[Revelation of God in Nature] [Dual Revelation] [General Revelation] [Special Revelation] [Old Testament on Dual Revelation] [New Testament on Dual Revelation] [Calvin's sensus divinitatis] [Implications of Dual Revelation Theology] [Dual Revelation Theology and Sola Scriptura]

Revelation of God in Nature

As we have previously indicated, the Bible is generally considered to be the first and only witness for God.  But, the Bible clearly states that Creation is also a witness for the existence, majesty, and characteristics of God.  This becomes particularly important when we realize that everybody – with the exception of very few – has an opportunity in this life to experience God through creation.  Often, we become so familiar with God’s creation that we just simply don’t recognize what a wonder it really represents.  Nonetheless, it is possible to develop a rather complete theology just through the observation of nature.  Of course, it is not nearly as developed as with God’s Word, but it does allow us to come to a knowledge of God – the Christian God – as we will see.

The creation according to Romans 1, reveals essential truths about God’s existence, so much so that it would include God’s desire to form a relationship with man.  The Bible includes the account of Job, a non-Jew who without the aid of Scriptures and in opposition to the religious views of his day, came to a knowledge of all the essential elements of the gospel; the good news as to how man can find eternal life with God.  Here are some of the elements of the Creation Gospel,

a. A Creator must exist.  Much of this Web site is devoted to the understanding of the necessity for the existence of God; to believe otherwise is to ignore modern science – and especially modern cosmology.
b. The Creator must have awesome power.  The quantity of material in the Universe is beyond belief or understanding.  This has been particularly revealed to man recently; only in this century has the extent of the universe become known so we of all people should stand in awe of the Creator’s majesty and power.
c. The Creator must be loving.  The balance, order, and sheer beauty of the universe and physical laws and relationship are magnificent.  This order demonstrates God is loving rather than capricious.  The desire to protect and nurture their young seen in many creatures of nature would only make sense if their Creator had the same capacity.  The beauty and amazing complexity of ecosystems makes it clear that all life on this planet has been created to be in balance with other life.
d. The Creator must be just and requires justice.  Human beings have a conscience; when there is conscience, there is guilt when this conscience is violated.  The intrinsic knowledge of right and wrong as seen in the laws of most civilizations and societies throughout the world – even the most primitive – implies that the creator has bestowed this knowledge with His creation
e. Each of us falls short of the Creator’s standard.  We incur guilt when we violate the “natural law” so discussed by the Founding Fathers of this country.  This moral code includes our actions of course, but also our words and even our thoughts.  But who can keep themselves in total alignment with God all the time?  Indeed, if we all fall short of the standard set forth in our own laws, how much more so do we fall short of the standards set forth by God?
f.  Because the Creator is indeed wise and loving as we discussed before, He would make provisions for us to renew and redeem ourselves with Him.  God’s loving kindness would somehow make for us a way to come to God despite our own short comings.
g. If we accept this “way” to come to God, and abandon our own sinful means to try to satisfy God ourselves, then we will find forgiveness for all our short comings as God’s wisdom allows His justice to be satisfied by His love and mercy.

Dual Revelation

How does a person know that God exists?  And if God does actually exist, what can be known about His person, nature, and attributes?  What is God’s relationship with the world, and what does God desire of mankind?

The historic Christian response to these questions is found in the doctrine of revelation.  Revelation refers to the disclosure of something that was previously unknown.  From a Christian perspective, revelation refers to the self-disclosure of God.  The Christian faith proclaims that God has taken the initiative and has dramatically and decisively revealed Himself to humanity.  Christianity is thus a religion of revelation, and that revelation is essential if we are truly to know God.  Evangelical theologian Milliard J. Erickson notes, “Because humankind is finite and God is infinite, we cannot know God unless he reveals himself to us, that is unless he manifests himself as humans in such a way that they can know and fellowship with him.”(1)

God has revealed himself to mankind in two distinct ways; through His world (general revelation; knowledge of God via the created order), and His word (special revelation; knowledge of God via redemptive history).  This article will briefly explore the Christian concept of dual revelation by examining two of the most important passages of Scripture that explicitly address this subject, and by addressing how these two forms of revelation, God’s World and God’s Word, properly relate to each other. Christian theologians have expressed a wide divergence of opinion regarding the concept of divine dual revelation.  This diversity is especially pronounced when it comes to the question as to the nature, extent and efficacy of general revelation, and what it means to the salvation of those who have not had the privilege of specific revelation.(2)

On one side of the theological spectrum is the Swiss theologian Karl Barth (1886-1868), who was unwilling to accept any revelation other than the salvation experience in Christ (a virtual dismissal of all general or natural revelation).  On the other side is the Anglican theologian William Paley (1743-1805), who constructed an expansive “natural theology” (that is, the human interpretation of general revelation apart from the Bible.)

