I ran across this quote in an article on the Servant Songs in Isaiah. I don’t remember seeing anyone connect the idea of progressive revelation so directly with the capacity of finite humans to comprehend spiritual truth in this way.
Of course, MacRae is defining revelation in this way for a reason… he is trying to respond to the objection that his argument about the Servant (which I won’t develop here right now) creates an apparent contradiction in Scripture.
The Bible is not like a textbook of grammar or of science. It does not take up logical divisions under which it gives precise definitions of the truths that God wishes His people to know. It is not a set of maxims nor a collection of independent verses, each of which is a separate presentation of the truth in relation to some particular subject. The Bible is a record of the way in which God revealed Himself to His people through a period of many centuries. Various parts of the Bible were given at different times and deal with different immediate situations. There is a progress in revelation as we see the great truths that God revealed through the Scripture.
Progressive revelation is necessary because the human mind cannot immediately grasp all of the truth on any particular subject. A certain truth has to be studied for a length of time before one is ready to receive certain other truths. Some truths have to enter into the experience of the individual, the nation, or the church, before they can be properly understood. There are events in the history of God’s dealings with mankind which have to occur before man can fully understand certain elements of the revelation that God desires to give.
Progressive revelation does not mean that God ever reveals anything that is false or wrong in any way. No part of the revelation that God has given is untrue, but many parts of it are incomplete. It might in a way be said that all the revelation of God is incomplete, because man can grasp only a very small part of the wisdom of God and of the vital facts about God. God desires that His people should understand certain particular truths. He often chooses that these truths should be revealed step by step and little by little, in order that they should be properly understood and should sink deep into the human heart.1
I’m not certain that this is the best or the only way to respond to arguments about alleged contradictions, but MacRae is making an interesting point and arguing it well.
NOTES:- Allan A. MacRae, “Servant of the Lord in Isaiah,” Bibliotheca Sacra 121, no. 483 (July 1, 1964): 218-219. [↩]
