Institutes – part 8

(By: Chad Bennett)

It has been some time since I last wrote on the Institutes of Christian Religion. The last article can be found here. In continuing this study Calvin focuses the fifth chapter of his book on God the creator. In doing so he spends much time on a subject upon which we have already touched, general revelation. I give you a couple of quotes from the first section of chapter 5 with the hope that it will whet your appetite for future discussion on the God’s self-revelation in His creation.

Beyond the sense of divinity which is given to all people Calvin explains that God “daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the universe. As a consequence, men cannot open their eyes without being compelled to see Him… He shows His glory to us, whenever and wherever we cast our gaze” (52).

“The reason why the author of the Letter to the Hebrews elegantly calls the universe the appearance of things invisible (Hebrews 11:3) is that skillful ordering of the universe is for a sort of mirror in which we can contemplate God, who is otherwise invisible” (52-53).

Let us who have the written Word not forget the mercy of God that He reveals Himself to all men whenever and wherever they cast their gaze and reveals much that was otherwise invisible.

Institutes – part 6
(By: Chad Bennett)

As a Bible teacher in a Christian school, I asked my middle schoolers a question recently and received a unanimous answer. I asked if all people know that there is a god. My entire class agreed that not everyone knows that God exists. Chapter 3 of Calvin’s first book is entitled “The Knowledge of God Has Been Naturally Implanted in the Minds of Men.” Calvin states “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy…God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty” (43). What Calvin holds as beyond controversy in his day seems to be flatly denied in our day. So, on what basis does Calvin come to this conclusion? There are number of sources that make this “beyond controversy.”

Biblically, there are a number of scriptures that express God having revealed himself to all creation in a general way through what he has created. The most comprehensive of these texts is Romans 1:18ff “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” This idea is echoed in Psalm 19:1-4 “1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” The created world screams to all men that there is a creator. This is true generally day by day, but all of us have likely experienced this in some tangible way at different points in our life. I can think of a number of times in my own life: looking down on the earth from a plane, seeing the Grand Canyon, looking through a high powered telescope, and white water rafting to name a few.

In addition to the Biblical witness, culturally anthropologists and missionary consistently find, in even the most remote areas, tribes that worship some god. This is consistent with the idea of receiving the general revelation that God exists without receiving the special revelation of who God is. Calvin even finds additional evidence intrinsic in idol worship. Humans do not naturally humble themselves to place other creatures over them. “Since, then, he prefers to worship wood and stone rather than to be thought of as having no God, clearly this is a most vivid expression of a divine being” (44).