There are two basic classifications of revelation. Firstly there is what is known as General Revelation. This is God communicating about Himself to all people at all times and in all places.
Then there is Special Revelation. This involves God's particular communication and manifestations of Himself to particular people, at particular times. These revelations are only available to us today through particular sacred writings.
General Revelation
General Revelation refers to God revealing Himself through nature, history and the inner being of man.
General Revelation is general in two aspects:
- It is accessible to all people at all times
- It is general in nature in that it is not as detailed as Special Revelation
1) Creation
The Bible itself proposes that General Revelation exists through the creation:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1)
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
These and numerous other passages suggest that God can be known through looking at creation.
2) History (His Story)
History itself also seems to give us a picture of God. Just the fact that the Jewish people of Israel remain in existence despite extreme odds. An idea that is itself confirmed in the Bible:
“He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:3-4)
3) Man
But what about man himself? Our physical make up and mental capacities that are far superior to those of the rest of the animals, surely they show us something about God. And nothing more so than the whole idea of conscience and morality that seems to exist for no apparent reason suggests that there is a superior power in charge.
We often have a sense of right from wrong that seems to exist for no apparent reason.
In fact, throughout all cultures, and throughout the millennia, man has had some concept of a higher power that is to be worshipped. Even though the particulars of the deity and how he is to be worshipped varies, the concept of a god seems to be ingrained.
Let us go into each one of these in a little more depth.
Natural Theology
Natural theology maintains that God can actually be known simply by studying nature without the aid of the Bible.
This thought involves certain major assumptions:
- The world is the same today as it always has been, and is as God intended it to be.
- There is no state of decay, and if there is, it must therefore be part of God's nature.
- There is no limitations to the thinking of man and that he has not been effected by sin and the fall.
- It is possible, without any faith whatsoever, or any special authority, to come to a genuine knowledge of God on the basis of reason alone.
- In the realm of our experience, everything that we know is caused by something else. There cannot, however, be an infinite regress of causes, for if that were the case, the whole series of causes would never have begun. There must therefore be some uncaused cause (unmoved mover) or necessary being. And this we (or all people) call God.
- Various parts of the universe exhibit behaviour which is adaptive or which brings out a desirable end. When such behaviour is displayed by humans, we recognise that we have consciously willed and directed ourselves towards that end. Some of the objects in our universe, however, cannot have done any purposeful planning (e.g. rocks). Their ordering according to a purpose or design must have come from somewhere else. Some intelligent being must therefore have ordered things in this desirable fashion, a being we call God.
- We all possess a moral impulse. Even though being good does not always get us what we want, there is still that desire to follow that impulse. It therefore stands to reason that this impulse is something that originated from outside of us, that origin being God.
If any or all of these arguments are valid and adequately presented, then any rational person would be convinced, yet there exists many who deny the existence of one ultimate supreme being we know as God.
The only thing that these arguments show us, if adequately presented, is that a higher power with greater knowledge than ours does indeed exist, but it says nothing about his character or why he did it in the first place. When we look at the many natural disasters it does not lead us to say that he is a God of love, or that he is good. Instead they seem to point to the opposite being true.
Relevant Passages
How then do we reconcile the relevant passages to the whole idea of Natural Theology, particularly Romans 1-2?
We cannot read these passages in isolation, but need to look at the bigger picture that Paul presents. Paul tells us in Romans 8 that sin has ruined it for us. The created order is subject to futility (v20) and it waits for its liberation (vv19,21,23). As a result, even though it is still God's creation and continues to witness to Him (Psalm 19), it is not quite what it was when He first created it. Its testimony of the creator has become blurred.
Back in Romans 1:21 we read that sin itself has darkened our eyes to God through our rejection of Him.
Therefore, while Paul does tell us that the creation does reveal the existence of God, sin has darkened that testimony to our minds. Paul therefore questions Natural Theology.
Historical Theology
This is theology based on how God has revealed Himself to man through His sovereign acts within history.
At various points in history, nations have risen and fallen at the most significant times. From reading the Bible we come to see a number of times where we see God's hand involved within certain historical events, all of which can be backed up with archaeological and historical evidence.
- Egypt – Exodus 9-12; Jeremiah 46:14-26; Ezekiel 29-30; Romans 9:17
- Assyrian Empire falls – Isaiah 10:12-19; Ezekiel 31; Nahum 3:1-7
- Babylonian Kingdom succumbing to the attack of the Medo-Persians with the drying up of the Euphrates – Daniel 1-5; Jeremiah 50-51; Isaiah 45:1-5; 47-48
- Medo-Persian Empire coming under God's judgement – Isaiah 44:24-45:7; Daniel 2; 7
- Greek Empire collapsing – Daniel 8:1-25; 11:1-35
- Rise and fall of the Roman Empire – Daniel 8:1-25; 11:1-35
Although these historical events do somehow seem to show some form of overall power in control, they do not in any way reveal to us anything about who He is. Therefore, as with creation, history is insufficient for a personal knowledge of Him. Further revelation is needed.
Humanistic Theology
A definition of conscience is “knowing oneself” and includes an awareness of right and wrong.
It is universally accepted that all mankind possess the faculty of conscience. Man is a moral creature, and this is seen throughout the world through laws and justice systems. The question then is, where did man obtain this conscience from? Could it have just developed like the evolutionists try and tell us, or is it from some external source.
According to Paul, the Gentiles, who were not taught the law like the Jews were, still “do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Romans 2:14-15).
This inherent law within man suggests a supreme law-giver who not only placed the law within man's hearts, but also holds man accountable.
But this is insufficient for two reasons:
- Even though the existence of conscience does indicate the existence of a law-giver, it does not give us any indication as to His person,
- because of man's sinful nature, as mentioned above, man is fallible. Therefore it is impossible to rely on that testimony.
Even though Scripture alludes to the fact that God can be seen through His handiwork, history and conscience of man, nowhere does it say that this is proof of His existence. Nor do they indicate anything about the character of God other than that He is a creator, is sovereignly in control and that He has a standard for all men to follow.
I think John Calvin's analogy describes it best:
A sinner is like a person with a sight problem. When the latter looks at an object, they see it indistinctly. It is blurry to them. But when they put on a pair of spectacles, they can see clearly. Similarly, sinners do not recognise God in the creation, history or conscience, but when they put on the spectacles of faith, their sight improves and they can see God in His handiwork.
What is needed is an understanding of Special Revelation, the next leg of our journey, to fully understand how General Revelation fits in to our theology.
Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW
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