Despite the difference of opinion as to the meaning of general revelation, there has been and there still remains a general consensus among most Christian theologians that God has made Himself known through both methods of revelation.(3)  How has Christian theology – especially evangelical Protestantism) defined these two forms of revelation?

General Revelation

God’s existence, power, wisdom, majesty, righteousness, and glory are manifested to all people at all times in all places (generally available) through the created order, which includes nature, history, and the inner human conscience.(4)

General revelation itself takes two forms.  First, there is external general revelation that consists of the created order or natural (reflecting God’s work as the caring transcendent Creature of the world) and God’s providential ordering of history and science (reflecting God’s work as the sovereign Sustainer of the world.)  Second, there is internal general revelation that includes both an innate sense and an awareness of God and the moral law of conscience to the human person.  Thus, both an individual’s conscience (internal general revelation), and understanding of the order of nature and history (external general revelation) proclaim the existence and sovereignty of God.

Special Revelation

God’s more specific and direct method of self-disclosure comes in and through His great redemptive actions, events, and words.(5)  It is so-called because this form of revelation comes at specific times and in special places.  This detailed unveiling comes in two stages.

First, He manifested h=Himself through the covenant peoples of God such as the Hebrew patriarchs, prophets, and kinds (as recorded and interpreted by prophets in the Old Testament). 

Second, God’s revelation culminated decisively in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the God-man. God’s climactic entrance into human history is chronicled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as recorded and interpreted by the apostles in the New Testament.(6)

Biblically speaking, the agent of all revelation is the divine Logos or the eternal Word and Son who “gives light to every man” – John 1:9).  Special revelation was defined by evangelical theologian Carl F.H. Henry as,

“The special revelation in sacred history is crowned by the incarnation of the living Word and the inscripturation of the spoken word.  The gospel of redemption is therefore not merely a series of abstract theses unrelated to specific historical events; it is the dramatic news that god has acted in saving history, climaxed by the incarnation person and work of Christ (Hebrews 1:2) for the salvation of lost humankind.”(7)

This general/special revelation distinction, though theologically helpful, is not perfect, and can be viewed as somewhat artificial.  This distinction should not be drawn too sharply, for God’s revelation is, ultimately, a unity.

Evangelical theologian Robert L. Saucy suggests that knowing God through His dual sources of revelation is analogous to knowing a human artist.  While one can know something significant of the artist by viewing his or her work (general revelation), an expansive and more specific knowing comes through interpersonal communication (special revelation) with the artist.

Protestant theologians have sometimes called this dual view of revelation the “two books theory.”  God is the author of both the figurative book of nature (God’s world), and the literal book of Scripture (God’s written Word).  The Belgic Confession (a Reformed Confession of 1561) uses this two-books metaphor under the Article 2 heading “The Means by White We Know God”:

“We know him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since the universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God … Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own.”(8)

The Old Testament on Dual Revelation

In the Old Testament, a major text supporting this two-volume view of revelation is Psalm 19:1-4, 7-11 (below).  In verses 1-4, the inspired psalmist David reflects on the glory of God revealed in the created order.  Christian theologian Bruce Demarest discerned four characteristics of God’s general revelation that David notes in creation;(9)

Verse 1: The revelation in the created order shows forth “the divine glory (Hebrew: Kabod).(10)  Nature clearly manifests the creator’s existence, power, splendor, and craftsmanship.

Verse 2: The revelation in the created order is “perpetual and uninterrupted.”(11) The message (“speech” and “knowledge”) about God’s existence and attributes in nature is continual and constant, bombarding mankind’s consciousness.

Verse 3: The revelation in the created order is “wordless and inaudible.”(12)  Nature’s enduring and striking message about God is, nonetheless, nonpropositional and silent.

Its non-verbal nature, however, does not detract from its communicative power.  Still, its generality illustrates the tremendous importance of a specific verbal follow-up, or special revelation.

Verse 4: The revelation in the created order is “worldwide in scope.”(12)  The message about the world’s creator is universal (“to the ends of the world”).  Therefore, we should understand God’s revelation in creation as extending to all people, at all times, everywhere.

In verses 7-11, David switches focus to reflect on the perfect nature of God’s written Law. He extols God’s statutes, precepts, commands, and ordinances, and the virtue that results from embracing and following them.

God’s written revelation nurtures the life of God’s people.  Through the written word, God uniquely revives the soul.  As the Apostle Paul counseled his associate Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15-17:

[F]rom infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

In this second book, the infinite God condescends and makes Himself known personally, propositionally, and verbally, for the very purpose of salvation.

