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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Can man know God without a Bible | Rom 10:17 | Doug Knox | 64547 | ||
Tealead: I'm brand new to the site, having found it by accident when I did a typo on another search. Your question looked interesting, however. Obviously you're at least a little familiar with Romans, since you mentioned that God reveals Himself through creation. The pertinent Scripture is Romans 1:18-20, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." In one sense, not only is it possible to know God, it is inevitable. This knowledge seems to be limited two fundamental aspects. The first case is knowledge of God's wrath against our fundamental posture (verses 18-19). In other words, Paul is saying that SINCE we suppress the truth in unrighteousness, God reveals His anger against us. That leads to the question, what truth? That's found as a logically prior point in verse 20, the testimony of creation. Two of God's invisible attributes are His eternal power and His divine nature. We don't need a Bible to tell us that God is eternally powerful and that He's God. We have creation to tell us that. The whole created order understands God, because it's His work of art. When we try to explain it away by matter plus time plus chance in a closed system, we're slapping God in the face. The words, "without excuse," are literally, "without apologetic," or without a reason. It's he same root word that Peter uses when he tells us to be ready to make a defense for the faith we display in difficulty (1 Peter 3:15). As an example, when I was involved in a mastodon dig a couple years ago, I mentioned my creationist beliefs to some of the people there. A couple of geology undergrads came up to me and said, "You don't really BELIEVE that stuff, do you?" I told them that I did, and they asked me essentially how I could be so dumb. After a brief dialogue I asked them how the whole evolutionary process works-explain speciation within the framework of what we know about molecular biology. They said something like, "Oh, well, that involves adaptive radiation. We don't really know that much about that." Then they walked away and never brought up the subject again. When I asked them to show me their foundation, they discovered they had none. They were in exactly the shoes that Paul mentioned. Now let's go back to Romans 10:17. Saving faith--the positive faith that causes me to cry out to God for mercy--comes by the word of God, and that comes by patient teaching from the Scripture. That teaching goes back all the way to the creation. (See, for example Acts 14:14-15 in context, and Acts 17:22-31. The proclamation to those who don't consciously know God always begins with creation. Remember, that's the truth we suppress. We need to be reminded that He created us. We're His property.) In regard to seeking after God, even that's a matter of His grace manifesting itself through election. Paul told the Athenian philosophers in Acts 17 that God is not far from any of us, if only we would grope after Him. A pastor I knew had a beautiful illustration of that truth. He said, Imagine a giant gate that divides this world from heaven. At the front the gate reads, "Whosoever will…" This is the gospel call to anyone who will receive Christ as Lord. Those who obey the gospel pass through the gate into heaven. Then, looking back at the other side of the gate, they read, "Elect from the foundation of the world," a testimony of God's love for them from eternity. Though we can't understand the call of free grace and God's election together, we know they're in complete harmony in God's mind. As Spurgeon said, "I don't have to reconcile friends." Best regards in studying, Doug Knox |
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2 | Can man know God without a Bible | Rom 10:17 | Hank | 64550 | ||
Dear Doug Knoz: As one who has blundered his way through more than 2,500 posts to one who has made his first, I bid you a warm welcome indeed to this web site! I like your content, your style, and admire your erudition; consequently, as a committee of one who speaks, no doubt, with the voice of approbation of many of my colleagues on the forum, I invite you to become an active member of the forum. The fact that you landed on this web site by virtue of a typo is a serendipitous event of which this forum has been made the beneficiary! --Hank | ||||||
3 | Can man know God without a Bible | Rom 10:17 | Doug Knox | 64552 | ||
Hank: Providential, not serendipitous. Thanks for the warm welcome. Having looked around a little, I'm amazed at both the bredth and depth of questions, and the answers. It's wonderful to find such a large group of people who share my love for the word. Your personal welcome is especially appreciated. Doug |
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4 | Can man know God without a Bible | Rom 10:17 | Hank | 64555 | ||
Doug, splendid: I'll be happy to swap providential for serendipitous! I'm also happy that you found your initial tour of the forum pleasing. We have our warts, but all in all it is remarkably felicitous considering that it is essentially an unmonitored forum. The exception is that our sponsors, the Lockman Foundation, have proved themselves exceedingly cooperative in removing the occasional user who refuses to abide by the guidelines of usage set forth by the Lockman people. We do have the means to report abuse when it appears to be warranted. --Hank | ||||||