Episode 48 - General Revelation

The Doctrine of General Revelation tells us that no one has an excuse for knowing about God. We often here the argument about some isolated tribe who has never heard the Gospel; and -- how could they be condemned? But the Doctrine stands. Do we really understand this doctrine, and how should it impact our life and our witness?

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Hello, this is Wendell Martens and you're listening to the Teleios Talk podcast, the show that works to build spiritual maturity among Christians so that we would be complete in Christ. Today, we're talking about "General Revelation."

What are we talking about when we mention general revelation? When we look at Christian doctrine we find that the doctrine of revelation has two parts: special revelation, and general revelation. General revelation is simply the revelation of God, His will, and His purpose, through nature and created order.

This is one doctrine which all denominations of Protestants and Catholics can agree. The reason why is because how we understand general revelation is directly tied to how we share the Gospel with those around us. As we will find out, this is the model that evangelists like Ray Comfort use when sharing the Gospel message. 

In short, general revelation is the revelation of the supremacy of God, experienced through the physical universe and human conscience; where the laws of nature display God's attributes - those of His existence, knowledge, wisdom, power, order, greatness, supremacy, righteousness, and goodness - and the innate ability in all persons to discern the difference between right and wrong which is when we experience guilt as a result of an act, or wrong choice. As a result, one of the arguments made for the existence of God is the moral sense in humans.

General revelation in scripture

It is impossible to discuss general revelation without looking at the book of Romans. Although all of Scripture does present the doctrine of general revelation, it is Paul who really fleshes it out and presents it in a concise and logical way in the book of Romans. 

Rabbinical sources point to Psalm 19 when making reference to the doctrine of General Revelation. David writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik wrote in his book ‘The Emergence Of Ethical Man’, “God reveals Himself through the cosmos in natural law… The demarcation line between revelation and nature is almost non-existent… The whole cosmos unfolds itself as a miraculous revelation of God.”

In the collection of the teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (Arizal) called the Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) the nature of God is contemplated and it reads, “The great name that He is called, the four-letter name of YHVH, is thus named because it expresses His eternal existence before creation, during the existence of creation, and after it was transformed into what it is. If the worlds and all that is in them had not been created, the true nature of His eternal existence would not be seen, in the past, present, and future, and He would not be called by the name of YHVH as mentioned above.” [Sefer Etz Chaim 1:1-5, Sefaria.org]

When we read through the writings of Paul we can definitely see Greek philosophy hidden among his thoughts. Known to quote Seneca, Socrates, Plato, and Epimenides; the Aristotelian inspiration behind our understanding of General Revelation in the book of Romans is quite prominent as well.  C. John Collins, Professor of the Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary states, “Romans 2:14–15 contains explicit allusions to three phrases from Aristotle, and … Paul combines these allusions with Old Testament echoes...”[Journal of Markets & Morality Volume 13, Number 1 (Spring 2010): 123–173 Copyright © 2010 - “Echoes of Aristotle in Romans 2:14– 15: Or, Maybe Abimelech Was Not So Bad After All”]

Specifically it is in verse 15 of Romans 2 that we see the argument which states “the work of the Law written in their hearts”. Paul quotes from Aristotle's Treatise, ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ (340 BC)which reads, "the refined and free man will have this manner, being, as it were, a law to himself". Using popular logic and philosophy of the time, the masterful redirection of thought to illustrate the truth of scripture works as another proof of General Revelation. Paul used the expressions of the pagans to underpin the holy inspiration of God. [https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/peters-the-nicomachean-ethics]

Coupled with that, Paul would also have been aware of, and may have even studied, ‘The Wisdom of Solomon’,  which was a contemporary book of Jewish wisdom that had come out of Alexandria (50 BC). In The Wisdom of Solomon 13:1-9, the writer addresses the foolishness of nature worship when he writes: "For all people who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know the one who exists, nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works; but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water, or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world. If through delight in the beauty of these things people assumed them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them. And if people were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much more powerful is the one who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator. Yet these people are little to be blamed, for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him. For while they live among his works, they keep searching, and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful. Yet again, not even they are to be excused; for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?” [https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Wisdom-of-Solomon-Chapter-13/]

That sounds very familiar doesn't it?. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 1:18-23;“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 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, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

Paul knows that God has made Himself evident to both the Jewish people and the Romans, and they have no excuse to ignore the truth of God; even their own philosophers and Rabbis have made that fact plain. Creation screams out the glory of God.

