Natural Knowledge

• R.C. Church- natural knowledge of God


  'the desire for God is written in the human heart', imprinted in each person is a basic sense of God that gives them the capacity and desire to God
• Calvin - natural knowledge of God

  • all people have an "innate sensus divinitas" (divine sense) that makes it possible for anyone to know God
  • the "semen religionis" (the seed of religion) is found in all people
  • sin makes it difficult for some to recognise God
  • sees the idea of the beauty of the earth as being like a mirror of God, reflecting his nature through the world
  • 'the principle of accommodation' - the idea that God, despite being unknowable, has communicated with humans in ways that they will understand and in ways that they can work out
• pros of the natural knowledge of God

  • it is logical for humans to use their brains to reason
  • there is long tradition of humans using reason to show God exists
  • it is reasonable to assume that the large number of people who have some sort of faith shows that there is a connection between God and humans
  • it is reasonable to think that an omnibenevolent creator would make it possible for his creation to contact him
• cons of the natural knowledge of God

  • is the gap just too great between humans and God to accept the sensus divinitas?
  • it is useless if we cannot gain personal knowledge of God, knowing God should be able to lead to a relationship with him
  • reason is not helpful as is too subjective, some conclude that God does not exist
  • order and purpose in nature can be explained by other factors such as natural selection in the theory of evolution
  • just because beauty makes us feel awe, it does not mean that God has made this feeling
• Grace

  • God's goodness given to the world, 'undeserved favour'
  • not something humans can ask for
  • Christians believe grace is the reason humans are given faith and it is because of God that faith becomes a real, personal relationship with God
• Christians on trusting in God's existence

  • it is important not to put too much emphasis on things that come from the mind because God's revelation of himself is more pure than the human tendency to over-think might suggest
  • we must continue to remember that God is very different to other things we might use our reason to try to understand
• Is natural knowledge of God the same as revealed knowledge of God?

  • YES - the points of contact in natural theology are there because God chose to reveal them
  • NO - they use different processes to gain knowledge
• Plantinga

  • if there were no God, then there would be no claims to know him
  • many people claim to believe in God so knowledge of God is basic knowledge
  • the sensus divinitatis - the God-given gift of being able to know God
• Cons of Plantinga

  • many may have incorrectly interpreted God, thus knowledge of his existence is not basic but a mistake
  • he does not provide evidence of his Christian beliefs, eg. the incarnation