J.H. Heidegger's Corpus of Christian Theology: Theology in General: Natural Theology

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7.  Natural Theology after the fall is asserted.

But, after sin entered into the world, the sinner did not immediately and completely unlearn God.  For even corrupted nature preserved for him a certain natural Theology and religion, although very imperfect.  For, the sinner retained both Reason, to which also nature, and the innate idea and notion of Deity, suggested, with God through nature revealing, τὸ γνωστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, that which might naturally be able to be known of God, Romans 1:19; and the ποιήματα, the things that are made, the works of God (of which sort are the Heavens declaring the glory of God, and the firmament showing the work of God’s fingers, Psalm 19:1,[1] and all the wonders of Heaven and earth), from the creation show forth the invisible things, even His eternal Godhead and power to be noticed and observed, Romans 1:20; with God undertaking, that in the world He would by no means leave Himself ἀμάρτυρος, without witness, Acts 14:17:  and Conscience, which is the work of the law written in the heart of man; and so, bearing in its bosom the knowledge of the honest and the shameful taught by that law, it powerfully defends man in well-doing, as before God the Judge, and accuses in evil doing, Romans 2:15.  I pass over in silence innumerable and pregnant arguments, whereby reason, even without revelation, and aided by no tradition,  ἀναντιῤῥήτως/irrefutably evinces that God exists as the rewarder of the good, and the avenger of evil.

8.  And the arguments of Socinus against Natural Theology are refuted.

In vain, therefore, do the Socinians[2] and their followers labor to the contrary.  For, although they are wont to plead, that he that would come to God must πιστεῦσαι/believe that He is, and is the rewarder of those seeking Him, Hebrews 11:6:  yet it does not follow that there is absolutely no knowledge of God without faith, which is had toward Divine testimony and revelation.  For nothing prevents the same from being revealed by God both in the word and in nature together, in the former more powerfully, in the latter more weakly; and so from also being confirmed as a thing demonstrable from Divine testimony.  Moreover, that Enoch was translated by faith, that he should not see death, and received the testimony, that he pleased God, but that without faith it is impossible to please God; by this argument the Apostle proves, that one approaching God, after the likeness of Enoch, must believe ὅτι ἔστι, that He is, namely, God:  but certainly not that He simply exists (because Enoch did not believe only this), but that He is God, that is, He fills the whole measure of that title, and so is to the believer ‎לֵאלֹהִים, for God, Genesis 17:7, 8,[3] who is gracious to man as sinner, and justifies him in Christ.  Moreover, that there are atheists, who through the whole course of life are able to demand of themselves, that they believe that there is no God; indeed, that there are entire nations altogether irreligious:  Socinus, and those that not so long ago seconded him on this point, Sharrock, a man not otherwise unlearned,[4] Herbert,[5] and others, have never proven.  For, the individual conscience, that tormentor in the bosom, even when it is seared with an iron,[6] does not allow it:  and not so long ago a most learned Man repelled this calumny of Atheism against entire nations, namely, the Ancient Greeks, Germans, and Romans, as well as the more recent Islanders of Ceylon,[7] the Soldanians,[8] the Peruvians,[9] the Guayanas,[10] the Brazilians,[11] and other barbarians tribes, even indeed the whole human race.  That is, if I might speak with Maximus of Tyre,[12] there is no race of men, neither barbarian nor Greek, whether living on the sea or on the continent, whether wandering about without a settled place or inhabiting a city, that does not show some signs of Divine Worship.  For, as Seneca says, the opinion concerning the gods is innate in all, nor is there any race cast so far away from laws and customs, that it does not believe in some gods.[13]  It is so far from the truth, that any race, any people, has contracted the stain of Atheism, that those especially barbaric, with the ancients, preferred to worship, not only Θεὸν ἄγνωστον, an unknown god (Acts 17:23), but even an Endovelic god, that is, the Devil,[14] and also whatever other grossly sordid things, than to receive no Deity.  To such madness men, by nature proud and fierce, would never have arrived, unless the universal principal of that faith, that there is a God and religion, originated from Nature itself.  Yet, if any have abjured all sense of Divinity, we would say with Jude, that they in those things that φυσικῶς, ὡς τὰ ἄλογα ζῶα, ἐπίστανται, naturally know, as brute beast, corrupt themselves, Jude 10; and with David, that they have become brutish, Psalm 49:20.[15]  But from such it is demented to assess nature.

