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"General Revelation" = "the Word of God," according to the Bible
There are two forms of "the Word of God,"
The Bible (called "Special Revelation" of God by God).
While Nature (the study of it) is "General Revelation" of God by God.
OK, so there are two REVELATIONS of God.
This is called the Double-Revelation doctrine.
But why does that mean there are two forms of the Word of God.
I mean, where does it say in the Bible that GENERAL REVELATION = THE WORD OF GOD ??!!
Good question -- and here's a good answer.
Paul the apostle says in Romans 10.17 "Faith comes from hearing..the Word of God"
Then he asks, "Have they [the Jews] not heard [the Word of God]?"(Romans 10.18).
He says, "Yes, they have heard it. Then Paul quotes from Psalms 19.4,
Which says,"their voice goes out to all the Earth."
But Psalms 19.1 reads, "The heavens declare the glory of God."
So when Paul quotes "their voice goes out..," whose voice is he talking about??
THE VOICE OF THE HEAVENS, so we can paraphrase Romans 10.18 thus,
"The voice of the heavens has gone out to all the Earth."
"The heavens" here are the skies, and the skies are NATURE.
And Nature, the study of it, is called the General Revelation.
So he's talking about the General Revelation as though it were what?
THE WORD OF GOD, for that is the object of the question Paul is asking:
For he says, "Have they [the Jews] not heard [the Word of God]?"(Romans 10.18).
Long story short, Paul is calling the "voice" of "the skies" "the Word of God."
This is extraordinary, revolutionary, unheard of, unprecedented !!!
Paul is lifting "General Revelation" up to equality with "Special Revelation," ie the Bible !!!
He's putting Nature (what we discover about God via Nature) on a par
with what the Bible teaches about God !!!
So those preachers who say, "Sola Scriptura" or "Scripture alone"
Are WRONG unless they include the "scripture" found in Nature, not just the Bible !!!
But just WHAT do we learn of God from the study of Nature
That ranks with the truth that the Holy Bible tells us about God?
Yes, that is the obvious question worth asking at this point.
First of all, let me be blunt: the study of Nature has become known as SCIENCE.
So if the study of Nature = General Revelation = the Word of God
This actually means that Science is the Word of God !!!
So the question becomes, just what does science tell us about God
that ranks with the truth of God found in the Bible?
Well, since we're dealing with "the heavens" or the skies in Psalms 19/Romans 10.18,
Let me narrow the focus down to Astronomy, in place of the more general term, science.
Astronomy reveals that the universe is expanding, which means it was smaller and smaller
the further back in time that you go, until at the beginning it was only a single subatomic point.
In short, Astronomy reveals/endorses the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe !!!
Finally, if we view the Big Bang Theory as "scripture," based on what i have said above,
And if we accept that "scripture interprets scripture," this means we are to interpret
Genesis chapter 1 by the Big Bang Theory in order to unlock the truth of Genesis 1 !!!
By taking Genesis 1 metaphorically we discover the "secret knowledge" hidden therein.
(The Gnostics gave the concept of "secret knowledge" a bad name.For their version was garbage.
But there really is such a thing as true "secret knowledge" in the Bible, hidden only for a time.)
In short, "the formless Void"(Gen.1.2) isn't the Earth, rather it's the scene before Creation.
"Let there be Light!" is the indispensable Command that initiates the Creation process(Psalms 33.6,9).
"And there was Light"(Gen. 1.3) is the incredibly understated Biblical account of the Big Bang.
Then the "separation of the waters from the waters by the Expanse,"(Gen .1.6, NIV),
= the separating of the curved space within the universe from the Void outside/beyond.
The "raqia" or "Expanse" - the outward moving edge of the Universe - does the separating..
"Expanse" fits especially well here for the super-expansion called "Inflation" occurred at this point !!!
Day Three's "receding of the waters," which results in the "emerging of dry ground,"
is suggestive of ISLANDS. For wouldn't hill tops would emerge first?