The New Testament on Dual Revelation

In the New Testament, the most important text discussing general and special revelation is Romans 1:18-21,(13)

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  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.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The Apostle Paul’s language in this passage is powerfully clear.  He asserts that all people “see” the glory of God reflected in the created order, they “understand” its divine implications, and thus “know” that the Creator exists (verses 18-20).”(14)

Twice in three verses Paul uses a form of the Greek word “ginosko” (to know by personal experience): In verse 19 (“what may be known about God”), and in verse 21 (“For “although they knew God”)

In the broader context of verses 18-32, Paul four times mentions that men know God.  In Greek, these expressions convey the idea that all people have an authentic, objective, and accurate knowledge of God – although that knowledge is rudimentary in nature.

A careful exegesis of Paul’s statements reveals that an elementary knowledge of God is plain to all people, and this knowledge is not vague or ambiguous.  God’s “eternal power and divine nature” are clearly reflected in nature.  Therefore, no one can legitimately claim the excuse that they did not know there was a God.  God has not left Himself without a witness (also Acts 14:7, 17:24-31).

While Paul indicates that each person has a true knowledge of God as communicated through the created order, he adds that the natural predisposition of fallen man is to suppress this knowledge of God.  The Greek word for “suppress” means “to hold down or hinder illegally.”(15)  Man’s state of sinful rebellion leads him to “suppress the truth.”

Paul leaves no doubt that man’s fallen condition has dulled his “noetic” faculties (his cognitive and/or belief-forming faculties) into moral and spiritual obtuseness.  As to the exact nature and extent of the Fall’s effects on man’s noetic capacities, Bible scholars offer varied estimates and intriguing questions. For example: Is the category of sinful effects a moral or cognitive one, or both? And is the extent partial or total?

Regardless of one’s answers, it seems clear that as the subject of discussion and study gets closer to that of man acknowledging God, the greater the effects of sin appear to be.  Consider Millard Erickson’s interesting comments,

“Sin’s distortion of human understanding of the general revelation is greater the closer one gets to the relationship between God and humans.  Thus, sin produces relatively little obscuring effect upon the understanding of matters of physics, but a great deal with respect to matters of psychology and sociology.  Yet it is at those places – where the potential for distortion is greatest – that the most complete understanding is possible.”(16)

So while man knows there is a God via general revelation, apart from the special grace of God working n his life he will autonomously choose not to believe (Romans 3:10-12).  Thus, it is the work of the Holy Spirit through the content of special revelation (Preaching the gospel of redemption in Christ) that results in man’s response of faith (Romans 10:17; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).  God’s grace heals the fallen human will and illuminates the mind, and special revelation corrects the distortions that people have concerning general revelation (Ephesians 2:4-6, and 4:17-24; Philippians 2:12-13).

The great majority of Protestant evangelical theologians agree that general revelation cannot save, though it can and will serve to condemn the unbelief of man (Romans 1:20).  Because of general revelation, the so-called atheists of the world will not be able to justify their unbelief on the grounds that there was an insufficiency of evidence as to God’s existence.

In this way, special revelation reinforces the truth of general revelation, and general revelation supports the truth of special revelation.  God’s two types of revelation therefore complement one another.

Calvin’s sensus divinitatis

Protestant reformer and biblical scholar John Calvin (1509-1564), in his Institutes of Christian Religion, wrote of man possessing the “sensus divinitatis,” or sense of the divine.  In Calvin’s words,

“There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity.  This we take to be beyond controversy.  To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretence of ignorance, God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty.”(17)

Historical theologian Richard Muller says Calvin meant this sense of the divine as “a basic, intuitive perception of the divine existence – generated in all men through their encounter with the providential ordering of the world.”(18)  Given Paul’s statements in Romans 1:18-21, and Calvin’s provocative interpretation of this passage, one may consider the following apologetic theory concerning the knowability of God:(19)

Because God created human beings in His image, they were born with an innate knowledge or awareness of Him.  This knowledge or awareness of God is intuitive, nor discursive (that is, it is an immediate or instinctual awareness, not dependent upon logical deduction), though clearly there is a rational evidence in support of God’s existence.

This innate divine intuition is triggered or becomes especially pronounced when humans observe the natural order, recognize the providential ordering of history, or reflect upon their inner moral obligations of conscience.  The Fall, however, has caused man’s noetic equipment to malfunction, resulting in distortion, thus humans resist this powerful divine impulse.

God’s grace through the Holy Spirit is therefore mandatory if humans are to gain a correct, complete, and saving knowledge of God.  The preaching of the gospel is the normative means by which this intuition becomes actualized as saving faith.  Calvin also spoke of the Scriptures as a pair of “spectacles” that enables people to read the book of nature properly.

Implications of Dual Revelation Theory

In light of Christian theology’s dual revelation concept, several questions deserve careful and thoughtful consideration.

       a.       What is the relationship between the two sources of revelation?  The two sources of revelation from the same infinitely perfect God are equally inspired and mutually reinforce and complement one another.  After all, all truth is from God, and they are both mutually inclusive.