9.    Yet Natural Theology is not saving, because ignorant of Christ.

Moreover, although one may draw knowledge of the aforementioned sort concerning God and Divine things from nature and its principles, that knowledge is not able to be ἐχόμενα τῆς σωτηρίας, accompanying salvation,[16] not able to be saving.  For, flesh and blood teach arts, but they do not teach Christ.[17]  Neither is it able to happen, that by nature a man might be made certain of the remission of his sins, and esteem God, as Him that δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἀσεβῆ, justifieth the ungodly (Romans 4:5).  For, man as sinner is not in any way able to give counsel to God concerning the manner of procuring righteousness, nor to divine God’s counsel concerning it, nor to know God’s will and good pleasure without His revelation.  For, this is the ‎ס֣וֹד יְ֭הוָה, secret of Jehovah, Psalm 25:14; the μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος, mystery of the will, of God, Ephesians 1:9; which no one is able to unseal except Himself.[18]  But thus He revealed, that there is not salvation in any other (than Jesus Christ, with that stone made into the head of the corner), nor is there any other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:11, 12; and that eternal life consists in Him in such a way that we know the Father, that only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent, John 17:3.  Now, that He is the Son of the living God, and our Savior, flesh and blood does not reveal, Matthew 16:17; but God reveals it to us by His Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:10.

10.  And man does not even consider the things naturally known, as they are able to be known.

Moreover, that which man is able naturally to know concerning God, man as animal, but not yet sanctified, does not know them as they are γνωστὰ/known,[19] or as they are able and ought to be known.  For, to him the Spirit is wanting, through whose opening of the heart all things must be spiritually ἀνακρίνεσθαι, discerned, and recalled for scrutiny, 1 Corinthians 2:14.  Νόησις, true intellectual apprehension, is wanting, attention, consideration of natural things, insofar as they lead in any manner to the knowledge and worship of God.  For every unregenerate sinner has some means of knowing God, but he does not make use of them, nor is he able to do so, because he is not captivated by the holiness of God, but rather by nature abhors God, as a θεοστυγὴς, hater of God, Romans 1:30.  Whence also, what knowledge the Gentiles had concerning God notwithstanding, the Apostle called their times χρόνους ἀγνοίας, the times of ignorance, Acts 17:30; and the most sagacious Philosophers, to whom it was especially of interest and agreeable to understand the causes of things, of which sort were the Stoics, appear to have avoided it to some extent, lest they happen upon the true God, and acknowledge the Θειότητα/Godhead and Θεοπρέπειαν, virtues befitting God; but they established Nature as the very Deity.  But the rest, ascending somewhat higher, although they were not turning to God, and were trusting in themselves; abusing the forbearance and longsuffering of God, which lead to repentance,[20] and interpreting the same as a testimony of divine approbation, and having great confidence in their own wisdom in the founding of religious rites, not only failed to glorifying God to the extent that He is known, but also, while professing themselves to be wise, ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, ἐμωράνθησαν, they became vain in their reasonings, were made fools, more specifically, because ἐσκοτίσθη ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν καρδία, their foolish heart was darkened, Romans 1:21, 22.  Whence, not only did they fall headlong into idolatry and all impurity, verse 23, etc.; but also, surrounded with errors now ancient, and the laws, authority, empires, and power of the whole world, and thus hardened, they did not receive the Gospel that had begun to be preached to them, but repudiated it as μωρία/foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:18.

