Herman Bavinck: Reformed Dogmatics Volume 2: God and Creation
I. The Incomprehensibility of God
A. God has revealed himself in Scriptures but it is hard for the finite mind to understand. According to Scriptures, God has revealed himself in his word, miracles, history and creation. God is revealed as a person, a conscious being, he is not confined to this world, nor is he confined to certain lands and people.
B. God and the Gods
1. God commands Israel to have no other God before him.
3. He can manifest himself in certain places at specific times to certain people in the Old Testament but he is also revealed in the same passage as infinite and exalted above creation.
C. Divine Incomprehensibility in Christian Theology
1. God cannot fully reveal himself to his creatures since they would have to be divine to understand and therefore there can be no exhaustive knowledge of God.
2. Augustine describes God as “being” as indicated by the name YHWH which is the only name in Scripture that is self-designating without reference to us.
3. Thomas Aquinas believed that knowledge of God could be divided into three categories: the immediate vision of God (will only be known by grace in heaven), knowledge by faith and knowledge by reason.
4. Luther believed that God was not exhaustively revealed in Christ and that which is above is unknowable to mankind. The Reformed also believed that God’s nature could not be revealed due to the distinction between the finite and the infinite.
D. Philosophical Agnosticism
1. Kant believed that the knowledge of God could not be objectively demonstrated only subjectively deduced. Schleirmacher believed that when “the Absolute” is examined it is “finitized” and becomes an image. Hegel believed that logic was the description of God’s being. Feuerbach contended that theology was anthropology, God was the essence of man and religion was the deification of man.
E. The Mystery of an Absolute, Personal God
1. There is no name or definition that can fully express who God is since his true being cannot be known. Our knowledge of him can only be analogical. And though Socrates and Spinoza claimed to know God, Augustine would say that they did not know the true God.
II. The Knowledge of God
A. Atheism and the Knowledge of God
1. There can be no knowledge of God without revelation and though God has revealed himself there is an infinite amount that has not been revealed. Since God has revealed himself, atheism cannot exist. Materialists such as Strauss are considered atheists but then exhibit a piety to the universe that is similar to the Christian’s reverence to God. Atheism and materialism become pantheism. Atheists recognize the power of God and cannot help but turn to a false idol.
B. Implanted Knowledge of God
1. Innate Ideas in Philosophy – The theory of innate ideas began with Greek philosophers who struggled with the problem of where knowledge came from, either we had previous knowledge and cannot learn anymore or we know nothing and strive to learn. Plato believed that we recall knowledge from a previous existence. Descartes first used the phrase; he believed that the soul produces the knowledge of God out of itself.
2. Innate Ideas in Christian Theology – The scholastics opposed innate ideas and it was not held by the early church writers. Augustine, influenced by Plato, emphasized sense perception for obtaining knowledge of God but he did not believe that man could contemplate God through nature alone. Mystics believed that through grace they could see God in nature. Luther believed that the image of God in man was lost and therefore man has no knowledge of God. He believed that God reveals himself in nature but man does not recognize him.
4. Christian theology rejects the theory of innate ideas because of fear of rationalism and mysticism. If man was created with full knowledge of God, he would be self-sufficient and would not need the revelation of God.
C. Proofs for God’s Existence
1. The Cosmological Argument — existence of a cause proves the existence of the effect.
2. The Teleological Argument — beauty and order imply an intelligent being.
3. The Ontological Argument “infers existence from thought” (84).
4. The Moral Argument infers that since man is a moral creature with an understanding of laws, judgments, virtue, etc. occurring universally, then there must be a moral creator and sustainer.
5. The Argument from Universal Consent – there are no people who do not have a religion.
6. The Historical-Theological Argument – history is moving to a goal which bespeaks a wise ruler who is guiding the world to this goal.
III. Names of God
A. Biblical Names for God
1. Since God reveals himself using human language, the Scripture is anthropomorphic. Even his incommunicable attributes are stated in language derived from the finite world.
B. Classifying God’s Names
1. God is an independent being and does not share his nature with his creation.
2. Plato, Philo and the church believed that God could be described best as “being” which is connected with the name YHWH in the Old Testament
C. Divine Simplicity: Essence and Attributes
1. God is without composition (simple) and therefore there can be no real distinction between his attributes and his essence. His attributes are the same as his being. The knowledge that God is simple has kept Christian theology from straying into error.
2. The diversity of God’s attributes does not affect the “unity, simplicity and immutability of God’s being” (127 and are found in God’s revelation..
D. Classifying God’s Attributes
1. Communicable and incommunicable were first used when describing the doctrine of the Trinity. The terms were adopted to maintain the transcendence and immanence of God. There are four attributes of God that are incommunicable: “aseity, immutability, infinity (eternity and immensity) and oneness” (136). The communicable attributes are: God’s spirituality, his knowledge and wisdom, his ethical attributes, his reign as Lord and king and hiss blessedness.
