The Reformation, however, did much to clear up the misunderstandings and affirm the distinctions. Calvin and the reformers believed “that the human mind was so darkened by sin that it could not rightly know and understand natural revelation, God therefore provided glasses of Scripture to aid our understanding of natural revelation.” (p69) Although not soon after the Reformation began, the philosophers came along and affirmed utterly irrational mean of affirming the reality of God.
Bavinck notes that the scriptures do not distinguish between “natural” and “supernatural” revelation, and that creation (natural revelation) is no less supernatural than Scripture. The providential work of God caring, sustaining and governing the world we live in is indeed the supernatural work of God himself. Although we maintain natural revelation is a supernatural work of God, there is a distinction between general and special, as Bavinck points out, in the Garden prior to sin, God spoke to Adam with a probationary command and promise, of which Adam would never had gained from nature itself. In other words Adam would not have known God’s command not to eat of the tree if God had not spoken it to him. Not eating of the tree, is a truth Adam would have never been able to logically deduce from nature alone.
Supernatural revelation is not an immediate revelation, meaning, revelation is mediated. God makes himself known by means, through words, visions, miracles etc… This is because man cannot know God as God, but only as a creature. Bavinck using WCF 7.1 says that “the distance between God and man is much too great for human beings to perceive God directly.” (p69) This is because man is finite, and is incapable of infinite knowledge. So any Revelation God gives to man is an act of grace, whereby God condescends, comes down to the creaturely level. As Bavinck says at the top of page 70, all revelation is anthropomorphic, a humanization of God.
Despite the entrance of sin in this world Bavinck teaches us, that God continues to reveal himself as he providentially cares for this world. And as Bavinck gives us a list of examples of how God reveals himself in this world through nature, and Bavinck prefers to use the terms general and special, since all of God’s revelation is indeed supernatural. And it is an agreed conviction that general revelation is insufficient for knowing God sufficiently for salvation. “General revelation fails to point us to sin, divine wrath, and grace…” (p70) And as general revelation is so pervasive, meaning God has revealed himself to all men; we can expect and do see that all religions contain certain elements of truth, although marred by sin. And not only does the false religions of the world benefit from general revelation, but I think we can say that even science benefits from general revelation. A science text book may tell you that it was Niels Bohr who discovered the Atomic Model, but the truth of the matter is that God revealed the atomic model to Bohr. Therefore the intellectual genius and discipline of the scientist is not the source of discovery, it is God who reveals truths about this world we live in. Also these truths are not separate isolated brute facts, but facts that are given in the context that “God Is”, “God is near”, and “God is not silent”. Every fact is not only a revelation from God, but a revelation of God. Then as Bavinck says, “Biblical faith is positioned to look out upon nature and history and discover the traces of the God who is known through Christ as Father. Christians equipped with the spectacles of Scripture see God in everything and everything in God.” (p73)
And as Bavinck closes this section he makes the following wonderful and incredible remark, “All revelation, general and special, finally finds its fulfillment and meaning in Christ.” Along with Bavinck we can affirm that any and all truths, either about nature, or the supernatural, have their ultimate meaning and realization in Christ.
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