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How Should We Evaluate Claims Of Visions or Dreams from God?

How Should We Evaluate Claims Of Visions or Dreams from God?

Last updated on: April 7, 2025 at 8:33 am by Randy Alcorn

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How Should We Evaluate Claims Of Visions or Dreams from God? 2025-03-14T12:38:19-08:00 Randy Alcorn

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It’s true that far too many Bible believers are in effect anti-supernatural. Some Christians argue against the miraculous with the same scorn of atheists and agnostics. The irony is stunning, since the Christian faith is rooted in the miraculous and dependent upon it. I believe absolutely that God does miracles today. I am completely convinced, for instance, that for decades the Lord Jesus has been appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions, bringing many people to faith. The evidence is clear, repeated, and consistent.

So the reason I believe that the teachings of certain dreams, visions, and personal experiences with God are not true is not that they are miraculous. It is that they contradict the inspired Word of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Some claims fail the test of Acts 17:11, which says the Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Now suppose I heard that a Muslim had a dream in which Jesus Christ said that Mohammed was a true prophet of God, and that Islam is the true faith. Here are my belief options:

1) The dream is true, and Jesus really said that. But this conflicts with Scripture—not because it is miraculous, but because Jesus and Mohammed made contradictory claims.

2) The dream really happened, but it was not Jesus speaking. Maybe it was just a dream influenced by someone’s pre-existing belief system, power of suggestion and/or by medications or even indigestion.

3) The dream really happened, and it was indeed supernatural, but it wasn’t Jesus speaking. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

When there is demonic deception, the human being—sincere or not—can become a false prophet: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies…” (2 Peter 2:1).

As Christians we should affirm God’s miracles. This does not mean 1) we should believe that everything claimed to be a miracle really is one, or 2) even when we do believe it was a miracle, we should assume everything remembered and said by the person is entirely accurate.

I think it’s also fair to ask whether we believe that the supernatural God has supernaturally revealed Himself and important truths to us in the Bible. And whether, when there is a conflict, that supernatural revelation trumps supernatural experiences. We do not require further revelation (as if God’s Word were not enough), but when someone claims to be bringing it, we evaluate it by Scripture, which remains our authority.

Here are some further resources:

How Can We Discern between Hearing God and Hearing What We Want to Hear?

How Can I Hear God’s Voice and Know That He Is Clearly Speaking to Me?

Where’s the Line Between Discernment and Lack of Faith in Miracles?

What About Those Who’ve Never Heard the Good News of Jesus?

Do the Will of God You Know; Discern the Will You Don’t

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