Galaxy formation is the hidden message, for as astronomer Herschel put it in the 1700s,
the galaxies are "islands in the seas of space," (words to that effect).
Finally, Day Four is the time of the creating of "the Sun and moon and stars"(Gen.1.16).
Here,"the stars" would have to be limited to the planets, for they were seen as "wandering stars,"
As is confirmed by the fact that "planet" comes from the Greek "planetes" for wandering star.
So the creating of planet Earth actually belongs in Day Four,surprisingly enuff.
For (the extension of) the Big Bang Theory says the solar system formed as a package.
If you've read this far, you are very lucky, for I've saved the best for last:
There are "7 days" in the Creation story(Gen.1.1-2.3), each with an "evening and morning,"
Which is nice for it lets us think in terms of 14 periods, which is the ideal number here.
For the Big Bang Theory gives us 14 billion years as the age of the universe !!!
(Actually, it's 13.8 billion years but that rounds off to 14 billion years.)
PS: There were trillions of degrees of heat given off at the Big Bang,
In the form of infra-red radiation, if I'm not mistaken.
If infra-red can be called "light" visible to God, even though invisible to us,
then "And there was light" captures the essence of the Creation Event.
PS: If I'm wrong about the infra-red or anything else,please inform me. Thanks.
The Bible (called "Special Revelation" of God by God).
While Nature (the study of it) is "General Revelation" of God by God.
OK, so there are two REVELATIONS of God.
This is called the Double-Revelation doctrine.
But why does that mean there are two forms of the Word of God.
I mean, where does it say in the Bible that GENERAL REVELATION = THE WORD OF GOD ??!!
Good question -- and here's a good answer.
Paul the apostle says in Romans 10.17 "Faith comes from hearing..the Word of God"
Then he asks, "Have they [the Jews] not heard [the Word of God]?"(Romans 10.18).
He says, "Yes, they have heard it. Then Paul quotes from Psalms 19.4,
Which says,"their voice goes out to all the Earth."
But Psalms 19.1 reads, "The heavens declare the glory of God."
So when Paul quotes "their voice goes out..," whose voice is he talking about??
THE VOICE OF THE HEAVENS, so we can paraphrase Romans 10.18 thus,
"The voice of the heavens has gone out to all the Earth."
"The heavens" here are the skies, and the skies are NATURE.
And Nature, the study of it, is called the General Revelation.
So he's talking about the General Revelation as though it were what?
THE WORD OF GOD, for that is the object of the question Paul is asking:
For he says, "Have they [the Jews] not heard [the Word of God]?"(Romans 10.18).
Long story short, Paul is calling the "voice" of "the skies" "the Word of God."
This is extraordinary, revolutionary, unheard of, unprecedented !!!
Paul is lifting "General Revelation" up to equality with "Special Revelation," ie the Bible !!!
He's putting Nature (what we discover about God via Nature) on a par
with what the Bible teaches about God !!!
So those preachers who say, "Sola Scriptura" or "Scripture alone"
Are WRONG unless they include the "scripture" found in Nature, not just the Bible !!!
But just WHAT do we learn of God from the study of Nature
That ranks with the truth that the Holy Bible tells us about God?
Yes, that is the obvious question worth asking at this point.
First of all, let me be blunt: the study of Nature has become known as SCIENCE.
So if the study of Nature = General Revelation = the Word of God
This actually means that Science is the Word of God !!!
So the question becomes, just what does science tell us about God
that ranks with the truth of God found in the Bible?
Well, since we're dealing with "the heavens" or the skies in Psalms 19/Romans 10.18,
Let me narrow the focus down to Astronomy, in place of the more general term, science.
Astronomy reveals that the universe is expanding, which means it was smaller and smaller
the further back in time that you go, until at the beginning it was only a single subatomic point.
In short, Astronomy reveals/endorses the Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe !!!
Finally, if we view the Big Bang Theory as "scripture," based on what i have said above,
And if we accept that "scripture interprets scripture," this means we are to interpret
Genesis chapter 1 by the Big Bang Theory in order to unlock the truth of Genesis 1 !!!
