Natural Theology

With a word of prayer, let's open our Close our eyes and good Lord Father. We thank you for the opportunity to again come together in this course in systematic theology and Have an opportunity to look at various types of theologies as we begin this course.

Father we have already examined Roman Catholicism and now as we move to the subject of natural theology. I pray that you would give me Wisdom you would keep me from error. That you would open the hearts of your people to the truth and that through this they would be Both instructed and built up in their faith.

We thank you for all of this and we give you glory honor and praise in Jesus precious name.

Amen.

Defining Natural Theology and Its Epistemological Basis

Well, if you have your books Please open them to page four. If you if you don't we have the page from the book photocopied. When I first was going through this I said, uh, I said, you know I wonder if I'm going to be able to fill an entire session just on the subject of natural theology.

Because the book doesn't say a lot about it. But at the same time as I was as I was this week preparing my own set of notes now I'm worried. I'm not going to be able to get through it all in just one session, but that's the goal.

Today is to sort of go through everything on this section about natural theology in one sitting. Let's go ahead and define what we mean by natural theology based on what the book is calling it in the definition.

The definition of natural theology is the attempt to attain an understanding of God and his relationship to the universe by means of rational reflection. Without appealing to special revelations such as the self-revelation of God in Christ and.

In.

Scripture, so that is the definition of natural theology essentially to simplify all that that says is to can we or Are we able to come to a knowledge of God? naturally apart from any Special revelation.

That's the question that natural theology seeks to answer. You look like you want to. Sure. And We are going to look at some of those scriptures in a moment because natural theology Doesn't come naturally.

People go and produce Natural theology as a belief system from what the scripture says. Which is kind of seems like it would be ironic that they're they're coming to natural theology from what the scripture says.

All men are able to do all men have the capacity for. So we're going to look at that in a moment because what we're going to discover is that natural theology. I'll go put something on the board for you to just kind of begin the brain flung.

Natural theology deals with the antithesis between what we call.

General revelation.

And that's not revelation as in the book of Revelation, but how God has revealed himself in general revelation and what we would call.

Special.

Revelation. So these are the these are the two things that really are going to be the focus whenever we begin to kind of look at. What do we mean by natural theology? And what do we mean by? Is natural theology?

Sufficient to lead someone to a knowledge of the truth. That's an important question because that's the real crux of the matter general revelation and special revelation. I'm going to step back now. We are talking about natural theology, but really natural theology comes from natural Revelation, so if you want to under general revelation just in a sense you can call it general or natural.

Revelation.

Now let's just kind of unpack what I'm saying here.

Theology.

Is how we understand God it Logos is the is the word or the study of something and if you think about theology, it's the study of God and Natural indicates that which is that which is inherent or inborn or from nature.

So natural theology is from natural revelation and The question of course continues to be can a person understand God through natural revelation. And we're going to answer that question as we go, but let's look now on your paper at the epistemological Foundation first of all what is epistemology anyone know have you ever heard anyone say that?

Epistemology you ever heard of epistemology? Epistemology is how we know what we know or How do we have the worldview or where did our worldview come from? Epistemology is dealing with worldview. In fact in a couple weeks.

I'm going to be teaching at a local Private school they the teacher who is a pastoral friend of mine asked me to substitute teach for him for two Classes on the subject of worldview because that's what he teaches.

So I've got to prepare a little lesson that I'm going to be doing for two weeks There at his school. But that's what epistemology is epistemology is. How do we know what we know. And where do our worldview essentially come from where does it come from?

Well the epistemological foundation for natural theology is this God is eternal unchanging sovereign holy Personal God creator of the universe all that we would give a hearty amen to I hope As much as we affirm as reformed Christians eternal and changing sovereign holy personal.

Yes. Amen. Amen, but how do they come to that conclusion? Okay. Well, we're getting there. Again, remember what I said earlier the natural theology doesn't come from nature. Natural theology is something that people are extrapolating from Scripture and it's saying that other men can know this naturally that God is.