11.  A refutation of the Fathers, Muhammad, and Socinus, promising a common saving Religion, resting upon principles of nature.

Therefore, they stray far from piety and the path of all truth, who promise a certain common saving religion, resting upon reason and principles of nature.  Certain seeds of which error some Fathers incautiously sowed, having recently entered the Church from the Stoa, and adjudging salvation to those living μετὰ λόγου, according to reason; but Muhammad was the first to pluck the fruit, promising Paradise to all knowing God to some extent and leading life piously and honestly; who was followed after a great interval of time by some Papists, and Socinus, insisting those that worship God according to the light of Nature, as a certain interior word, and believe some few things concerning God, are able to be saved; by Herbert of Cherbury, who, in his books published concerning Veritate, Causis errorum, and Religione gentilium, made the norm of saving truth nothing other than common notions received by the universal consent of men, and comprehended in five articles, namely, that there is some supreme Deity; that He is to be worshipped; that the principal parts of worship are virtue and piety; that sins are to be expiated through repentance; and that after this life rewards and punishments are bestowed; and by other Innovators:  by a number of eminent prevaricators of the Christian cause, because they, professing the Christian name, yet without Christ and the knowledge of Him, impiously assert that salvation comes to man, although made to know the true God, through ignorance.  For, that the Apostle required the faith whereby it is believed, that God is, and is the rewarder of those seeking Him, more than the belief of the existence of the Deity, we have already seen, and it is gathered out of John 17:3.  Neither is it sufficient for salvation φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιεῖν, to do by nature the things of the law, Romans 2:14, that is, to do those things that the Law commands to do for civil honesty and righteousness, so that in this life peoples might coalesce into one, and be able to cohabitate without injury, flagrant crime, and the disturbance of society.  For, thus God manifests Himself as He who is the one ‎הֲיֹסֵ֣ר גּ֭וֹיִם, instructing, or keeping, the heathen in discipline, Psalm 94:10, and who teaches men knowledge above the beasts of the field, and above the fowls of Heaven, Job 35:11.  Yet no one is doing the things of the Law in this way, or rises to the sincerity and perfection required by the Law; or has that love accompanying salvation, which is out of a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned, 1 Timothy 1:5.  But God is not made unjust, because He appears thus to disappoint in necessities, since He is a debtor to no one, much less to a sinner, because no one προέδωκεν αὐτῷ, has first given to Him, Romans 11:35.  So that thus God is not able to acquire any gain from man.  But both the conscience and the thoughts, which are said ἀπολογεῖν, to defend, even the Gentiles in things rightly done, Romans 2:14, 15:[21]  not, therefore, do they obtain that peace and tranquility of conscience, which sort ought to obtain in the kingdom of God (Romans 14:17); both because, if the heart of a man condemn him, God is greater than his heart, and knoweth all things, 1 John 3:20, and so He alone searcheth the hearts of men, which they themselves are not able thoroughly to search, Jeremiah 17:9, 10; and because in many other things it accuses and condemns, and so does not defend absolutely, with respect to the universal righteousness of the person, but only with respect to certain particular acts of civil honesty and righteousness; and, finally, because not even those are justified, who are conscious to themselves of nothing, 1 Corinthians 4:4.  Moreover, the examples that they set forth, of Job, Rahab,[22] Naaman the Syrian,[23] and Cornelius,[24] are not to the point, because, that they were by no means without Divine revelation, is already proven.

12.  The use of Natural Theology with respect to God and men.

Finally, although the natural knowledge of God is not saving, that does not mean that it is useless.  Indeed, with respect to God it has this use, that man μεμψίμοιρον/complaining,[25] obstreperous, and continuing to strive with His Maker (Isaiah 45:9), it renders ἀναπολόγητον/inexcusable (Romans 1:20).  With respect to man, on the other hand, it has these uses, that they, although not yet regenerated, yet seeking God and His salvation in nature, εἰ ἄραγε ψηλαφήσειαν αὐτὸν καὶ εὕροιεν, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him (Acts 17:27), might more ardently receive and adore Him, having been found by the grace or word of God, with the Spirit of God guiding:  and that they, having been born again by the word of God,[26] and now having been thoroughly instructed in the true God and the way of His salvation, with a certain return to nature undertaken, by the works and wonders of God, more fully admire His power, wisdom, and goodness, and venerate His Majesty, and place all their faith in the one and only God of Israel, who alone does such things.  Which use of the works of God, David magnificently commends in Psalm 8; 19; 104; 136.