E. God’s Proper Names
1. Elohim, El Shaddai -Elohim means that God is the one who is strong and to be dreaded. The singular is almost never used except in poetry. The plural is not meant to be royal plural or a reference to the Trinity. El Shaddai is the name that God used to reveal himself to Abraham.
2. YHWH was the name of the Israelite God according to Scripture and a ninth century B.C. Moabite Mesha stone. The early church believed that the name refered to God’s aseity.
3. YHWH Sabaoth– YHWH was God’s “highest revelation” (144) and it is never used of another God. Sabaoth can be rendered “the Almighty” or “Lord of Hosts” or “of Power.”
4. Father seems to be a new name added to the New Testament but it existed in pagan religions and it is also in the Old Testament. It is the name that depicts the relation that God had with Israel and has with all his children through Christ.
John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion
I. Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self are Interconnected
A. We cannot know ourselves until we have looked to God. It is hard to determine which comes first since our knowledge of self and of God are interconnected. We understand that everything that we have comes from outside ourselves and this knowledge leads us to contemplate God.
B. Knowledge of God leads to knowledge of self, we do not realize our depravity until we have first looked at God. God is the only standard by which we can measure ourselves.
II. What Does It Mean to Know God
A. Knowledge of God includes an understanding that there is a God, living in a manner that glorifies him and knowing how we can benefit from this understanding.
B. Our knowledge of God should lead us to fear and reverence and to seek good from him and then acknowledge the source when we receive it.
III. The Knowledge of God is Implanted on the Minds of Men
A. The fact that man creates idols proves that God has implanted knowledge of himself. If religion was invented, it would be impossible to enthrall the weak, there would be no knowledge of God internally, but since God implants that knowledge of himself in our hearts man proves there is a God by his idol worship and false religion.
IV. The Knowledge of God is Corrupted
A. Man creates idols, not as a demonstration of piety but arrogance and perversity. He rejects the knowledge of God found in nature so that he may freely sin, ungoverned by God and free from his judgment. Worshipping an idol is not true religion but a rejection of God’s stated will for worship.
B. There are some who fear God for his judgment and wrath, not for his majesty. They perform religious acts to placate him, all the while seeking to overthrow him by flaunting his laws.
V. Knowledge of God is revealed in Nature
A. God has revealed knowledge of himself and his wisdom in his creation. The order of the stars, the liberal arts, and the human body reveal the Creator but man credits this to nature.
B. The almighty power of God is witnessed in the awesome destructive power of nature. This demonstration of his power leads us to contemplate his eternal and creative nature. It is his goodness that caused him to create and sustain all things and all creatures benefit from his mercy.
C. It is clear from Scripture that God is sovereign over all. What an unbeliever thinks is chance is the providence of God.
D. There is no need for proofs of the existence of God since he is manifested in his works in nature and in us.
E. Since the righteous are chastised in this life and the sins of the wicked left unpunished this leads to the understanding that there is a judgment to come.
F. Even though God and his eternal kingdom are clearly evident in his works, we are completely blind to them and we do not benefit from them. Sometimes God’s divinity filters through our blindness but we soon lose it by corrupting it with our evil thoughts.
VI. Scripture is Our Guide to the Creator
A. The word of God is necessary draw men to God, lead us away from error and reveal God’s will
B. Man could no longer speculate and create a god since God revealed himself through Scripture.
C. Scripture reveals to us what nature cannot. God’s word converts souls, and gives wisdom,
VII. The Holy Spirit is the Only Witness to Scripture
A. Even though some believe that the church sets cannon and has authority of all things, it does not have the authority to determine that the Scriptures are the word of God.
B. The church is built on the foundation of Scripture.
C. The Bible does not contain rational arguments on the existence of God, it proclaims His holy name as sovereign God of the universe.
D. The Holy Spirit testifies that Scripture is the word of God.
VIII. There are Sufficient Proofs to Establish the Credibility of Scripture
A. The power of the truth and not the eloquence of the words clear all doubts. The wisdom of the philosophers pale in comparison to what is found in Scripture.
B. Moses wrote of the miracles that he experienced and those who were eye witnesses would have read known if he fabricated it. Moses wrote of Jacob’s prophesy for the tribe of Judah well before David became the king of Israel.
C. Christ’s work was attested to by four different writers. The church testifies to the truthfulness of Scripture, not just people of a single nation but people from all over the world and some have been put to death because they believed the truthfulness of the word.
D. But these proofs will not convince anyone since it is the inward witness of the Holy Spirit alone that can convince the skeptic of the truthfulness of the word of God.
IX. Fanatics Abandon Scripture and Cast down All the Principles of Godliness
A. The fanatics appeal to the Holy Spirit and mock those who appeal to Scripture but he is the same Holy Spirit who authored the Scriptures. Christ did not send his Spirit to abolish the word but to accomplish his work through the word.
X. Scripture Sets the True God against the Heathen God
A. Though God is revealed in nature he is more fully revealed in Scriptures. God’s eternal nature and self-existence are revealed in the name Jehovah (Ex. 34:6-7).