Well, let's just go and let me read this. He has everything in his control and through his eternal decrees from eternity has planned the future. It is done in such a way that he is not morally responsible for evil.

That's what they believe. And all those things are true. I would affirm everything in that epistemological foundation. So based on that epistemology that worldview that God is eternal and changing sovereign holy personal and the Creator.

He's done everything in his control and he's not responsible for evil, but yet he is in control of all things. Okay, we would all agree with that at least at least a tacitly we'd say okay. We agree on the basis of what that's saying knowing that.

We step out and say, okay. What about those people who have never been exposed to special revelation? That's that's that's what natural theology seeks to answer. As you have those people who have received special revelation, which is a minority of the world.

Would you agree? Would you agree that the minority of the world has been exposed to special revelation? Hmm. Yeah, I would have to say yes. I would have to say that most of the people in China if they've heard anything about the Bible it has not been.

To the level or extent of course of what you guys have it certainly is not it is not. Whatever whatever special revelation they've been exposed to has probably been in a negative sense not in a positive sense and it hasn't been preached to them in such a way as to Give them a right understanding of it.

So special revelation and then general revelation goes to everyone. Everyone is exposed to general revelation. So the question is then is general revelation or natural revelation enough and here is the The next block on your sheet the revelation or the relation to reveal theology.

Natural theology deals with God's existence and attributes from sources common to all men and creation. Tells us God exists. Logical reasoning teaches us that God exists. Whereas revealed theology deals with specific truth discerned from the scripture natural theology requires reason alone.

Whereas revealed theology requires also faith and the illumination of the spirit. That's an important sentence. Natural theology requires Reason alone. That should tell us something about it right there that it's deficient.

Yes.

I'm used to the term naturalism. Okay, not the same. It's not the same as natural theology. It's natural theology kind of like trying to bring naturalism into a Christian concept. No.

Naturalism is a focus on nature is a focus on That which is natural as being the the highest of virtuous things. Naturalism is not the focus of natural theology. Natural theology. When I get to explaining general and special revelation in a moment, it'll make it clear.

I'm just trying to go through what the book says first and then I'm gonna get to my notes. Which I think will help clear some of this up. The purpose of natural theology. Natural theology can be used apologetically to prove the existence of God.

I would not agree with that sentence.

But I.

Understand what he's saying. The writer here who has written this note. He says natural theology can be used to apologetically. Prove the existence of God. I don't think that you can prove the existence of God.

I don't think that you can disprove the existence of God. I do think that there is an element of faith That's always going to be involved. The idea I I think it was I Don't know it may have been Bonson but No, it was a Bonhoeffer who said.

He said a God who would allow us to absolutely prove his existence would be an idol. God is higher than our understanding and there is a point at which we have to express faith. So I said the idea of proving.

Whereas, you know, I heard Ray Comfort will say well you have a painting there's a painter you have a building. There's a builder. That's evidence of a creator. Well evidence for something is not proof.

It's evidence. We define evidence by that. Yes, sir. The.

Everyone will be without excuse. Yes, everyone. Everyone knows deep down that there's a God if they're a the absolutely because they suppress it. Absolutely. Oh, it's like So camp. I mean, he's not gonna be able to says well nobody proved it to me.

Well, you knew it.

So here's proof was in your heart. Okay, but what you are doing is proving my point. Okay, the evidence for God's existence God has placed there, right? So I don't need all this other thing to prove anything and I can't use these other things to prove anything.

What proves it is what's already there and I'm gonna get there in a minute under under general revelation. The proof is already there. My point though is that I can't take you to a rock and say this rock formation proves God's existence.

Well, there's an awful lot of evidence and it's like how well I said it's evidence. I'm not arguing.

I don't see you need before it actually becomes.

Yeah, but here's my argument. Evidence is evidence for everybody. But yeah, but here's my argument man doesn't need evidence. Man doesn't need evidence because God has already placed in his heart a knowledge of him.

