Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Authority of Reason

There are two types of revelation–special revelation and general revelation. The witness of God's Spirit through Jesus as attested within the Bible is an example of special revelation.  General revelation is God's handiwork seen in the natural world. The Christian witness should stand strong on this claim: science tells us about God.
At first glance, this appears to be a controversial claim, for no one will agree unless he or she already acknowledges God's existence.  Our hearer will probably not acknowledge God's existence at the same level as we do.  So we will have to warm our hearers to the idea that if there is a God, and if we understand God as creator--one who is all powerful, and all knowing—then his creation will be reflected in nature.  Since science is the key to understanding nature, God willingly allows science to testify to his creation.

The universe works in an ordered manner.  For example, the moon remains at a consistent range of distances that has varying positive effects on the earth, such as gravity.  For the moon to get out of its orbit would cause the earth to disintegrate.  The same is true of the sun.  The conclusion is that we live in a rational universe.  Otherwise, science would yield no knowledge in the face of chaos.  We should pose this question to the hearer: how long of a jump is it from the fact of the universe to a rational mind that created the universe?

Contributed by Dr. Lyle Pointer

For more resources of Vibrant Church Renewal and Evangelism go to:

http://www.usacanadaregion.org/church-renewal

http://www.usacanadaregion.org/evangelism

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