B. Scripture teaches us to fear God and then to trust him.
C. Since God has revealed himself so clearly, those who worship idols are without an excuse.
Francis Turretin: Institutes of Elenctic Theology
I. The existence of God can be irrefutably demonstrated against atheists
A. The fact that the world exists proves that there is a God, there had to be something that caused its existence since it could not have made itself. And since the world had a beginning and is not eternal, it had to have a creator.
B. The order and the beauty of creation is another proof of God’s existence. Order presupposes intelligence and it is impossible that it was assembled by chance since it would have been ill-formed and irregular. This goes for the complexity of man’s body and mind as well. Man only has to contemplate himself to understand that God exists.
C. The fact that man is tormented by conscience after committing a crime even when he knows that he will not be punished for it demonstrates that one day he will be judged.
D. Another proof is the “consent of all mankind.” worship of a deity is universally held. It is clear that this did not happen from tradition or governmental policy or the desire of men but by an acknowledgment that there exists a sense of the deity that God has implanted at birth.
E. If there was no God there would be no restraint on the behavior of society. Rulers oppress and the people would rebel.
II. There are no atheists
A. Atheists cannot escape from the knowledge of God since it has been implanted in man at birth and he is unable to remove it from himself. The law is written in his heart and even his depraved actions cannot erase it. He cannot help but see God’s majesty since it is evident in his creation.
III. God is one
A. There is only one God according to Scripture (Dt. 6:4). Reason confirms this as well, if there were more than one perfect being, then they would be equal and none would be perfect, or they would not be equal and one would be inferior or one caused the rest and therefore is superior.
B. Though there are “more persons” there are not more natures.
IV. God’s name, “Jehovah,” is so peculiar to him alone that is it incommunicable to creatures
A. God is distinct from his creation and does not need a name nor does a name describe him but he has accommodated his creatures by designating a variety of names for himself in Scripture.
B. The Socinians believed God’s name, Jehovah, could be communicable to creatures and is used of angels and Christ as God’s ambassadors. But he states that it is his name alone. The name designates his eternal nature, his self-existence and his independence from his creation.
V. The divine attributes cannot be distinguished from the divine essence.
A. The divine attributes are the properties he reveals to and is distinguished from his creatures.
B. God’s nature is inadequately represented by the attributes since we can only discern in a finite manner and can only be presented in abstraction.
C. God’s attributes and essence cannot differ from each other because God is without parts and is perfect yet God’s attributes differ from his essence and each other. Though they are “essentially and intrinsically one in God” (188) they are intellectually and effectively distinguished.
VI. The distinction of attributes into communicable and incommunicable is a good one
A. All of God’s properties are incommunicable but he has created man with properties that are analogous to his own. God’s incommunicable attributes are those that are unique to God and cannot be found in man even in an analogous way.
VII. God is simple and free from all composition
A. God cannot be composed since he is independent, one, immutable, and perfect.
B. God’s simplicity makes it impossible for God to be compounded with his creation since he is different from his creation being “immutable and incorruptible” (192).
VIII. God is infinite in essence.
A. God is infinite in essence according to Scripture (Psalm 145:3) and in three ways: originally (independent), formally (essence is infinite), and virtually (actions are not limited to the finite).
IX. God is immense and omnipresent in essence
A. God is not bound by space and time, he is present in Christ, in the heavens and in the church. His presence is either a symbolic presence or “sacramental and mystical presence” (197) or spiritual.
B. God is present by power, knowledge and essence. Since God is everywhere, his presence should be considered differently from how bodies are considered present. He is wholly in all and beyond all, not in a place but in himself. He is beyond the world but everywhere in the world.
X. The eternity of God excludes succession according to priority and posteriority
A. The eternity of God is without beginning, end or succession. Scripture teaches that God is eternal (Gen. 21:33) and ascribes eternal properties to him (Ps. 102:25-28). He does not have a beginning and since God does not have a beginning there can be no succession.
B. Since God’s essence is simple, immutable and unmeasurable the eternity of God can have no succession. Past, present and future are applied to God in Scripture (Rev. 1:4) but not in succession since God’s eternal nature embraces all timeframes at once.
XI. God is immutable both in essence and will
A. Scripture teaches that God does not change (Mal. 3:6). He is perfect so he cannot be improved or made worse by change. The incarnation did not change God since Christ become flesh not by a conversion into flesh but “by an assumption of the flesh to the hypostasis” of Christ (205).
XII. All things fall under the knowledge of God
A. God knows all perfectly (by his essence), undividedly (intuitively), distinctly (sees all at once, nothing escapes his gaze), and immutably. He knows all even things that are future and contingent (Jn. 21:7). If God predicts future events, he must know infallibly they will occur.
B. God knows the heart and therefore knows what someone desires to do before they do it. He is intimately involved with his creatures and directs them before they do so themselves. God decreed what takes place in time either he effected it or permitted it and should therefore know what will happen.
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