Mrs Dodd last bit!

General revelation:Nature and scripture as a way of understanding the Devine

General revelaton - Discovering knowledge about the devine through natural means which are available to everyone.

Types of general revelation 

• Nature
• Scripture
• Conscience
• Reason

Nature

Many Christians feel that God/the Devine is revealed through nature. Nature is available for all to observe , unlike a vision to a specific person. 

Christian Posistion

• They can learn that he is powerful, because they believe he created the universe and the world, and that this is an enormus feat. 
• He is loving, he created a world for humans which is beautiful and provides a good standard of life
• Awe and wonder when looking at the world, and feek that it shows gods majesty and that he must be amazing if he can create anything as amazing as the world
• Catholic law empasizes natural law, humans can reason how they should behave from nature. 

Athiest and Humanist Positions

• The universe was not created its start can be explained by science - Big Bang
• Nature doesnt reveal a loving God, evil and suffering in the world do not reflect a loving creator
• awe and wonder at the natural world does not imply the existence of a God, but that religious people are just trying to find a supernatural explanation for the natural. 
• Humanism believes science is important in making discoveries, The Humanist Association aproves of humans making progress- this may involve acting in 'unnatural ways' such as contraception. 

Scripture

It is available to everyone, it is classed as general revelation. 

Most christians believe they can learn about God through scripture : 

-They can learn about his personality through reading about his interaction with the Jewish people in the Old testament

-Learn about Gods will through reading his commands in the Old testament and Jesus in the New testament.

They can learn about his plan for humanity, including his love for them (reading the gospels) God sent Jesus to save humanity from sin and death.  

Athiests dont believe that scripture can be revelatory, or that experiences of God recorded in scripture are true. 

Different ideas about the devinee from these sources

OMNIPOTENT

A key way in which Christians learn about the devine is through scripture. Including through the prophets and Jesus, the Bible teaches christians that God is omnipotent. 

The bible says God sent plague on Egypt to help the Jewish win in battle. 

Many christians feel that God is omnipotent because they cannot imagine how much power it would have taken to create the universe- they can see the extent of God creation in NATURE. 

OMNISCIENT

 Many Christians feel that God knows everything; for example, if they feel that he has answered their silent prayers. 

Gods knowledge is demonstrated in the bible - he knows where Jonah has run away to. God shows his knowledge in the book of Job. Jesus also taught God's knowledge - that he…