PAPER NO. 102

THE CLARITY OF GENERAL REVELATION

God’s Eternal Power and Divine Nature, and the Moral Law

General revelation is what may be known of God by all men, everywhere, at all times. What is clear from general revelation is his eternal power and divine nature and the moral law (Romans 1:18-20; 2:14-15).

The clarity of general revelation is the basis of the inexcusability of unbelief and of the necessity of redemptive revelation in Scripture. Because general revelation is clear, those in unbelief regarding the existence and nature of God and of the moral law have no reason for their unbelief.

To deny what is clear requires the denial of reason. The clarity of general revelation, under the condition of moral and natural evil, leads to recognition of the necessity, content, origin, and existence of Scripture. This further leads to the recognition of the transmission, completion, translation, clarity, sufficiency, and interpretation of Scripture. The clarity of general revelation is necessary in order to avoid misinterpretation of Scripture.

If non-believers are responsible for seeing through the inexcusability of their unbelief, believers are all the more so. If we have come to understand what is clear, we should be able to show what is clear. We should be able to take thoughts captive that are raised up against the knowledge of God.

But believers still have sin and have to contend with the noetic effect of sin in themselves. Believers have to struggle to avoid being taking captive by prevailing unbelief in the culture in which they live. But by recognizing the need for the renewal of one’s mind, by benefiting from the understanding already achieved in Historic Christianity, and by engaging with the remaining internal and external challenges to the Faith, believers can come to a mature understanding of the clarity of general revelation.

Rational Presuppositionalism is an epistemological method which seeks to settle disputes by thinking of the less basic in light of the more basic and critically analyzing assumptions for meaning. By Rational Presuppositionalism we can understand the major steps in showing the clarity of general revelation.

  1. Show the necessity for clarity in general against skepticism, and the necessity for clarity in particular for Christian theism, against fideism.
  2. Show, by ontological argument, that there must be something eternal. This is a paradigm of what is clear to reason. Rational Presuppositionalism requires agreement here before going any further in metaphysics. If this cannot be known, nothing can be known and dialogue is not possible.
  3. Show, by cosmological arguments, that only some (God) is eternal; that is, show theism vs. all forms of non-theism. This requires showing that matter exists and that matter is not eternal; that the soul/spirit exists and the soul is not eternal.

To show the material world is not eternal, it must be shown that the material world is not self-maintaining (vs. material monism—all forms of scientific materialism and cosmological naturalism).

To show that the soul exists, it must be shown that the mind is not the brain. To show the individual soul exists, it must be shown that there is not one mind only and its ideas (vs. spiritual monism—absolute or vedantic idealism).

To show that the material world exists (vs. ordinary idealism), it must be shown that the cause of what is seen is not my mind or another mind, but outside all minds.

To show that the soul is not eternal (vs. all forms of dualism—Greek, Indian, Persian, and Mormon, and reincarnation), it must be shown that the soul experiences unique events.

  1. Show, by teleological argument, that the natural order is by design (that is, show special creation) vs. all forms of evolution—natural and theistic.
  2. Show, by teleological argument, that, in divine providence, moral and natural evil serve the divine purpose (that is, show the Ironic Solution to the problem of evil) vs. naturalistic and free will solutions.
  3. Show the moral law, structured into human nature by creation, is clear, comprehensive and critical, the same in content as the law given by special revelation.
  4. Show the necessity, content, origin, and existence of special revelation (vs. deism). Further, show the transmission, completion, translation, clarity, sufficiency, and interpretation of special revelation.
  5. Show Christian theism (vs. all forms of non-Christian theism—that is, Judaic and Islamic theism), based on general and on special revelation.
  6. Show the response to past challenges to Christian theism, based on general and on special revelation, and summed up in the ecumenical and historical creeds (Gnosticism, Trinity, Incarnation, predestination).
  7. Show the response to continuing external and internal challenges to Christian theism (faith vs. reason, otherworldliness and secularism vs. knowledge of God, continuing divisions within theism vs. unity of the faith).


© 2000 Logos Papers Press