some proof for that is this:
How did the prophets teach the Word before they had it written down, that is to say before man had the gift of documentation? The Word of God is written in the stars. The seasons present different constellations at different times. Check out this remnant scholar's work. It is very enlightening:
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/default.htmMany people are being deceived by churches today. There is a reason God will begin His Judgment at the pulpit. There should not be so many people, especially Christians, who don't know the Truth, and there are many of you. Why do you think it says that the whole world will whore after Satan in the latter days just prior to Christ returning? Why do you think God said His People perish for lack of knowledge? God is not 'careful of overly negative generalizations' and neither am I.
It will be nice when the Christian community has it's act together because Christ will be here. I do not belong to a 'church' according to man's definition. The walls will be falling from their buildings, and His People will be praising Him in the streets. Why would I want to follow imperfect sources when I have His Perfect Word? No one can know everything, but I surely know enough to be a part of the small remnant who will not be a whore.I'm not sure that it will. Short of persecution this is probably about as "Christian-like" as the church will ever be as we stand at the edge of Israel reclaiming it's previously failed role as missionaries to the world in the BC era.
While at times the Christian church has thrived it has never been perfect, no not even when it had the Apostle Paul to set it straight. But it is not necessary for a Christian to know everything or have every prophetic event figured out perfectly. The important part is the available redemption of mankind yet some who call themselves Christians don't seem to even understand that or what it truly means.
While it's not a requirement of Salvation to be a regular church attender it is very dangerous to go it on your own. But to claim a more perfect revelation merely based upon text from an antiquated translation to English alone is just plain foolish, especially in the light of so many tools available today. But has often been cited metal sharpens metal meaning that without interaction you'll just grow dull and eventually unusable.