My 4 year old son, Jack, is often the person that helps me break complicated or undefined beliefs down into concentrated, bite sized statements, by necessity. He doesn't hesitate to point it out if I am using words he doesn't understand or if I am dodging a question. For example, yesterday in the car while driving to Canton, he challenged me to explain to him why Satan is the way he is and how it happened. My zig-zagging series of answers and explanations likely wouldn't impress anyone, but I think we managed to break down what is known of the story down in such a way that the high points were hit, and he was mostly satisfied. He did at one point ask, "So why did God make Satan?" and I was pretty unhappy with my own explanation. He and I will have to come back to that one, but our conversations are always informative to me. I like hearing the natural progression of questions he comes up with, and the honesty of his opinions. And the truth is, I say "I don't know" a lot more than I ever thought I would. So as I sat down to outline what natural revelation is and how it applies at our spot in history, I'm challenged to understand and explain it in a way that would make sense to Jack. Whether Einstein or Feynman said it, the quote holds true; "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it."
Natural revelation is how God points to, and teaches about, Himself through creation. A variety of Psalms and Romans 1 are the favorite passage to quote when speaking of how God uses what he made to tell us who and how he is. It's a tough exercise for me, sitting here in the air conditioning, drinking a now cold cup of coffee, and typing at a computer, but try to imagine yourself as member of a primitive, unreached tribe somewhere in the wilderness of the Amazon or Papua New Guinea. Your isolation has been so complete that you have never interacted with anyone outside your own tribe and the handful of surrounding tribes you either go to war with or trade with. As that tribesman, it is likely you believe the entire world, whether large or small, is similar to the world you have known and experienced. With only the natural world, your experiences so far, and the word of mouth stories of your community informing you, it is no coincidence that so many primitive tribes base their religious system around the natural world. Water spirits, fire gods, tree souls - these are the almost default deities that seem to emerge when nature is the sole informer of a people's belief system. Speaking globally, Paul reminded the Romans that men have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." This is the natural inclination of man - to fail to look beyond what was made and instead worship the thing itself! The point? Natural revelation alone was never the linchpin of God's plan to reveal Himself to man. The gentiles did not receive the direct intervention and expression that God gave the Jewish people. They did not receive written law, or prophets, or miraculous pillars of fire in the desert. Rather, they were witness to tides, to phases of the moon, the births and deaths, and all the other natural phenomenon that convinced men that God existed, but led them short of sufficient understanding. Similar to the Law, it didn't provide the solution - it raised the question. In the case the question was, Who is God?
So now, in 2013, we have had the rest of the story for a long time. We have ready access to a book that answers the question of who God, the Creator, is. Untouched tribes are rare, so why is the natural world still necessary to anyone in terms of pointing anyone God? Well, I would acknowledge that necessary may not be the best word. Useful would be the one I would choose. After all, we are not so far removed from those jungle tribes. In fact, it is very likely that a mere few hundred years back, your ancestors were living a primitive subsistence life themselves. Certainly primitive by our standards. Do you still feel a little bit amazed when an especially loud clap of thunder sounds? How about that thrill you get when you see a rare bit of wildlife? Do you enjoy a colorful sunrise or sunset? Have you ever put together the fact that those displays, great or small, are hints at something about your Creator? Enjoy that! Take pleasure in the fact that you appreciate what God Himself agreed was good. He likes what he made. He enjoys the sunsets too! The value of natural revelation here and now to a modern culture is that is allows us the opportunity to agree with God that what he made is awesome. It also offers tangible reminders of aspects of his nature. It provides opportunity for personal physical challenge requiring perseverance, and foresight with faith. For many people, the natural world is the most conducive place for finding solitude for prayer or reflection. It is a practice ground for stewardship, for contentment, and for trust. It's a beacon to remind the world that everything they have has been given to them - whether raw material, brain power, skillful hands, beauty, or position.
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