To support a man's unbelief by simply offering him evidences and say you get to be the judge Does God exist or not is the wrong way to do apologetics? Because we're saying to the person here is the evidence you decide you're the judge.

No, you're not. God has placed the knowledge of him in your heart. You are a rebel not a judge. So that's what I'm saying. I take a different apologetic approach. I take a presuppositional approach that God not only has revealed himself generally But he has revealed himself to every man in his heart of hearts and every man will be without excuse.

So I agree with you and I agree with you but in a different way. So you're both right, but you're both wrong. You're both right, I'm just saying when I see this man say natural theology Can be used to prove the existence of God.

I know what he's saying, but I think he's saying too much. I Don't think the proof of the existence of God comes from evidence. That might help that I think that I think the sentence itself is lacking so I love you guys.

You're both right. I'm not. I'm not channel, huh? No, no, no, no, yeah, that's what I want this interactive class.

Existence makes no sense. There's no matter and energy. Had to come from somewhere. You can't have something from nothing anything. The fact that there's anything here at all. X knee below knee. He'll fit that.

There's a Latin out of my higher power. Nothing comes.

Okay, I do want to move on. I haven't got through my notes yet. But I do like the second sentence here. It says it also supports a real theology that I believe is true. I believe that when we look at the natural world, it does provide a support of what the scripture says.

The Bible tells us and we're going to look at the scripture in a moment. The heavens do what? Declare the glory of God. So there is a natural thing that this that the world does to support the scripture.

The scripture tells us God is omniscient.

Omnipotent.

Omnipresent and in nature testifies to that truth. So yes, there is a hand-in-hand working between natural revelation and special revelation. Okay, so. Again it goes on it says thus natural revelation.

Wait a minute. Where are we at? Okay, if the conclusions of natural theology are accepted then it would be reasonable also to accept revealed theological truth. Thus natural theology has an evangelistic purpose.

What it's saying is if you can show God in nature. You can lead someone to God in special revelation. That's typically called.

Evidential.

Apologetics if you've ever read the book evidence that demands a verdict by McDowell is Josh McDowell and then there's the book By the guy you just mentioned Lee Strobel, which is Jesus on trial. No the case for Christ and the case for faith both of those books are Coming from the evidentialist Perspective which says that we arrive at a knowledge of God by first starting at a neutral point whereby we begin to examine all of the evidence and the evidence the preponderance of the evidence Proves to us the existence of a God.

I Hope you see the problem with that Because it doesn't prove any God specifically just a God generically. And it's basing who is the judge Man is the judge. So while again, I don't deny that evidences are important I say evidences are always insufficient and they're unnecessary.

I Did that because the man already knows God exists, huh? I started from zero. I kind of did that when I was young.

I'm like, well, you think you know, I went. I don't Know what you're saying? Hey pasta, that's the question of the universe. What's happy pasta, isn't that good? What's happening? I never that's well, that's the thing.

I did not do because when I got there I said, okay. Now what's what's the next step? Where am I going to find out the truth?

Okay that right here already had a presupposition that that was the truth. So you are working off presupposition.

There is a God. He would have left me some evidence. Oh here.

Everyone I see this is the thing the scientist who doesn't believe in God will say I'm absolutely rational and I have no Presuppositions. I go where the evidence takes me but his first all All-encompassing Presupposition is what's called anti?

Supernaturalism because he's already determined what he will and will not accept his evidence. So he's already telling us he has a presupposition. He says I will go where the evidence tells me and I see but upon what basis do you determine?

What is and what is not evidence? Well upon my own rational thinking. So who then becomes the arbiter of truth? You and if you are right and atheism is true Then all you are is a grown-up germ and why would you ever trust the brain?

Which is simply the product that the the last result of a process of millions of years of random chance. It's like a soda pop if you had diet pepper diet Dr. Pepper and a diet Mountain Dew and you shook them both up.

