God has revealed certain truths about His nature to all man-kind which manifest themselves in what is called general revelation. General revelation shows us what can be seen by observing nature which gives additional theistic proofs in support of what is already self-evident. These evidences are found empirically by observation of the world we live in. The Psalmist David declares in Psalm 19:1-4:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork. Day after day it speaks out; night after night it reveals his greatness. There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard. Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth; its words carry to the distant horizon. In the sky he has pitched a tent for the sun.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New English Translation (NET).
David proclaims how the days and nights speak revealing His majesty and power for this was created by Him. It is important to note that this revelation never ceases for it is “day after day” and “night after night” in verse 2. In verse 3, “There is no actual speech or word”. The Psalmist continues by saying that no one is absolved from these revealed truths which includes all created beings in the heavens1. In fact, Paul warns of this in Romans 1:18-20:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.
Scripture is unabashedly clear that the truth of God’s existence is known throughout creation and not just here on Earth. General Revelation, also referred to as natural revelation, is so named because it has been given to all men everywhere. When we observe the world and ourselves, this is what is made plainly and clearly as it has been written upon the hearts of men. Paul continues on with Romans 1:21 warning about the suppression of this truth:
For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.
Similar to Psalms 19:6, Paul is explaining that no one can avoid the truths of what is self-evident to all, for even wicked and evil men cannot escape the proof on display throughout all of creation. Hence, Romans 1:20, “So people are without excuse.”
Exodus 3:14 states:
God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”
In discussing the concerns of Divine Essence, it was from Exodus 3:14 that Thomas Aquinas constructed five ways in which he wrote on the proof of the existence of God in his work Summa Theologica2. Thomas made three points of inquiry, 1) Whether the proposition “God exists” is self-evident, 2) whether it is demonstratable, and 3) whether God exists? In the first of his articles on the existence of God, he stated:
It seems that the existence of God is self-evident. Now those things are said to be self-evident to us the knowledge of which is naturally implanted in us, as we can see in regard to first principles. But as Damascene says (De Fid. Orth i. 1,3), the knowledge of God is naturally implanted in all. Therefore the existence of God is self-evident.
Thomas believed he could prove that God exists by pure reason alone. While Thomas produced five arguments in his work on the existence of God, three of these are listed as being cosmological. By directing our gaze into the night sky, we experience the evidence with which Psalm 19:1-6 was written, and will discuss in a separate post.
Biblical Studies 