I call upon You, Lord, God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob and Israel, You who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who, through the abundance of your mercy, was well-pleased towards us so that we may know You, who made heaven and earth, who rules over all, You who are the one and the true God, above whom there is no other God; You who, by our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, give to every one who reads this writing to know You, that You alone are God, to be strengthened in You, and to avoid every heretical and godless and impious teaching.

St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies 3:6:4


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Chrysostom on Natural Revelation


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 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.

Homilies on Romans 3.19, in NPNF 1.11:352

2 comments:

  1. Good point; it is we who are contaminated, not the truth and revelation of God.

    Blessings.

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  2. Amen, brother. Van Til argued in many ways and in many places that, in a relative sense, natural revelation bears the four characteristics the Reformed community has always ascribed to special revelation: necessity, authority, sufficiency, and not least, clarity. If, contrary to your conclusion, something was amiss in the revelation itself, then Paul would have no grounds for saying "they are without excuse" (Rom. 1:20). God speaks to the natural man through nature, and this revelation gets through. Blessings to you

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