You would have a lot of mixing around molecules in those two bottles. What's the same things going on in your brain? Why trust that anymore than you trust a bottle of soda pop if I put those two bottles of soda pop out here open them Up and said debate you would say that's stupid because neither one of them have any logical reasoning power.

How do you have logical reasoning power? Well through the process of evolution? What is it about evolution that makes you think your logic is correct? What is it about evolution that makes you think that you have any real ability to reason truth from error?

It was CS Lewis I'm not a huge fan of but CS Lewis does say good things from time to time and one of the things that he did Reference he said the person who says they arrive at atheism from logic has to shut off the idea that they can do that.

It's impossible to arrive at atheism. Logically because you're having to say that logic is something that you know for sure you have and yet you can't know anything in the naturalistic worldview. Because you can't know anything for sure is true because you don't know that you are not simply nuts.

How do you know that you're not nuts I?

Think a good example of that is when they were the atheists were debating they say okay. Let's let's debate, but I want you to leave out the scripture. Yeah. Okay, we'll debate. Then you leave out your reasoning because that's where you're getting yours from if you leave out your reasoning.

I don't allow that they say leave out scripture. I say there's no way. There's no way for the believer to leave out scripture. And because the best we can do without scripture Is to purport is to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that there may be a God.

That's all you can do without scripture is prove on preponderance of the evidence that there may be a God. Based upon the evidence, and you don't know what God it is. You don't know who he is or what he's done.

You just know the evidence points to the possibility of a God. Okay, that's all the evidence can do. That's why I say evidence itself is insufficient. So now having said all that I want to move to the difference Between general revelation special revelation, and why is it that we would consider natural revelation or natural theology to be insufficient?

General Revelation and Special Revelation

Okay now very quickly I'm using two phrases interchangeably, and I should be clear natural theology is what we do. Natural revelation is what God does. God is the one who gives revelation. Theology is how we understand his revelation you understand the difference.

Okay, there has to be a distinction not necessarily a separation. There has to be a distinction between that which is revealed by God and that which is Understood by man because would you agree that all that God reveals is infallible.

Because God reveals it right, but would you also agree that we have not interpreted it infallibly. Yes. Absolutely, so theology is the fallible interpretation of an infallible revelation. Yeah, I should write that down.

That sounded pretty good. It's a it's a theology is a fallible interpretation of an infallible revelation. That's going on a shirt, baby.

So.

Let's look now at the difference between general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is General in two ways, and we're gonna kind of break down here. It's general in two ways one it is general in its content and.

And two it is general in its audience. It's general in its content, and it's general in its audience. Let's talk first about content. General revelation meaning that which comes by nature and by Simply by the world around us and what is within us the conscience Does not give specific information about God.

We don't discern the Trinity through natural revelation. We don't discern the process or plan of salvation through natural revelation. We don't come to the understanding of who Jesus Christ is who the Holy Spirit is or any of those things through natural revelation.

So the content this is why we call it general Revelation versus special revelation. General revelation deals first with general content. The second thing is the audience. General revelation is not Limited to a special or specific people, but general revelation is given to all people.

Now that is how it is general now. Let's look. How it is revealed. So we'll go from over here that we talk about general. It's revealed in two ways. One it is revealed through Immediate General revelation and.

Immediate.

General revelation. All right, so let's talk for a moment about what those mean often when we think about the word immediate. What do we think? Quickly. All right, that's not what it means in this context.

Okay, just like con Contend or content and and. You know their words to the same word can mean yeah, yeah hominins. Well, this is it's the same word. But in this particular instance immediate means through a mediary or intermediary.

Immediate means without a mediator or intermediary. So when we talk about immediate general revelation. We're going to look at our Bibles now. We're going to open our scriptures together. We've already looked we've already mentioned psalm 91, but I want somebody to read it.

So if somebody will open their Bible to psalm 19 1 and then if somebody's doing that miss Anne looks like she's headed for it. So why don't somebody else? Rob psalm 97 6 and then. Don you you're looking to how about Romans 1 18 to 23?

Okay. All right. You've got 19 1.

