Distinction or Identification of Revelation and Ingenuity

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

assistant professor of Payam Nur University

Abstract

By revelation is meant the event through which some chosen servant of God communication with Him and receive the plan for human salvation and have the mission of conveying the message to the people guiding them to the pinnacles of perfection and their final eternal felicity.
Some scholars failed to understand properly the true nature of revelation giving a wrong account of it and accordingly identified it with ingenuity. To them prophets are introduced as original gifted men who shed light on arena of social life in some historical stages of the past and in virtue of natural ingenuity and essential intelligence provided human beings with rules and laws for their guidance, happiness and moral and mental healthiness. This account of revelation, however, is not acceptable since revelation and ingenuity are two utterly distinct and different entities. Ingenuity is theoretical aspect related to natural, mental and brain structures of human being while revelation is sort of knowledge intuitively and presentially received by the heart and spirit of the prophet. Perceptions given through ingenuity are fallible whereas those of revelation are infallible. Perceptions obtained through creative ingenuity are limited to certain aspects of life but revealed acts of knowledge contain all walks of life. Taking rational and text-based approach, the present article is a critical survey on the identification of revelation with ingenuity.

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