CreatorWorship

The second blog entry that I ever wrote was published on July 24, 2007, called “Two Books“. It is an introduction to a set of articles about Naturalism vs. Christianity as they relate to Science, or in a narrower sense, Creation vs. Evolution. Since the time of Augustine, scholars have spoken of two books of revelation, the Book of Nature and the Book of Special Revelation, the Bible.

Recently, I was considering the 3rd question of the Baptist Catechism (Collins, 1693), which asks, “How do we know there is a God?” The answer gives three reasons (three books?): “The light of nature in man, and the works of God, plainly declare that there is a God; but His Word and Spirit only, do effectually reveal Him unto us for our salvation.”

Which is it, two or three? The works of God, the Creation, and the light of nature in man are in actuality two volumes of the Book of Nature. Upon deeper inspection, the volume of the light of nature in man has two sections, the moral code written on the conscience and the ability of man to reason. These are strong pointers to the reality and attributes of God.

The Book of Nature in all of its parts cannot bring a person to salvation. It does, however, bring a person to account before God: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) In a more positive sense, this accountability can be used in pre-evangelism to open the heart of the skeptical to hear the Gospel. I know of a professor at LSU who was challenged by a Christian student as to how he knew what he was claiming to be true about evolution. It so set him to thinking about the subject that he went searching and eventually found Christ.