God's Self Revelation To Man Part 1

Editor's Note: This post is not an argument for the existence of God. This is the first of two posts that show how God has universally revealed himself to mankind. (This was orginally going to be one post but I decided to divide it into 2 posts.) These two post look to biblically ground what kind of philosophical arguments are consistent to use with what God has reveal about himself in the Bible. So this for Christians to show what kind of philosophical arguments are consistant with how God said he has revealed himself to mankind.

One interesting topic that most Christians probably do not think about is how has God said he has revealed himself. This is what this post will be taking a look at. Most Christians have come to believe in him because they have met him personally in the person of Jesus Christ. This though is not the only way to know that God exists, or else the only theists would be Christians. God has revealed himself to all of creation . So someone can know that God exists before coming to know him. In this post I will show how God said he has revealed himself. Please note that I am not currently trying to make an argument for the existence of God (so if you ready to debate wait) and I am not saying that God exists because the Bible says so. I am NOT saying God exists because the Bible says there is a God and I am know the Bible is God's word because the Bible says so. I am NOT making a circular argument for the existence of God. I believe the Bible is the Word of God because God the Holy Spirit has revealed that to me and it has also been confirmed to me by historical and archaeological evidence. The authority of scripture is a presupposition that I hold.(But NOT using to as argument for existence of God.) This post looks at how God has said he revealed himself. This post and next one that will follow it is then for Christians to show them what kind of philosophical arguments should be used that are consistent with the way God has chosen to reveal himself to all the world. It also shows that any argument for God has to be grounded in God’s revelation. There are actually wrong ways to assert that God exists. For example, Mormons would try to prove the validity of the the Mormon faith by the “burning bosom test.” If we were to offer up arguments that are inconsistent with God's self revelation that would give people pretexts for denying God. I may say that you can know that God is real because they found holy grail and if that was the only argument I would offer then I would be be resting the grounds for my faith on the wrong thing. Thus people will think you have no reason to believe what you believe if they can disprove your faulty argument or premises and they deny the reality(illegitimately) that God exists based on a silly argument. For example, I may say I know 1+1 =2 because everyone has two thumbs. Someone who may want to argue with will find someone no thumbs and say I have no reason to believe to 1+1 =2. But reality is 1+1 =2 but you have not given your opponent reason to believe and thus have given him an opportunity to deny your right conclusion based on your false methodology. It also does much to discredit you even when you may be right. So its important not present faulty arguments or somehow give impression the God is somehow ontologically dependent on you having a good argument for his existence. The existence of God is unaffected by arguments. God exists apart from anything. His existence is not contingent on anyone's ability to prove it. But if we were to proffer faulty arguments it would give someone an excuse to dishonor God and ridicule you for your belief. It also would be dishonoring to God for not using showing people what has said about himself. So what could be better than using arguments that are consistent with what God has said about how he has already revealed himself? Thus before I begin my arguments for the existence of God I am going to start by looking to see how God has said he has revealed himself.

Let's look at a key text in Psalm 19. Psalm 19 is all about God's revelation. First in general revelation (vv. 1-6) also in special revelation (vv.7-9). Then it shows us our proper response to God revealing himself to us (vv.9-14). Let's look at verses 1-6.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

There is a great wealth of truth to unpack in theses verses! Let's first notice how it says the “heavens declare the glory of God”. This shows us the God has used creation to make himself known. Creation is not neutral on God's existence. Look at all the verbs in in verses 1 and 2. There are: declare, proclaim, pour forth speech, display. This are very demonstrative verbs. These are words that you would use to describe what a preacher or orator does. This is what creation is doing: declaring, pouring forth, displaying knowledge! It is as creation is shouting at us! What is the subject of all of creation's loquacious orations? It is the glory of God! (v1). The heavens declare the glory of God! Creation cannot keeps itself silent about its creator. Unfortunately many Christians can. Creation is not ambivalent on God's existence. It proclaims God's glory. There is no way to say creation has any neutrality on the subject or leaves room for other discussion. The universe triumphantly says that there is God and that he is glorious! As Sire said in his title for his chapter on Christian Theism in his book The Universe Next Door we truly do live in “A universe charged with the grandeur of God”.

Verses 3-6 tells the extent of creation's loud proclamation. Verse 3 tell us “ There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard”. It does not matter your language or your culture or race. The voice of creation is everywhere and it is universal. Have you ever noticed how different cultures have different cosmological arguments. Its because the voice of God's revelation is not limited to a specific people but is universal. This idea is continued in verse 4 it says, “ Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Nowhere in the world is creation's testimony of the glory of its God is dimmed or silenced. All of of the Earth hears creation's message of its God. It is not limited to white Europeans or North Americans. Africa, Antarctica, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, Louisville, Jerusalem, Moscow, Washington, Bagdad, New Delhi, Tokyo, Havana, every place everywhere has the same, one, consistent, unchanged message proclaimed to it. The glory of their God! No one is exempt from knowing that God exists and that he is glorious.

So what are the implications of this when it comes to the arguments for existence of God? That God is revealed in creation. So any arguments that point to how creation points to its creator are valid and consistent with God's self revelation to us. So that means we can use various cosmological and teleological arguments for the existence of God. When we talk about how God created the world with with order it and must have been designed by an intelligent designer we realized how this shows us that the heavens really do proclaim the glory of God. Or various cosmological arguments as well testify that the heavens declare the glory of God and likewise are consistent with God's self revelation. This also shows that a-posteriori arguments are fully legitimate in pointing to the God of the Bible.

God has universally made himself known through general revelation in other ways than through creation. The next post on Romans 1 will examine that and also look at how sin has affected our ability to know God.