Okay.

The word firmament there simply refers to the sky above us. The sky proclaims his handiwork. So the heavens declare God's glory. The sky above proclaims his Handiwork that he is actually the the the creator is seen in creation.

You know if you ever study science you see the massive amount of intricacies in Even the basic human cell which is itself a manufacturing plant for all of the things that you need to live. But it's also the manufacturing plant for everything the tree out there needs to live.

And and everything around us is made up of these.

Little.

Plants of.

That manufacture and do and work. They're called cells. They're amazing things and yet they're on a microscopic level. We didn't know existed until.

What.

Electron microscope we knew they existed we couldn't see the inside them and so the electron microscope, you know before that. What was it Darwin? He thought the cell was just a blob of protoplasm because they couldn't see in to it to know what it was that made it up.

That declares the glory of God. Alright, so psalm 97 6 says almost the same thing but a little differently. Who has that one.

The heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples have seen his glory.

The reason why I pointed out that one is because who sees his glory. All the people's. It's not as if it's limited. General revelation is not limited. That's why it's called general. It's not specific to an audience.

It's specific to everyone. Everyone sees it and thus everyone is responsible to it. That's the that's getting around to where we're going.

Thirdly.

Brother Don 18 to 23. You got a long one.

Romans 1. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things That are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse.

Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and Changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.

Okay, so.

This tells us a whole lot and and I could I could I could park here and camp out for weeks. But just the general he says that the clear attributes of God namely his power and His nature have been given to us in the things that are made.

What do we know about God's nature simply from creation? Well one he's orderly. Because nature itself is built on an order, right? He's powerful because nature itself think about the power that's in a simple lightning bolt.

A.

Lightning bolt, you know, we still can't generate the same energy. The myth busters television show. They go to this plant because they wanted to they wanted to test lightning bolts. How lightning bolts affect certain objects and whether you're in the shower?

Can it can a lightning bolt come through the the water and hit you those kind of things? You know things that we've heard about for years not don't take shower and rainstorm that kind of thing. So they went to test it.

They went to a facility that generates lightning bolts. And I remember the guy he said this is not a lightning bolt. He said the very best we can do is only like 1 of what nature Can do. Of course, he would see nature.

I don't know who this man is, but you know that they would talk about nature in a very general way. But you think about the power of a lightning bolt. Demonstrates the power of God only in a percentile not even a percentile.

It's what God created if he created and how much more powerful is him who created than that which is created. Right, and that's the huh? Yeah, so you have that Testimony to the power of God and in this section it tells us something else.

It says they're without excuse. Why are they without excuse. Because God has been so gracious as to show himself to all men and thus Mankind is what the Latin phrase Homo religiosus. Homo religiosi. Well, we know homo sapien, right?

What does homo sapien mean? Well, but it means the thinking being that's what that's what but you're right. It references mankind because we are the man. We're the being that thinks. So we're the thinking being homo sapien homo religiosus.

The religious being we're the only being in the world That gets down on our knees and looks upward and expects someone to Hear us. You don't see cows out in the field. You don't see that, right?

You don't see deer chanting in the forest. You could make a case with that. Oh, absolutely.

I think certainly the ability to reason is The result of God's image, you know, what was the image of God? It's intellect emotion and will. Those three things which make up our humanity. Our ability to think our ability to emote or to care and our ability to decide and not be forced only by our.

Our.

Animals work off of Instinct thank you. Animals work off of instinct. But human beings work off of decision because even though it might be an instinct for us to do something We can make a decision not to do that thing.

Now. We understand that that's limited. We don't have absolute free will because our will has been disrupted by the fall. But when man was created he had intellect emotion and will. All three in differentiation from the rest of creation.

His intellect was much higher, you know, people say well how much higher? We're only 1 away from the monkeys, you know, you know what that 1 does. It's it's a difference between throwing poop and going to the moon.

