it is used collectively, to designate the truth revealed, but it more
properly describes the means or process whereby it is made apparent to
the human mind. It implies that truth is always existent, but only
gradually recognized. Inspiration is one of the chief means whereby the
human vision is clarified so as to perceive it. Natural phenomena,
environment, and above all experience, are also mighty agents in making
the divine character and truth clear to the mind of man. The author of
the Epistle to the Hebrews declares, with true insight, that _God spoke
in divers manners_. All the universe, all history, and all life reveal
him and his ultimate truths, for each is effective in opening the mental
and spiritual eye of man to see the realm long awaiting him as
conqueror.

[Sidenote: _Man's role in the process of revelation_]

For countless ages electricity has inscribed its magic tracery on the
storm-cloud and performed its all-important functions in organic life,
but not until men's eyes were opened by experience and trained
observation to recognize its laws, was it practically applied to the
needs of civilization. Similarly, unchanging moral and spiritual laws
have existed through all time, but they have not become operative in
human life until the eye of some seer is opened by a great experience,
or under the direct influence of the Spirit of God he is led to see and
proclaim them. Thus God is in all and reveals himself through all nature
and life, but it is only through the mind and on the lips of his highest
creature, man, that truth is fully appreciated, formulated, and applied.

[Sidenote: _The revelation recorded in the Bible_]

In the broader sense all revelation is divine, for it reveals God and