Premise 1: The complexity, order and beauty of nature testify about God’s power and divinity
When it comes to God’s revelation, theologians divide these into God’s special and general revelation.
His special revelation includes the Bible and Christ. These are both direct and special means of God revealing Himself to us.
General revelation, sometimes called natural revelation, consists of what God has revealed of Himself via the natural world and moral conscience.
In Romans the apostle Paul wrote:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20
Paul is stating that nature and the created order display intelligence, power, creative imagination and the orderliness of a divine creator. And that the day to day human experience of magnificence should be bearing witness to the existence of a God who deserves recognition and authority.
I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in
George Washington Carver
Through Paul in Romans, and David in Psalms and elsewhere in Scripture God repeatedly testifies through these writers that His outward and visible manifestation of Himself is universally known by man.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
Psalm 19:1-4
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
Even Richard Dawkins one of this century’s most ardent atheist acknowledges the mind blowing complexity and beauty in nature:
Natural selection is the blind watchmaker, blind because it does not see ahead, does not plan consequences, has no purpose in view. Yet the living results of natural selectioin overwhelmingly impress us with the appearance of design as if by a master watchmaker, impress us with the illusion of design and planning
Richard Dawkins; The Blind Watchmaker
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen
Romans 1:20
God’s eternal power and divine nature refer to supernatural power, intelligence, and sovereignty required for the magnificent feat of creating such beautiful order an sustaining it.
Discussion Question 1: All global cultures have elements in their social, religious, and political structures that reflect the universal belief in a higher power, and responsibility to a higher moral code. How do you account for that?
Premise 2: The human conscience testifies that God exist and is the supreme standard bearer and law giver
con·science
/ˈkänSHəns/
noun
an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one’s behavior.”he had a guilty conscience about his desires”
Everyone has a conscience. Our conscience gives us an awareness of what is right and what and wrong. The Bible also says that God has revealed Himself to each person through his or her conscience. Paul wrote.
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Romans 2;14-15
The word Gentiles is the greek word for “nations” or “ethnicities” other than the Jewish nation. Paul is saying that even though the Jews were the only nation with the Bible which represents God’s own biography and standard of living to live by, that all nation indicate a reflected the primary tenets of the ten commandments even though they had never formally heard or read them.
Conscience reveals to us a moral law whose source cannot be found in the natural world, thus pointing to a supernatural lawgiver
C.S. Lewis
All cultures decry lying, selfishness, adultery and theft, and so does every person regardless of ethnicity. Paul called this “the law being written on their heart”.
These verses show that the Lord has placed knowledge of Himself within the heart of each human being. Humanity knows intuitively the difference between good and evil, right and wrong. Furthermore, they know from their conscience that they will ultimately be held responsible for their behavior.
Scripture says that both Jews and Gentiles will be held responsible for what they know. The Jews, who have received the written Word of God, will be judged accordingly. The Gentiles, however, have not been given a written Word from God. They will be judged on a different standard. Their judgment will be based upon an unwritten law-that which is written on their hearts. Their own conscience will act like a prosecuting attorney. It will make it clear they are guilty before God because of their sin. Therefore all are without excuse.
The unique characteristic of “conscience” is that it not only be demonstrated to exist in all other nations but it can is personally demonstrated within the soul of every person.
While nature is a powerful witness to God’s power, intelligence and sovereignty over time and matter. The conscience has richer data, a richer starting point.
With the conscience we have inside information, so to speak: the very will of God speaking, however obscurely and whisperingly, however poorly heard, admitted, and heeded, in the depths of our souls. The arguments from nature begin with data that are like an author’s books; the argument from conscience begins with data that are more like talking with the author directly, live.
Dr. Peter Kreeft, The Existence of God
Gentiles (nations, ethnic individuals) who do not have the privilege of knowing God’s law nevertheless have a conscience bearing witness to His law.
A tribe in Africa had an unusual but effective way to test the guilt of an accused person. A group of suspects would be lined up and the tongue of each would be touched with a hot knife. If saliva was on the tongue the blade would sizzle but cause little pain. But if the tongue was dry, the blade would stick and create a vicious, searing burn. The tribe knew that a sense of guilt tends to make a person’s mouth dry, and a seared tongue therefore was taken as proof of guilt. The making of such a dry mouth is, of course, the work of the conscience
Suneidēsis (conscience) literally means “knowledge with,” or “co-knowledge.” Synonyms of that term, most with the same root meaning, are found in many ancient languages. The very idea behind the word testifies to the fact that men recognize they have an instinctive, built-in sense of right and wrong that activates guilt.
The universality of the human conscience cannot be explained by the physical mechanisms of evolution. in plants or animals so there must be non-physical aspects to human consciousness.
Discussion Question 2: Does the fact that the conscience acts as a universal moral indictor in every culture reflect that God has given provided every human his or her own innate representation of His own moral standard and existence?
Premise 3: God has placed eternity in the human heart