That's what that 1 is. So it's pretty pretty. Substantial 1 and plus that whole 1 thing is way off. It's not correct, but they'll say we're only 1 different from the monkeys. It's a big 1 There's a lot built into that 1

Yeah.

Yeah, he's the only one that God didn't speak into existence but that he created handmade. That he formed everything else he spoke in this came he spoke in that game, but he formed man from the dust of the ground and Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

There's a certainly a difference Creativity created with the God with man. All right, so general revelation. Immediate means without the use of the intermediary. We don't need an intermediary. Tell us what?

That the world is created the world itself tells us that. So there's no I'm sorry. We need a media that world tells us this is immediate. What's immediate immediate is Romans 2. So did I ask you me to find that?

I'm gonna read it just for the sake of time. Romans 2. 12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law and all who have sinned under the law will be judged By the law for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God But the doers of the law who will be justified.

For when Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law requires. They are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on.

Their.

Hearts.

While their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts Accused or even excuse them on that day according when according to my gospel God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. So what's Paul telling us?

He's saying there's something in every man That knows right from wrong and it's we call it the conscience. But what does conscience mean? It's it's it's actually based on the Latin construction Con meaning with.

Science.

Means knowledge. So the construction of conscience is simply that man has an innate knowledge. And what's the knowledge of. That which is right and that which is wrong. We call this natural law. Oftentimes when we're doing Evangelism, we'll talk about the Ten Commandments.

But really we don't have to appeal to the Ten Commandments. We appeal to the natural law the law that's in man's heart. See the natural law is enough to tell us it's wrong to steal. It's wrong to murder.

It's wrong to hate. It's wrong to lust. We go back to scripture and say scripture agrees with this, but you know this innately. You ever look at a married man and say have you lusted in your heart? Yeah, he looks down.

Cuz he knows.

You know my wife's here.

Yeah.

Exactly the natural response is the shame. First emotion after sin was shame.

So.

That's the difference between immediate and immediate general revelation. Immediate requires the intermediary immediate does not. You have Immediate general revelation in your heart. God has placed it there.

Specifically it doesn't come through looking at the trees or the bushes or the froggies or the toads. It comes from God who has placed it there. All right, and there by no man has an excuse. Because God has given you revelation from outside and Revelation from inside.

But here is the problem with general revelation. It is Insufficient to save it is only sufficient to condemn. This is why we were told to go and preach because all man knows innately is that he's lost.

Why do we go with the gospel. That the man who knows he's lost Can know how to be found right how to be saved. That's why we go. We don't go having necessarily to convince man that he's lost. We go to bring him the good news that there's a remedy.

Now some people will deny that they're lost and that's why we use the gospel. With the law the law helps a man recognize what he already knows, you know, why we use the law. It's not to convince a man that he's a sinner.

It's to remind him that he's a sinner. He already knows. I like to convince anyone anything. I simply have to bear witness with what their conscience already realizes that they. Because why do you think guilt is so universal?

Why do you think depression drugs are so?

So.

Just just what we just so full in our in our society. Is it because every person that takes those drugs has a chemical imbalance? No, are there people who do?

Yes.

But is it because I think a lot of people need some place to find peace because their conscience is so tumultuous over the fact that they have a sense of lostness and. No, hope it's there. It's very much God's existence power and glory are displayed in general revelation now special revelation.

Special Revelation and the Authority of Scripture

What's my time? Okay, let me just very quickly special revelation ain't hard to understand. It's special in that it's directed at a specific audience and it involves specific content. It comes to us through the audible word.

God spoke to Moses. God spoke to all the people who saw Jesus baptized. God spoke to Jesus. Specifically God speaks to the Apostle Paul specifically through the Holy Spirit. We know that there's the audible voice of God.

There is also the prophetic voice. Because God will speak through someone God will speak to someone. God will speak through someone when somebody stands up the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah says thus saith the Lord.

He is speaking. God is speaking through him. So we have the audible voice or the audible word God speaks to and the Prophetic word God speaks through then the inscripturated word God speaks through the writings, you know one thing I don't.