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Sources for the knowledge of God?

DOCTRINE 1 UNIT 3. Sources for the knowledge of God?. Unit 2 Recap. The Gospel way of knowing God: G…… R…… A….. C….. E…. A Monty Python Poem:. All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.

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Sources for the knowledge of God?

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  1. DOCTRINE1 UNIT 3 Sources for the knowledge of God?

  2. Unit 2Recap • The Gospel way of knowing God: • G…… • R…… • A….. • C….. • E…..

  3. A Monty Python Poem: All things bright and beautiful,All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful,The Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens,Each little bird that sings,He made their glowing colours,He made their tiny wings. All things bright and beautiful,All creatures great and small,All things wise and wonderful,The Lord God made them all.Cecil Alexander All things dull and ugly,All creatures short and squat,All things rude and nasty,The Lord God made the lot. Each little snake that poisons,Each little wasp that stings,He made their brutish venom,He made their horrid wings. All things sick and horrible,All evil great and small,All things foul and dangerous,The Lord God made them all. Monty Python’s Flying Circus

  4. Sources for the knowledge of God • Group Discussion:How much can we know about God without the Bible? • - Nothing • - Something • - All there is that we can know about Him

  5. Sources for the knowledge of God • What is necessary to know God? • John 1:18 • Romans 11:33 • 1 Timothy 6:16

  6. General Revelation: • God has revealed something of Himself through his creation, apart from his scriptural revelation (Heb 1:1-3) • Psalm 19:1-2 • Acts 14:17

  7. A knowledge of God from natural order • Ontological Argument - • Our conception of God cannot be other than that he is an infinite and perfect being • A being who is perfect in all areas other than existence could not be perfect • Therefore the most perfect being (God) must exist

  8. A knowledge of God from natural order • Cosmological Argument – • The world must have an ultimate cause: GOD

  9. A knowledge of God from natural order • Teleological Argument – • The world appears to be designed: There must be a designer GOD (I.D.)

  10. A knowledge of God from human experience • The Moral Argument – • Where does our universal concept of morality come from: GOD

  11. A knowledge of God from religious experience Someone has relayed their experience in these words: "I knew I was dying and that there was nothing i could do about it, because no one could hear me. I was out of my body, there's no doubt about it, because I could see my own body there on the operating table. My soul was out! All this made me feel very bad at first, but then, this really bright light came...And it gave off heat to me; I felt a warm sensation. ...At first, when the light came, I wasn't sure what was happening, but then, it asked, it kind of asked me if I was ready to die... ...From the moment the light spoke to me, I felt really good - secure and loved. The love which came from it is just unimaginable, indescribable. It was a fun person to be with!" - Raymond A Moody Life after Life p63-64 • What true ideas about God does this experience raise? • What false ideas? • Should we avoid this type of argument at all costs? Why so? Why not?

  12. A knowledge of God from other religions • Relativism (Religious Pluralism) is false • 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 • Acts 17:23 • Ephesians 2:12 • Relativism is inconsistent • Scripture is exclusive Acts 4:12 • Other religions will contain some truth but with fundamental error • Romans 2:14-16 • Colossians 2:6-9 • The ultimate judge on all religion is Jesus!

  13. Limitations of General Revelation? • Proof vs Evidence • Our sinful habit of rejecting God’s witness to Himself • A lack of knowledge of God in Jesus • I’m not yet within a hundred miles of the God of Christian theology. All I’ve got is a something which is directing the universe, and which appears in me as a law urging me to do right and making me feel responsible and uncomfortable when I do wrong… • C.S. Lewis

  14. Natural Theology A method of investigation that assumes God has revealed nothing of himself intentionally whether by His creation or scriptural revelation. GOD GOD Creation Order Human Experience Religious Experience Unaided Human Reason US US Problems with this approach to knowing God? (Psalm 14:1-3, Romans 1:18-23)

  15. Sources for the knowledge of God • So how do we receive a knowledge of salvation in Jesus? • Matthew 16:13-17 • Romans 3:21-22 • 1 Corinthians 2:7-13 • Ephesians 3:4 • 2 Timothy 3:14-17

