3. General Revelation and Natural Theology

3.1 Summarize the doctrine of divine revelation.^[1]

• God reveals himself to man.
• With absolute freedom, God communicates truths that man could never discover of his own initiative.
• Revelation comes from God and is directed intentionally to man, created in God’s image but now fallen.
• When God reveals himself to man, he does so in human forms that man can understand and receive, and yet such revelation is eternal glory breaking into man’s world.

Objective divine revelation comes in two basic forms, which are summarized in the Belgic Confession (Art. 2):

1. By the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God, namely, His eternal power and divinity, as the apostle Paul saith (Romans 1:20).
2. God makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word; that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation.

God makes the truth of special, supernatural revelation effectual to people through the applied revelation of the Holy Spirit, so that light not only shines upon us but within us (2 Cor. 4:6). As the Belgic Confession (Art. 24) says, “true faith” is “wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Ghost.

3.2 In brief, what are general, special, and applied revelation.^[2]

1. General revelation refers to God's revelation by His creation. God’s creation testified to his eternity, power, wisdom, personality, goodness, and authority (Gen 1). General revelation is given to everyone and supplies us with a general knowledge of God.
2. Special revelation refers to God's revelation by His Word. The Bible is special revelation, and only those who have access to the Bible or its content receive it. Special revelation gives much more detailed information about God's work and plans.
3. Applied revelation refers to the response of God's servants to His Word. The divinely empowered effect of special revelation is applied revelation. Bavinck calls this the internal principle of knowing (principium cognoscendi sternum), the illumination of human beings by the Holy Spirit.

3.3 In more detail, explain the terms "general" and "natural" revelation?^[3]

• General revelation (God’s unveiling of Himself in all truth) is called “general” for two reasons.
  1. This revelation is general because it is knowledge that is given to everyone. Divine general revelation is available to all people in the world.
  2. The term general is applied to this type of revelation because its content is of a general sort; that is, it does not give us the details of God’s work in redemptive history, such as the atonement or the resurrection of Christ.
• Natural revelation is the revelation of God’s glory through his works in creation. It is often called natural revelation because it occurs through God’s ordinary works (by which God reveals Himself in and through nature) and is appropriated by ordinary human sense and reasoning. In theological parlance, the term natural revelation is a synonym for general revelation because general revelation comes to us in and through nature.
• The Scriptures do not distinguish between “natural” and “supernatural” revelation. Creation revelation is no less supernatural than Scripture; God himself is at work in both, and his providential creating, sustaining, and governing form a single mighty ongoing revelation.
• General revelation is not potential revelation but actual revelation: “The heavens are telling” (Ps. 19:1), and “God made it evident” (Rom. 1:19).

3.3.1 How does the Westminister Confession of Faith explain general revelation?

“Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, to such an extent that men are without excuse, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of his will which is necessary for salvation.” (WCF 1.1a)

General revelation includes (1) conscience ("light of nature"), (2) creation, and (3) providence. Christians do not need to prove the existence of God to unbelievers. We remind unbelievers of what they already know.

General revelation is "not sufficient" to reveal the knowledge necessary for salvation.

3.4 What is "natural theology"?^[4]

• Natural revelation is something God does, whereas natural theology is what humans do with natural revelation.
• In Romans 1, the classic scriptural text regarding natural theology, the Apostle says that we gain knowledge of God through nature.

3.5 What universal knowledge is granted through general revelation?^[5]

The Bible is clear that God’s revelation of Himself in nature provides us with true and clear knowledge of His character.

• God exists and created all things. (Rom 1:20–21)
• Atheism is folly. (Ps 14:1)
• God has a unique nature as God (Pss 8:1; 19:1; 104:24; Acts 17:24–27)
• Idolatry is wicked. (Rom 1:23; Col 3:5 cf. Matt 6:24)
• God holds man accountable to his moral law. (Rom 2:14–15; Gen 20)
• Sinners are under God's wrath and without excuse. (Rom 1:18, 20; 2:12)

3.6 What are mediate and immediate general revelation?^[6]

• Mediate general revelation refers to God's revelation which is mediated. That which mediates God’s revelation is nature. A written article or a video is a medium of communication, which is why such methods of communication are collectively called “media.” In like manner, the principal medium of general revelation is nature. [Creation]
• Immediate general revelation is the term used to describe another way God reveals Himself to us. In Romans 2:15, Paul says that the law of God has been written on our hearts, something John Calvin called the sensus divinitatis, or the sense of the divine. It is an awareness of God that He has planted in man’s soul, and this awareness is manifested in our conscience and in our knowledge of God’s law. We do not glean that knowledge through a medium; rather, it comes directly from God to us, which is why such revelation is called “immediate.” [Conscience]