By taking Genesis 1 metaphorically we discover the "secret knowledge" hidden therein.
(The Gnostics gave the concept of "secret knowledge" a bad name.For their version was garbage.
But there really is such a thing as true "secret knowledge" in the Bible, hidden only for a time.)
In short, "the formless Void"(Gen.1.2) isn't the Earth, rather it's the scene before Creation.
"Let there be Light!" is the indispensable Command that initiates the Creation process(Psalms 33.6,9).
"And there was Light"(Gen. 1.3) is the incredibly understated Biblical account of the Big Bang.
Then the "separation of the waters from the waters by the Expanse,"(Gen .1.6, NIV),
= the separating of the curved space within the universe from the Void outside/beyond.
The "raqia" or "Expanse" - the outward moving edge of the Universe - does the separating..
"Expanse" fits especially well here for the super-expansion called "Inflation" occurred at this point !!!
Day Three's "receding of the waters," which results in the "emerging of dry ground,"
is suggestive of ISLANDS. For wouldn't hill tops would emerge first?
Galaxy formation is the hidden message, for as astronomer Herschel put it in the 1700s,
the galaxies are "islands in the seas of space," (words to that effect).
Finally, Day Four is the time of the creating of "the Sun and moon and stars"(Gen.1.16).
Here,"the stars" would have to be limited to the planets, for they were seen as "wandering stars,"
As is confirmed by the fact that "planet" comes from the Greek "planetes" for wandering star.
So the creating of planet Earth actually belongs in Day Four,surprisingly enuff.
For (the extension of) the Big Bang Theory says the solar system formed as a package.
If you've read this far, you are very lucky, for I've saved the best for last:
There are "7 days" in the Creation story(Gen.1.1-2.3), each with an "evening and morning,"
Which is nice for it lets us think in terms of 14 periods, which is the ideal number here.
For the Big Bang Theory gives us 14 billion years as the age of the universe !!!
(Actually, it's 13.8 billion years but that rounds off to 14 billion years.)
PS: There were trillions of degrees of heat given off at the Big Bang,
In the form of infra-red radiation, if I'm not mistaken.
If infra-red can be called "light" visible to God, even though invisible to us,
then "And there was light" captures the essence of the Creation Event.
PS: If I'm wrong about the infra-red or anything else,please inform me. Thanks.
Published 17th Feb 2016
| Edited 18th Feb 2016
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18th Feb 2016 7:16pm
interesting points made, i always looked at science as reinforcing things in the bible, so called new breakthroughs such as the discovery that we are stardust- god breathed life into the dirt etc... also like the point of learning of God's word through nature, for the enlightened who didnt have access to the bible mostly learned from observations and through the spirit, would explain why so many faiths have similar philosophies, i could ramble on these subjects for years, but alas, till the next one, nice...
25th Feb 2016 6:42pm
Thanks so much for your input. You "always looked at science as reinforcing things in the bible."
Well, this poem was written because science has split off from the Bible, mainly in the last 200 years. I mean we have people still holding onto 6000 years as the age of the Earth and Universe. Shame, shame shame.
It was OK to think that way when there was no viable alternative, no reason to think in terms of much longer periods of time. But now that science has gathered evidence, evidence that has become PROOF of billions of years as the age of Earth (and more billions for the Universe), well it makes Christians stick out like sour thumbs when we say, "6000 years!!" - stick out in the negative sense, IOW looking like fools, idiots,morons.Just plain STUPID !!
Which of course HURTS our efforts to evangelize, to win souls for Christ. If we just say, "Well, it's not for me to save souls, that's God's responsibility," that doesn't change the fact that people are NOT going to come to Christ if they see Christianity as STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.
Which, to tell you the truth, IS how many folks see Christians today !!