Stepping away in time to the present and classical era we have scholars who, like Paul, see their descriptions of General Revelation falling into a discussion of reasonableness and logic. If General Revelation is logically a reasoned explanation for the existence of God, then what of those who would question or even deny it?

Modern

William Lane Craig states that, “Alvin Plantiga, the most famous Christian philosopher writing today, has argued that atheists are actually dysfunctional cognitively. They have a cognitive dysfunction that prevents them from apprehending God in the way that God created them naturally to do.” [https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3/s3-doctrine-of-revelation/doctrine-of-revelation-part-1]
What he is implying, of course, is that the willful spiritual blindness of these atheists causes a cognitive malfunction as a result of the stubbornness and hard heartedness of their convictions. They hate God and all He represents so much, that it has become, in his words, a cognitive dysfunction. In his ‘Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion’, John Wesley wrote, “I grant the existence of the creatures demonstratively shows the existence of their Creator. The whole creation speaks that there is a God.” (“A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion, Part II,” III.21) 

Wesley struggled with the idea that we could know what God was like based solely on general revelation; meaning that he blurred the lines between general and special revelation positing that all knowledge of God comes through God’s initiative.

Classical

When Anselm wrote his famous book ‘Monologion’, his intention was to investigate a relationship between faith and reason. According to R.C. Sproul, Anselm “argues that since revelation is at the foundation of all truth, the Christian begins by believing and trusting in God’s revelation. In approaching revelation, the Christian does not abandon the intellect. Instead, he grasps the rational coherence of revelation.” [https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/anselm]

Earlier than Anselm, John Chrysostom (347 - 407) wrote, “God has placed the knowledge of Himself in human hearts from the beginning. But this knowledge they unwisely invested in wood and stone. They thus contaminated the truth, at least as far as they were able. Meanwhile the truth itself abides unchanged, possessing its own unchanging glory…. How did God reveal Himself? By a voice from heaven? Not at all! God made a panoply (A splendid display) which was able to draw them by more than a voice. He put before them the immense creation, so that both the wise and the unlearned, the Scythian and the barbarian, might ascend to God, having learned through sight the beauty of the things which they had seen.”[Chrysostom “Homilies on Romans” 3:19 (NPNF 1.11:352)]

And if we wish to investigate further, Origen of Alexandria (185 - 253)wrote this in response to Romans 1:19. “Paul says that “what can be known about God is plain to them” [all the Gentile nations], thereby revealing that there is something about God which can be known, even if there is much that remains unknown…. It appears here that the wrath of God is revealed not to those who are ignorant of the truth, but to those who already know the truth, however imperfectly.” [Origen “Commentarii in Epistulam ad Romanos” (5 vols.; ed T. Heither; Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder, 1990-95]

Microbiologist Michael Behe talks about biology and intelligent design being believed and supported by one third of biologists. But this view is rejected by other biologists on the grounds that if they believe in intelligent design then they have to answer the God question. Some of the ways these biologists have attempted to answer the God question is by postulating aliens came to Earth and spread spores, or shot Rockets into the universe to spread the bits of life. But this notion makes it look like they are suggesting that life comes from magic, and if we are to assume that magic is the origin of life then we have to deal with the evil associated with magic; and this brings more questions. Therefore these biologists circle the wagons to reject the most obvious answer in biology – that there must be intelligent design and therefore there must be a god.

If we are to follow the logic of those who would reject General revelation(or in the sciences ‘intelligent design’) what we are left with is scientific materialism and a desire to reject the difference or understanding of good and evil. So ultimately, the notion of General revelation tells us there must be a god, and so there must be good and evil; and if there is good and evil, then there must be punishment for the evil and the opponents of intelligent design do not want that punishment.

Faced with this evidence and testimony one could assume that general revelation could be resisted; but on the other hand, can one assume then that salvation is possible through our observation of God’s existence shown by general revelation?

Let us talk briefly about the holy pagans. The question is sometimes asked if someone can come to salvation without knowing God. It was something Jonathan Edwards struggled with when he described his neighbors, as a group of unconverted Indians, …excelling "in religion and virtue." Had they seen the revelation of God in His creation? This is an important question and it’s support would not be without precedent. Let’s look into it a bit.

In Ezekiel 14:12–20, the trio of Noah, Job, and Daniel are said to have been saved by their righteousness. Hebrews 11:5–6, mentions Enoch, as one who found grace, exercised faith, lived righteously and was saved. Genesis 6:8, mentions Noah as one who “found favor in the eyes of the Lord". Aside from Ezekiel’s account; Job 1:1 says, Job “was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”  Do you see a theme here? We can keep going: Jethro, Rahab, the widow of Zarephath, Naaman, Nebuchadnezzar, Melchizedek, and Abram.

