Please continue reading and commenting… I don’t post as much as I want to. I find that I don’t have the time, and sometimes I don’t have the topics :).

God Speed,
Lew

I’ve been reading your blogs (and recently listening to you, Steve) for almost a couple years now. I sincerely respect and appreciate what you guys have to say, and who you are as brothers. I was just trying to make you sweat a little. No hard feelings at this end.

-Jeff

Lew

BTW, in your criteria, the only one I’d really question is #2. Mainly because there are a number of books out there claiming to be inspired by God :). I think a lot of what testifies to what is and isn’t Scripture is the Holy Spirit acting in our lives.

Lew

I actually had the same thought regarding Jeff’s criteria for why the book is “Scripture”. But then, again, it doesn’t necessarily discount other books from being “Scripture” as well. Shoot, maybe even some of my blog posts :).

You said, “However, the question of why Jesus would be sharing that information with me would be puzzling to me.” I could name a few biblical characters who had that same question!

God Speed,
Lew

All of the criteria Jeff offered for why the book of Revelation is “scripture” could be applied to many, many, many writings. Jeff must have a really big Bible ;) hehe

Under the circumstances you shared in your hypothetical scenario, I would definitely give the dream a fair amount of consideration and weight. However, the question of why Jesus would be sharing that information with me would be puzzling to me.

Thanks for having the courage to comment on this post. It’s a hard situation to wrap your mind around, which is why I wrote the post. By the way, I haven’t had this dream – it was really a question I came up with from other conversations I’ve had.

Because I don’t want to limit how God communicates with me, I cannot throw out dreams as a possible way of communication. In fact, I have had a dream that I believe was from God.

Jeff,

Most of the time the words I use are very critical. In this post especially, I wanted to be precise in what I was asking. I wouldn’t say that it is 95% smoke and mirrors, but I wanted to have a context for who was having the dream. For instance, if I said a drug-addict prostitute had this dream, then more people would say they would ignore it. But if it was someone who people see as “godly” or walking with Christ then it would be something they would be forced to consider.

The reason I picked the book of Revelation, was because of its history. As you may know, this book was contested as to whether or not it would be included in the canon (what we call the Bible.)

The reason why I said “Scripture” rather than inspired or something else, was because I believe that all Scripture is true. If Jesus said that Revelation wasn’t Scripture, than the content of the book is questionable… a mixture of truths and falsities. Perhaps John didn’t write the book, or the last half of it was added by someone else, etc., etc.

There are probably several reasons why I asked this question. I think the strongest is because I wanted to find out how people weigh different revelations from God. It seems to me from you two that tradition and history weigh heavier than a dream.

To answer your last question, Jeff. Yes, I believe that there are potentially additional writings (past,present,future) that could be considered Scripture. Of course, it would be near impossible to get them in the Bible today :).

Thanks again for commenting, I hope more people comment!

God Speed,
Lew

P.S. I do believe Revelation is Scripture.

I’ll assume the first 95% of the post is smoke and mirrors and move to the last sentence and the question.;^)

I will also assume the words you used are critical to the question. For example, if you said he told the dreamer that the book of Revelation wasn’t true, or, it was fictional, then it’s a tougher question. But since you used the word “Scripture”, I can ask: 1.) does the book of Revelation testify of Jesus? Obviously it does. 2.) Was John inspired by God when he wrote it? He consistently claimed that Jesus is Lord in his writings so I have to assume he was indeed inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. 3.) Does the book of Revelation contradict any other Scriptures? I don’t think so. Also, on a side note, does inserting or deleting the book of Revelation from “Scripture” really change anything when looking at the bigger picture? Again, I don’t think so.

Now that I’m personally confident that the book of Revelation could qualify as “Scripture”, I turn my focus to the dreamer. 1.) What would be the point of “Jesus” sharing this information with him? Bottom line, it really doesn’t change anything except to take away testimony of Jesus. 2.) Did his prophetic dream testify of Jesus? The Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. (That one is questionable for a defense because it is from the book in question) 3.) Wouldn’t his prophetic dream be considered a “private interpretation?”

Weighing the information in hand, my answer is…no, I don’t believe the dream.

Lew- Do you think there are potentially any additional writings (other than just the bible) recorded by Spirit filled Christians, past, present, and future that could fall under the category of “Scripture?” Personally, after thinking about this I’m not so sure there aren’t. I think their credibility would come into question if they added any faith changing information though.( ie- Mormom, JW, etc.)

I also don’t believe it, because you say it’s hypothetical. ;)