Chapter Two Outline – Natural Revelation
Nature is the revelation of God, and this revelation is always subverted by fallen humanity.
General Revelation is the self disclosure of God to all rational beings, a revelation that comes through the
natural creation and through the makeup of the human nature.
Natural Theology is the attempt to build a theological structure on the basis of general revelation apart
from God’s witness in the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ.
1) What does the Bible say?
a) General revelation in the Old Testament
i) Genesis 1-3
(1) The concept of God as universal Creator is foundational to the canonical vision of
general revelation
(2) Walther Eichrodt – the kind of general revelation affirmed in the rest of the Old and New
Testaments could not be possible with a pantheistic, panentheistic, or animistic God
concept.
ii) Job 38-41
(1) God points to the intricate design of the universe – in terms of the atmosphere, seas,
animal life – as revelations to his sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness.
(2) The relative powerlessness of humanity over the natural order reveals the finitude of
humanity alongside the might of the Creator.
iii) Nature Psalms
(1) Perhaps the clearest proclamation of general revelation in the Hebrew Scripture is found
in Psalm 19 where David etols the goodness of Yahweh in revealing himself both to all
creation in the natural order and to Israel in the Torah of Moses.
(2) Peter Craieg
(3) Psalm 8 considers the self-disclosure of God. The vastness of the universe, the design of
the cosmos. The Creator God, who exercises Lordship over his handiwork, grants to
humanity dominion over the works of his hands, even putting all things under the feet of
his human vice-regents.
(4) Psalm 104 creation is revelatory of the covenant faithfulness and benevolent purposes
of God. Patterns and rhythms.
iv) The Prophetic Writings
(1) Jeremiah – the people of Israel should know not only the faithfulness of God through the
natural order, but should also recognize his sovereign power to keep such promises.
(2) C. John Collins
(3) Isaiah describes the folly of idolatry
(4) Plowing and planting as forms of general revelation
(5) Alec Motyer
(6) Cause and effect laws
(7) J. Budziszewski
v) Proverbs
(1) Cause and effect rules
(2) Tremper Longman
b) General Revelation in the New Testament
i) The Gospels
(1) The Prologue of John
(a) Logos is said to enlighten every man
(b) Logos – a personal being who takes on a human nature
(2) Jesus is a special revelation
ii) Acts 14:8-18
(1) benevolent provision of God
iii) Acts 17:16-34
(1) Stoicism held to a rationalistic pantheism
(2) Epicureanism held to quasi-naturalistic monotheism
(3) Paul appealed to the Athenians
(a) The Divine could not be limited to human temples or human workmanship
(b) Human beings are dependent on God for existence
(c) a Creator of humanity would seek to be acknowledged and found by his creatures
(4) The Areopagus discourse makes clear that Paul believed that all human beings could not
help cognitively apprehend at least some content about God on the basis of General
Revelation
(5) Gordon Lewis
(6) James Dunn – that this creator god has not created a hunger for God within humankind
only to see it unsatisfied.
(7) The Athenians knew God, but they rebelled against him, turning to idols instead.
(8) They knew better than to worship their idols, and thus they were responsible for an
insurgency against their Creator.
(9) Ben Witherington
(10) Apostolic Gospel – the onset of the last days with the sacrificial death and vindication
resurrection of Jesus.
(11) Stoic Philosopher – Marcus Aurelius
(12) The declaration of Christ, resurrection, and judgment was also alien to the Areopagus
because it affirmed the essential goodness of created matter, including the human body.
But the specifically Christian message of revealed doctrines of Christology, Soteriology,
and eschatology are not simply tacked on to the end of Paul’s general revelation
commentary. Rather, this is precisely the case he is making.
iv) Romans 1-3
(1) Arguably the most crucial text on the subject in the entire canon
(2) Revelation of God in nature
(3) Thomas Schreiner
(4) Revelation is found in the nature of the human creatures themselves
(5) argues that creation was worshipped over creator
(6) John Murray
(7) Ernst Kasemann
2) What has the Church Believed?
a) General Revelation in Patristic Theology
i) Irenaeus of Lyons – pg. 9
ii) Justin Martyr – pg. 9
iii) Origen of Alexandria p. 10
iv) Athanasius of Alexandria p. 10
v) Augustine of Hippo p. 10
b) General Revelation in Medieval and Reformation Theology – The debates of the Patristic era
laid a foundation for further discussion in the medieval and Reformation periods, when the
discussion turned to how general revelation could be used in the task of theology.
i) Medieval Catholic Though
(1) Thomas Aquinas
(a) motion in the universe points to an unnamed mover
(b) existence points to a first cause
(c) Contingency points to a Necessary Being
(d) degrees of beauty, truth, and goodness point to a universal standard of perfection
(e) design in the natural order points to a designer
(2) Eugene Rogers
ii) Martin Luther
(1) Maintained a general revelation in creation and the human conscience
(2) 1518 Heidelberg Disputation
iii) John Calvin
(1) Articulated a more systematic vision of general revelation, one that would set the pace
for Reformed thought for centuries
(2) Cognitive atheism, in the strictest sense, is impossible.
iv) Post-Reformation Protestantism
(1) Westminster Confession of Faith
(2) English Calvinism
(3) Princeton and southern Presbyterian traditions of American Calvinism
(4) Jonathan Edwards – the pinnacle of American Puritan theology
(5) Dutch Reformed stream of Calvinism
(a) Abraham Kuyper and Herman Bavinck
c) General Revelation in Modern Theology – took up the task of interpreting general revelation,
especially in relation to epistemology, anthropology, and soteriology
i) Natural Theology p. 13
(1) William Paley
(2) Assumptions on natural theology were challenged by
(a) David Hume
(b) Immanuel Kant
(c) Charles Darwin
(3) 18th and 19th century natural theology was more compatible with Deism
ii) Protestant Liberalism p.13
(1) Friedrich Schleiermacher
(2) Albrecht Ritschl
(3) Adolf Von Harnack
iii) Neoorthodoxy p.14
(1) Emil Brunner
(2) Karl Barth
(3) imago Dei
(4) Church Dogmatics – Barth’s response to Brunner
iv) Contemporary Theologies p.14
(1) Wolfhart Pennanberg
(2) Karl Rahner
(3) Gustavo Gutierrez
(4) Process theologians
(5) Puralist theologians
(6) John Hicks
v) Evangelical Theology p.14
(1) Cornelius Van Til
(2) Gordon Clark
(3) Donald Bloesch
(4) Carl F.H. Henry – possibly the most significant evangelical thinker on the issue of general
revelation
(5) Intelligent Design
vi) Baptist Theology p. 15
(1) 1689 London Baptist Confessional of Faith
(2) English Baptist
(3) John Gill
(4) Andrew Fuller
(5) John L. Dagg
(6) James P. Boyce
(7) Augustus Hopkins Strong
(8) Edgar Young Mullins
(9) Walter Thomas Conner
(10) Dale Moody
(11) Molly Marshall
(12) William Hendricks
3) How does it all fit together? p.16
a) The Reality of General Revelation p.16
i) General Revelation and the Natural Creation
ii) General Revelation and Human Creatures
b) The Purpose of General Revelation
c) The Limits of General Revelation
4) How does this doctrine impact the church today?
a) General Revelation and the Great Commission
b) General Revelation and Spiritual Formation
c) General Revelation and the Cultural Mandate
5) Conclusion