  16. Let’s take a break!

  17. Special Revelation by Scripture • 1. What was the attitude of Jesus to the Scriptures? • Matt 5:17-20 • Matt 4:1-11 • Matt 22:31-32, 43-44 • John 10:35 • Luke 4:18-21 • Luke 24:25-29, 44-49 2. How did Jesus' disciples know the truth? (Remember they wrote scripture) John 14:25-26 John 15:25-27 John 16:12-14

  18. Special Revelation by Scripture What was the attitude of Jesus' disciples to the Scriptures and the writings of the other apostles (ie. the New Testament)? 2 Peter 3:15-16 Acts 3:18-21 Acts 4:25-26 Hebrews 3:7 1 Corinthians 14:37 1 Timothy 5:18

  19. Special Revelation by Scripture • Jesus believed that the Old Testament was inspired by God (Matthew 22:31-32,43-44; John 10:35 etc) as did the apostles (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, Hebrews 3:7,4:7, Acts 4:25 etc). • Christians soon recognized the same authority in the writings of the New Testament (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:18 etc). • This make sense because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead the apostles into all truth (John 14:25-26, 16:12-15) • The whole Bible points to Jesus (Luke 24:44-48, John 5:39,46, 1 Peter 1:10-11).

  20. Sample Essay Question:To what extent does General Revelation help us to know God? • Definition? • General Revelation = revelation made by God generally - to all people everywhere. • Must be distinguished from Natural Theology – which is man attempting to know God using reason alone. • General Revelation is God’s initiative to reveal himself in ‘nature’ whereas Natural Theology is man’s initiative. • Must also be distinguished from Special Revelation – where God has revealed himself through prophets in many and various ways (Heb 1:1) and most fully in Jesus Christ. This Special Revelation is inscripturated in the Bible.

  21. Biblical Basis? • The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands. • Day after day they pour forth speech; • night after night they display knowledge. – Psalm 19:1 • Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.“ • - Acts 14:17 • 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 men are without excuse. • - Romans 1:20

  22. Limitations? • However, the Bible nowhere implies that it can lead to salvation. In Scripture, salvation is only found through faith in Jesus Christ • Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.“ – Acts 4:12 In fact, the response of fallen humans to General Revelation simply…… Romans 1:18 Romans 2:12-15. Romans 3:9-12.

  23. For the top marks: Refer to others • Views of well known theologians: • Karl Barth – rejects General Revelation (together with Natural Theology) altogether - the only revelation of God is in Jesus Christ. • Calvin– fits Biblical data – God has given us an objectively present revelation of himself in nature. However, this has been marred by sin. What is needed are the ‘spectacles of faith’. When a man with a sight defect looks at an object it is a blur. But with spectacles he sees it clearly. Special revelation in the gospel results in regeneration in the sinner and enables him to clearly see what is there. Thus, he is able to recognise in nature what he has already seen by Special Revelation. He did not merely project it on to nature as Barth would say.

  24. Concluding Comments? • God has revealed some things about himself through General Revelation. • This does not effectively help the unregenerate person know God, not because the Revelation is faulty but because of the fallenness of human beings who suppress the truth. • Therefore, we should not attempt to use General Revelation to construct a purely ‘Natural’ Theology that does not take into account Special Revelation. • However, it does have some value in that evangelists (like Paul in Acts 14 & 17) can point to it and use it to help people realise something about God and their need for the Gospel. However, we must, like Paul, use it in the service of the Gospel rather than making it the foundation or the interpretive key on which our faith stands. In other words, we interpret General Revelation by the Gospel – not the other way around. • For the regenerate person, General Revelation helps us to know about God after we have been informed through Special Revelation.

  25. Next Week! • The relationship between the Gospel and scripture as a whole

  26. Home Study: • Unit 3 Assignment (Word limit: 750 words) • Compare the method of “Natural Theology” with the “Gospel way of knowing God” – how do they contrast to each other? • Read Chapter 4 of the notes • Extra Mile: • Buy The Revelation of God; P Jensen & digest chapter 5 – Revelation and Human Experience

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