People may not talk about science, sci breakthrus, at the dining table. They may not read articles on science in magazines, newspapers. So you may think that they don't use science as a basis for judging religion issues. But you'd be WRONG!! People, even illiterates, respect science. They see all the sci/tech things we use daily. So Christians HAVE to reconcile sci and religion IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. (For the sake of evangelism). The nice thing about it is this: It IS possible to make the Bible compatible with science. By jettisoning those parts that are obviously not realistic, like the genealogical record of ADAM LIVING 930 YEARS, METHUSELAH LIVING 969 YEARS !!!(Genesis 5.5,27). But how can we just DUMP parts of the Bible??!! Very simple answer. Paul the Apostle has furnished us with the precedent we need to do so !! (1)He writes, "Don't give heed to endless genealogies.."(Titus 3.9; 1 Timothy 1.4). "Endless" here can mean "endless life" genealogies. Like a lifespan of 900 years !!
(2)Paul writes, "You are not under the Law [of Moses]"(Romans 6.14; Galatians 5.18). And what does "the Law of Moses" refer to? The first books of the Bible (is one way it is used).
So Paul is saying we are not "under" Genesis, the first book of the Law. Of course we ARE still under it - because it is "the Word of God." But we're not under the same LITERAL interpretation of it. As the ancient Jews. We can take Genesis One as what it is: the truth of Creation dumbed down to suit the people of Moses's day (and up til modern times).It's OK to dumb things down when you're talking to children.And people of Moses's day were child-like in as much as they were lacking in knowledge.(For example they didn't know the world is round, nor that Earth revolves around the sun. On and on I could go.) So it's only fitting for God to dumb things down for them, OK?
Well, this poem was written because science has split off from the Bible, mainly in the last 200 years. I mean we have people still holding onto 6000 years as the age of the Earth and Universe. Shame, shame shame.
It was OK to think that way when there was no viable alternative, no reason to think in terms of much longer periods of time. But now that science has gathered evidence, evidence that has become PROOF of billions of years as the age of Earth (and more billions for the Universe), well it makes Christians stick out like sour thumbs when we say, "6000 years!!" - stick out in the negative sense, IOW looking like fools, idiots,morons.Just plain STUPID !!
Which of course HURTS our efforts to evangelize, to win souls for Christ. If we just say, "Well, it's not for me to save souls, that's God's responsibility," that doesn't change the fact that people are NOT going to come to Christ if they see Christianity as STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.
Which, to tell you the truth, IS how many folks see Christians today !!
People may not talk about science, sci breakthrus, at the dining table. They may not read articles on science in magazines, newspapers. So you may think that they don't use science as a basis for judging religion issues. But you'd be WRONG!! People, even illiterates, respect science. They see all the sci/tech things we use daily. So Christians HAVE to reconcile sci and religion IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. (For the sake of evangelism). The nice thing about it is this: It IS possible to make the Bible compatible with science. By jettisoning those parts that are obviously not realistic, like the genealogical record of ADAM LIVING 930 YEARS, METHUSELAH LIVING 969 YEARS !!!(Genesis 5.5,27). But how can we just DUMP parts of the Bible??!! Very simple answer. Paul the Apostle has furnished us with the precedent we need to do so !! (1)He writes, "Don't give heed to endless genealogies.."(Titus 3.9; 1 Timothy 1.4). "Endless" here can mean "endless life" genealogies. Like a lifespan of 900 years !!
(2)Paul writes, "You are not under the Law [of Moses]"(Romans 6.14; Galatians 5.18). And what does "the Law of Moses" refer to? The first books of the Bible (is one way it is used).
So Paul is saying we are not "under" Genesis, the first book of the Law. Of course we ARE still under it - because it is "the Word of God." But we're not under the same LITERAL interpretation of it. As the ancient Jews. We can take Genesis One as what it is: the truth of Creation dumbed down to suit the people of Moses's day (and up til modern times).It's OK to dumb things down when you're talking to children.And people of Moses's day were child-like in as much as they were lacking in knowledge.(For example they didn't know the world is round, nor that Earth revolves around the sun. On and on I could go.) So it's only fitting for God to dumb things down for them, OK?