Christopher J.H. Wright, principle at All Nations Christian College, Ware, England writes, “...it was not only the ancestors of Israel, the recipients of distinctive covenant promises and relationship with God, who appear to receive God's blessing in these narratives. The Old Testament provides quite a catalogue of non-Israelites who are declared righteous, saved or otherwise commended. The term ‘holy pagans’ has been used for such persons. ‘Pagan’ indicates that the persons concerned were not members of the covenant community of God’s people.” [https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/p-for-pentateuch-patriarchs-and-pagans/]

In the Old Testament, then, it appears that there was salvation outside of Judaism; but in the new covenant we are taught that salvation is through Christ alone.This is made plain by Peter’s response to the Jewish rulers and high priest regarding the power of Jesus in Acts 4:12, when he tells them, “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Theologian and Arminian philosopher Jack Cottrell, in his book ‘What the Bible Says about God the Creator’, wrote, “The Bible nowhere teaches that a person can be saved from sin and condemnation through his response to the light of creation alone. General revelation simply does not give us any knowledge of redemption or of the redeemer. . . . Does this mean [people] are condemned on account of their ignorance? Not at all. This would be very unjust. True, they do not know the Gospel, but they are not condemned for not knowing the Gospel. Why then are they condemned? Because they do know general revelation and have not lived up to it. They do know God, and they do know that they should honor him as God and give him thanks, but they do not do this. This is why they are condemned. Not because of what they are ignorant of, but because of what they know. That they have not heard the Gospel is besides the point. When a person is condemned for his abuse of general revelation, the condemnation is just. . . .” [https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3/s3-doctrine-of-revelation/doctrine-of-revelation-part-2]

This is not an easy thing to believe in a time when we are being told that God’s love must mean that no one will be denied an eternity in heaven. But listen to what the Methodist theologian Nathan Bangs wrote 150 years ago. “The Christian revelation is proposed to us under such solemn and awful sanctions, that if true, it cannot be rejected with impunity, but by insuring the severest penalties imaginable; and if not true, the deception of embracing it as truth, can do no possible injury; whereas if true, and we reject it, eternal consequences of the most fatal nature, must insure.” [https://www.yorku.ca/scottm/journals/1800.htm]

In clause 2, of the 1962 declaration on the authority of the Scriptures, the now apostate General Conference of Mennonites in Canada declared, “We believe that though God revealed himself in nature, the fall of man into sin made necessary a special divine revelation in order that man might receive a true knowledge of God.” 
How sad is it that they became so shortsighted and narcissistic, that they rejected the very declaration of faith by which they understood salvation.[https://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=A_Christian_Declaration_on_the_Authority_of_the_Scriptures_(General_Conference_Mennonite_Church,_1962)] 

Jordan Petersen talking to John Lennox said, “Immature people look only at the here and now” This is an indictment against all of us – that we have the general revelation of God all around us and we cannot see it, are not willing to see it, or are willfully blind to the truth of it. Instead, we search for only those things that please us, immediate gratification to shake the hollowness and despair which cling to us, haunting us when we are alone, when we hurt, and when the world around us falls silent. [https://youtu.be/sfI2se3O80Q?si=Wu0SyEGkyw7BtPV1 (1:11:00)]

Russell Brand told Relevant’s Jesse Carey,"There’s a famous quote: “Every man who knocks on a brothel door, he’s looking for God.” Crack houses and these dens of suffering and illicit activity, they’re all people trying to feel good, trying to feel connected. People are trying to escape. People are trying to get out of their own heads. To me, this is a spiritual impetus."The American philosopher Dallas Willard really hit the nail on the head when he said, “Truth is indifferent to human will and desire.”

Before I close, I feel it is necessary to clarify that what we are describing in general revelation is not panentheism, universal spiritualism, or any of the nonsense you read in the heretical nonsense spewed out by Richard Rohr. Trees are not god, animals are not god, humans are not god; but we can see in God’s creation a revelation of who He is; and that is why we are without excuse, and that is why we need Christ for our salvation.

Father God, You have made Yourself known through Your creation. Give us eyes to see and a heart to share this magnificent revelation of Your love, Your existence, and Your plan for every one of us. Amen

Next Month Our topic is "Evil That Men Do". We will be talking about retaliation, anger, and our tainted offering. This is a very relevant topic in the church today as every single one of us is guilty of this evil. I look forward to sharing with you again.