[1] Psalm 19:1:  “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork (‎הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם מְֽסַפְּרִ֥ים כְּבֽוֹד־אֵ֑ל וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָ֜דָ֗יו מַגִּ֥יד הָרָקִֽיעַ׃).”

[2] Fausto Paolo Sozzini, or Faustus Socinus (1539-1604), was the father of Socinianism, a rationalistic heresy (denying the Deity of Christ, the satisfaction theory of the atonement, etc.), an aberration of the Reformation.

[3] Genesis 17:7, 8:  “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee (‎לִהְי֤וֹת לְךָ֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים), and to thy seed after thee.  And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God (‎וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָהֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִֽים׃).”

[4] Robert Sharrock (1630-1684) was an orthodox Anglican churchman, and an expert in philosophy, law, and science (specializing in botany).

[5] Edward Herbert, Baron of Cherbury (1583-1648), was a soldier, diplomat, and religious philosopher.  He is sometimes called the “Father of English Deism”.

[6] 1 Timothy 4:2.

[7] That is, modern Sri Lanka.  The ancient inhabitants of Ceylon embraced Theravada Buddhism.  They were a deeply religious people, evidenced by the many temples and monasteries on the island, but they had no doctrine of a personal Creator-God, nor did they affirm an immortal human soul.

[8] That is, the region around the Cape of Good Hope.  The Khoikhoi (the ancient Soldanians), lacking organized worship, idols, temples, and a system of beliefs, were thought to be atheists; but they did have a belief in a Supreme Creator-God, and they venerated the spirits of the ancestors.

[9] The Incas of Peru were polytheistic, and had a highly developed belief system and ritual cult.

[10] The Guayana region in South America (parts of Venezuela and Brazil).  The tribes of the Guianas did not have temples, a highly developed cult, or an organized system of beliefs; but they did affirm a creation myth (with a Creator-God in some accounts) and a spiritual world, were animistic and shamanistic, and venerated their ancestors.

[11] The tribes of the Brazil and the Amazon did not have temples, a highly developed cult, or an organized system of beliefs or ethics; but they did affirm a creation myth and a spiritual world, were animistic and shamanistic, and venerated their ancestors.

[12] Philosophical Orations, Dissertation2.  Maximus of Tyre (late second century AD) was a Greek rhetorician and eclectic philosopher.  Throughout his Dissertations he emphasizes the reality and unity of the Supreme Being, while acknowledging the reality of dæmons, that is, intermediate beings.

[13] Seneca the Younger’s Epistulæ Morales ad Lucilium, Letter 117.

[14] Endovelicum was a pre-Roman, Iberian deity, associated with the underworld.

[15] Psalm 49:20:  “Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish (‎נִמְשַׁ֖ל כַּבְּהֵמ֣וֹת נִדְמֽוּ׃).”

[16] Hebrews 6:9.

[17] See Matthew 16:17.

[18] See Revelation 5.

[19] Romans 1:19:  “Because that which may be known (τὸ γνωστὸν) of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”

[20] Romans 2:4.

[21] Romans 2:14, 15:  “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing [ἢ καὶ ἀπολογουμένων] one another;)…”

[22] Joshua 2; 6:17-25; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25.

[23] 2 Kings 5; Luke 4:27.

[24] Acts 10.

[25] Jude 16:  “These are murmurers, complainers (μεμψίμοιροι), walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.”

[26] 1 Peter 1:23.