General revelation
In
Characteristics
General revelation is a form of revelation that gives knowledge through experience or records of history, creation, and innate conscience.[2] Christian theologians cite biblical references to support general revelation: Romans 1:20,[1] Psalms 19:1-6,[1] and Matthew 5:45. General revelation shows the works and existence of God in indirect ways.
General revelation is experienced through:
- Physical Universe - The laws and nature of the physical universe as it transpires are interpreted as displaying God's attributes of existence, knowledge, wisdom, power, order, greatness, supremacy, righteousness, and goodness.
- Human Conscience - God has instilled the innate ability in all persons to discern the difference between right and wrong, to choose and act on that discernment and judgment according to arguments for the existence of Godis based on the moral sense in humans.
- Providence refers to the sustaining power of God. Providence is defined as "divine providence; proceeding from divine direction or superintendence; as the providential contrivance of things; as a providential escape from danger."[3]
General revelation is understood as the everyday experience of life, but is solely dependent on interpretation of those experiences as comprehending God's hand in external events or things.
General revelation is distinguished from
According to Dumitru Stăniloae, the Eastern Orthodox Church’s position on general / special revelation is in stark contrast to Protestant and Catholic theologies that see a clear difference between general and special revelation and tend to argue that the former is not sufficient to salvation. In Orthodox Christianity, he argues, there is no separation between the two and supernatural revelation merely embodies the former in historical persons and actions.[4]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Basic Christianity, John Stott, 1958 Inter-Varsity Press
- ^ Dyer, John & Crawford, Tommy; "General Revelation" - basictheology.com, Archive of Basic Theology.com - "General Revelation"
- ^ Providential Archived 2015-10-05 at the Wayback Machine from Webster's 1828 Dictionary, Electronic Version by Christian Technologies, Inc.
- ISBN 978-0917651700.
References
- ISBN 0-268-00690-3, distributed by University of Notre Dame Press.
External links
- Scripture and general revelation, by Andrew S. Kulikovsky at the Creation Ministries International website - a discussion of the evangelical notion of revelation in contrast to the common understanding.