From: Terry M. Gray (grayt@lamar.colostate.edu)
Date: Wed Apr 09 2003 - 12:10:31 EDT
>Paul is NOT arguing here for natural theology. He says that people
>should be able to know God in creation but that they distort this
>knowledge and worship idols.
>
>The attempt to know God from nature, independently of revelation,
>usually results in the construction of idols - of which the
>Intelligent Designer or the God who "left his fingerprints all over
>the evidence" may be examples.
>
>So which is it, do we know of God's invisible qualities from nature or not?
Josh,
We do and we don't! We do and are left without excuse, BUT, as George
points out, we universally suppress and reject that knowledge because
of our fallenness. So in that sense we don't. Even when there seems
to be some kind of spiritual awareness it is directed to idols and
false religion. The truth of God's existence and work only comes to
spiritually dead people by the light of Gospel and the work of the
Spirit.
As George notes, seeing Romans 1 as a prooftext for natural theology
is reading Romans 1 out of context--missing the bottom line of the
"there are none who seek after God" of Romans 3.
TG
-- _________________ Terry M. Gray, Ph.D., Computer Support Scientist Chemistry Department, Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 grayt@lamar.colostate.edu http://www.chm.colostate.edu/~grayt/ phone: 970-491-7003 fax: 970-491-1801
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