Scripture instructs us to take the message of general revelation seriously, and the created order illustrates the need for the specificity and completeness of special revelation’s message.  In other words, general revelation points toward special revelation, and general revelation provides a basis for accepting special revelation.

Ultimately, divine revelation is a unity.  However, it is appropriate to distinguish between the two types of revelation, but they should never be segregated.  The proper balance between the two forms of revelation is negatively affected when the nature, extent, and efficacy of general revelation is neither exaggerated nor diminished.

b.    What should we do when the sources of revelation seem to conflict?  Properly understood, God’s world (nature) and God’s Word (Scripture) are two separate revelations (one physical and one verbal) from the same Creator, will never contradict each other.  The facts of nature will not conflict with the factual assertions of Scripture.

However, human interpretation of these sources of revelation may indeed contradict and would, therefore, stand in need of correction.  Special revelation can and should correct human misinterpretations about general revelation.  And general revelation (for example, archaeology or astronomy) can help to correct misinterpretations about special revelation – though to a lesser extent, because of Scripture’s specificity and unique prepositional nature (expressed in the form of logical truth claims; a verbal, factual revelation).(20)

Christians should take what God has revealed in nature and in Scripture seriously and be willing to honestly and humbly test their interpretations of both.  Christians must be humble and wise enough to recognize that there may be a difference between their opinions of what the biblical text says, and that the biblical text actually does say.(21)

Does the concept of dual revelation contradict the principle of sola scriptura?

No. 

While recognizing the value of general revelation, evangelical Christianity holds that in all matters that Scripture addresses, it is the final and supreme authority for the church and for the individual Christian.  Is Scripture all of the truth that God has given us?  No.  God clearly supplies us, through general revelation, with many important truths that He does not explicitly spell out in special revelation (such as mathematics, logical, and scientific principles).  And we must emphasize that God authored or inspired general revelation just as much as He inspired special revelation. Yet, the Bible is still the final and prevailing truth, because of its specificity, its unique prepositional nature,(22) and because it is self-authenticating (God’s verbal revelation speaks for itself) in such a way that general revelation is not.  Scripture, through the work of the Holy Spirit, corrects man’s idolatrous misinterpretation of general revelation.  In this way, special revelation correlates and unifies the whole revelation of God(23). Thus, one can affirm the full importance of general revelation and also stand on the principle of sola scriptura.

In Hebrews 1:1-3, the writer lucidly focuses attention upon the source of Christian revelation, and how God intends for us to prioritize his revelations to man:

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us y his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provoked purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

References

1. Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker, 1998, 33.

2. Millard, J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker, 1998, 178-9.

3. Bruce A. Demarest, “General Revelation,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell, (Grand Raids, MI, Baker, 1984, 944-945.

4. General revelation texts, regarding: 1) “nature” – Job 36:25; 38:;1-39; Psalm 19:1-4, 104:1-35, 148:1-14; Daniel 59-63, Acts 14:15-17; 17:24-31 2) “history” – Job 12:23; Psalm 47:7-8; 66:7; Isaiah 10:3-13; Daniel 2:21; acts 17:26 3) “conscience” – Genesis 1:26-27; John 1:9; Roans 2:11-16.

5. Special revelation texts; a few of many: John 20:31; 2 Tim. 3:1-17; Hebrews 1:1-4.

6. Christian theologian and apologist Robert M. Bowman, Jr. suggests a slightly different but insightful way of analyzing special revelation. He noted, “I would suggest speaking of special revelation as taking two forms: First, that of the living Word who acted on Israel’s behalf in the Old Testament, and became Incarnate in Jesus Christ. Second, that of the verbal Word, which was spoken through prophets and apostles and written down in Scripture.”

7. Carl F.H. Henry, “Special Revelation,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.

8. Belgic Confession (Art. 2) in Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions (Grand Rapids, MI, CC Publications, 1988, 79.

9. Demarest, 94.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Erickson, Christian Theology, 191-194.

14. Demarest, 945

15. John Jefferson Davis, Handbook of Basic Bible Texts (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 1984, 22.

16. Erickson, Christian Theology, 198-199.

17. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill (Piladelphia, The Westminster Press, n.d.) 43.

18. Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1985, s.v., “sensus divinitatis.”

19. Contemporary Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga has presented a philosophical argument that builds upon Calvin’s idea.  He delivered a lecture on this topic at Biola University 26 February, 1999.

20. John Frame, Apologetics to the Glory of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1984, 22-26.

21. The science of biblical interpretation is called “Hermeneutics.”  For a popular hermeneutics text, see R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity 1977); for a more technical work see Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker, 1970).

22. Robert L. Saucy suggests that general revelation provides data that must then be assembled in logical propositions (interpreted); whereas special revelation comes directly as logical propositions (as inspired interpretation.

23. Henry, 946.

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