General or Special Revelation?

I want to take a minute to ponder general revelation in light of special revelation. Equating the two is a mistake often made by old-earth creationists and theistic evolutionists. Both groups seem to think that special revelation and general revelation are on par, but they are not.

The following article has been reblogged with permission from Creation Unfolding. The views expressed in this article reflect those of the author, and not necessarily those of New Creation.

The apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear when he says this in 1 Corinthians 1:21 (ESV): “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” Paul is essentially saying that the world is not allowed to come to know the God of creation by pursuing its own wisdom (e.g., through scientific endeavor, philosophy, smarts, etc). This is by God’s sovereign design.

Think about it; if God really wanted to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that He was the Creator using general revelation, then He could have stamped, “Made by the God of the Hebrews” onto the buttocks of every child ever born using the language of every nation that ever existed. This would be unambiguous.

Creation only points people to a creator (with a little ‘c’) in the sense that we know things are ‘designed.’ Apart from that, things are vague, and according to 1 Corinthians 1:21, they are vague for a reason—to keep humans dependent on ‘special’ revelation. In other words, by believing solely in the “foolishness of the cross.” It is only through the lens of Scripture that ‘intimate’ creative details, like making the universe in six days, can be known and believed.