Dr Paul Allen

The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most important Protestant confessions, for it gave substantial definition to Reformed theology in the seventeenth century. It is often compared to similar confessions of faith, such as the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Scots Confession, and the Thirty-Nine Articles. There was an internal debate as to where to begin a study of Reformed theology: with the doctrine of God or with the doctrine of Scripture. It is significant that the Westminster divines began their confessional statement with sacred Scripture. They were concerned about two principles.  One, which is at the very heart of Christianity, is the concept of divine revelation. Christianity is a revealed religion, constructed not on the basis of speculative philosophy but in response to what God Himself has made manifest. Second is the principle of sola Scriptura, developed by the Reformers.  It acknowledges that the final authority in all matters of the...

How does God reveal? Two-fold distinction: - Special revelation in Christ and scripture (2 Tim 3:16 and Heb 1:1) - General revelation through external world and internally through being the image of God (Ps 19:1-4, Ps 94:8-10, Rom 1:19-21) Calvin on Special revelation: “Despite the brightness which is borne in the eyes of all people, it is needful that another and better help be added to direct us aright to the very creator of the universe . It was not in vain that God added the light of the Word by which to become know unto salvation. In order that truth might abide forever in the world with a continuing succession of teaching and survive through all ages…it was God’s pleasure to have recorded the oracles on public tablets.” (Inst. I, VI, 1,2) Hodge on special revelation: “It is not denied that God reveals by God’s works and has done so from the beginning of the world. But all the truths thus revealed are clearly made known in God written word. The Bible contains all of th...

… what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ROMANS 1:19 Scripture assumes, and experience confirms, that human beings are naturally inclined to some form of religion, yet they fail to worship their Creator, whose general revelation of himself makes him universally known. Both theoretical atheism and moral monotheism are natural to no one: atheism is always a reaction against a pre-existing belief in God or gods, and moral monotheism has only ever appeared in the wake of special revelation . www.hopecollege.com Scripture explains this state of affairs by telling us that sinful egoism and aversion to our Creator’s claims drive humankind into idolatry, which means transferring worship and homage to some power or object other than God the Creator (Isa. 44:9–20; Rom. 1:21–23; Col. 3:5). In this way, apostate humans “suppress the truth” and have “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and b...

God ’s world is not a shield hiding the Creator ’s power and majesty. From the natural order it is evident that a mighty and majestic Creator is there. Paul says this in Romans 1:19–21, and in Acts 17:28 he calls a Greek poet as witness that humans are divinely created. Paul also affirms that the goodness of this Creator becomes evident from kindly providences (Acts 14:17; cf. Rom. 2:4), and that some at least of the demands of his holy law are known to every human conscience (Rom. 2:14–15), along with the uncomfortable certainty of eventual retributive judgment (Rom. 1:32). These evident certainties constitute the content of general revelation . www.hopecollege.com General revelation is so called because everyone receives it, just by virtue of being alive in God’s world. This has been so from the start of human history . God actively discloses these aspects of himself to all human beings , so that in every case failure to thank and serve the Creator in righteousness is sin aga...

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God , and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."  Reformation -era debates regarding divine revelation focused on the authority of Scripture and its relation to the authority of the church and the authority of church tradition. Though the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church would finally disagree with respect to the final authority and sufficiency of Scripture , there is one aspect of divine revelation on which they did find a large measure of agreement.  Both Roman Catholic theology and Reformation theology confess that God reveals Himself in His creation.  We speak of God's revelation of Himself in the created order as natural revelation . This is in contrast with special revelation , wherein God speaks directly to His people via a prophet or an Apostle. God's revelation of Himself in natural revelation is less direct and is addressed not to a specific person or community but rather to humanity in general. ...

English: The Apostle Paul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What General Revelation Is In order to understand the doctrine of general revelation, it is necessary first to have a clear grasp of what we mean by the term "revelation." The word "revelation" simply refers to "revealing" or "unveiling." It can refer to God 's act of communication to man or to the content of that communication. Article 2 of the Belgic Confession states the distinction in the following words: We know Him [God] by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even his everlasting power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20 .  All which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. Second, He makes Himself more clearly and full...

Rembrandt's Timothy and his grandmother, 1648. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Bible presents two types of revelation. 1)  General revelation  refers to the knowledge of God that is revealed in creation. This is spoken of in Scripture in places like Psalm  19:1-2: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Scripture teaches that, because of what is evident in creation, every human being has received enough knowledge about God to be justly condemned before him for their sinful rebellion against his rule. As Paul says in Romans 1:18-20, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, h...

English: The Bible (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What is the distinction between God 's infallible revelation and our fallible  interpretation  of that revelation. Many Christians affirm that God's special revelation is infallible, but not God's general revelation . We must affirm that both kinds of revelation are infallible. But why are some Christians  reluctant to affirm the same.  Many believers are hesitant to affirm the infallibility of general revelation because they rightly believe that not every scientific theory is compatible with the Word of God.  Scientific theories are not the same thing as general revelation. General revelation (like special revelation) refers to an infallible action of God (or to the content revealed through that action). Scientific theories are the fallible interpretations of what Christians know to be God's created works. Since general and special revelation both proceed from God, they cannot ultimately c...