Revelation of God
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
Definition
Revelation is God making himself known to humanity. Scripture and theology distinguish two kinds: general revelation, God’s disclosure of his existence, power, and goodness through creation and available to everyone, and special revelation, God’s particular self-disclosure in Scripture and supremely in Christ, without which the saving knowledge of God is unavailable.1
Confessional Definition
The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession states the relationship between the two directly: “the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation.”2
Biblical Basis
Creation itself already testifies to God: “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Ps. 19:1), and Paul makes the same point in the starkest terms: “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly perceived, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19-20). Paul makes the same appeal to pagan audiences directly, pointing to God’s kindness in “giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). But general revelation was never sufficient on its own: God spoke to the fathers “at many times and in many ways” and finally “has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2), and Paul insists saving faith comes only “through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17), not through creation’s own testimony however clearly perceived.
Related Doctrines
- Arguments for the existence of God
- Incomprehensibility of God
- Inspiration of the Bible
- Illumination of the Holy Spirit