3.7 Explain why general revelation is inadequate.^[7]

• It is the unanimous conviction of Christian theologians that general revelation is inadequate.
• Augustine is convinced that there is some truth among the pagans that Christians can use profitably, but for him, philosophy cannot save. (Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, II, 60)
• The Bible never represents general revelation as the pathway by which sinners return to the true God. General revelation, for all its validity, leaves men unchanged in their folly, darkness, and depravity (Rom. 1:21–32).
• General revelation fails to point us to sin, divine wrath, and grace. No gospel or way of salvation is given in general revelation.
• What knowledge of God is given in general revelation is uncertain, inconsistent, mixed with error, and unattainable for most people. It does not convey to man any absolutely reliable knowledge of God and spiritual things.
• Finally, no concrete religion has ever existed that matches what deists and history-of-religions scholars contend is the essential core of natural, rational religion in general. Today, it is generally agreed that all religions are concrete and rest on revelation.

Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; (Rom. 2:14–15, Rom. 1:19–20, Ps. 19:1–3, Rom. 1:32, Rom. 2:1) yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation. (1 Cor. 1:21, 1 Cor. 2:13–14) [WCF 1.1]

3.8 What terminology is used in the Bible regarding divine revelation?^[8]

The Bible often portrays God himself as the subject of the communicative act. God appears, speaks, and reveals.

Divine revelation sometimes involved a theophany or manifestation of God’s glory to men. Thus, we have the phrase “the Lord appeared,” using the passive form of the verb translated as “to see” (niphal of raah). A “prophet” could also be called a “seer” (roeh), one who has seen a supernatural appearance of the Lord. Prophecy is sometimes called a “vision” (khazon or khazot), derived from another verb translated as “to see” (khazah), which provides another term also translated as “seer” (khozeh).

The Hebrew Bible often reports God’s communications with terminology commonly used of human speech: “to say” (amar), “to speak” (diber), or the related noun translated as “word” (debar). Another Hebrew term quite relevant to this study is the verb translated as “to reveal” (galah), which means “to uncover or disclose.”

The Greek New Testament uses terms for human speech to describe God’s communication with men: “speak” (laleō), “to say” (legō), “word” (logos), and “word” (rhēma). In the Greek New Testament, the verb translated as “to reveal” (apokaluptō) and its cognate noun “revelation” (apokalupsis) are important elements in the vocabulary of divine communication.

The terminology of divine communication in the Old and New Testaments revolves around three major foci.

1. The idea of a verbal message from God in a form that human beings can receive, understand, and repeat
2. The idea of a gracious revelation of hidden, divine truth that man cannot discover on his own
3. The idea of an intrusion of eternal glory into our ordinary, mundane existence.

3.9 Describe what God reveals in creation.^[9]

1. God's Nature

Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:19–20)

• It reveals God to a limited degree.
• It reveals God in an open and plain manner.
• It reveals God according to His will. (Acts 14:15, 17; Rom 2:4)
• It reveals the invisible God.
• It reveals God's divine nature. (Rom 1:23)
• It reveals God throughout history.
• It reveals God through his created world. (Rom 1:25)

2. God's Wrath

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. (Rom 1:18)

• This judgment comes through God’s acts in history, such as giving sinners over to corrupting desires and a worthless mind-set as a judgment for rejecting him (Rom 1:22–32). God’s providential abandoning of a society to degradation and self-destruction is a public revelation of his wrath. Paul draws upon the Old Testament theme of God’s sending blindness, hardness, and foolishness as a spiritual judgment upon sinners.
• The doctrine of providence teaches us that not only spiritual judgments but also physical calamities should be received as general warnings of divine wrath and calls to repentance (Luke 13:1–5). His providence constantly reveals both the goodness of the Creator and the wrath of the Judge.

3.10 Describe what God reveals within man.^[10]

1. Through the image of God

• Created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26–27), human nature is imprinted with a representation of God.
• However, remnants or traces of God’s image remained in man after the fall, such that fallen human beings remain superior to beasts (cf. Gen. 1:26; 9:3–6). Like God, we are personal and self-conscious.
• Just as God is personally aware of himself, so human beings created in God’s image are aware of themselves and have the capacity to know one another and God (Gen. 1:26–27).
• God’s image bearers have what Calvin called “an awareness of divinity,” “a certain understanding of his divine majesty,” and a “seed of religion.” (Calvin, Institutes, 1.3.1)

2. Through the human conscience

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. (Rom 2:14–15)

• Paul calls the inner testimony of natural law the “conscience” (suneidēsis, Rom. 2:15), the faculty of the soul that convinces a person that he has offended or pleased God (John 8:9; Acts 23:1; 24:16).

3.11 What are the key Bible passages concerning general revelation?

• Psalm 19:1–6
• Acts 14:15–17
• Acts 17:16–29
• Romans 1:16–32
• Romans 2:11–16