God the Father, Mentor's Guide, MG06

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G O D T H E F A T H E R

A. General revelation : God revealing himself to all beings everywhere through creation, human history, and in the inner capacities of human beings

1. God has revealed himself through creation and nature .

a. Biblical evidence

(1) Isa. 40.25-26

(2) Rom. 1.18-20

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(3) Acts 14.15-17

(4) Acts 17.24-31

b. Philosophical arguments for a natural theology: Thomas Aquinas

(1) Cosmological proof: God as the first uncaused Cause

(2) Teleological proof: God is the author of the orderliness and purposefulness of the universe. (3) Anthropological argument: The moral order of things demands that God exists and will judge our actions. (4) Ontological argument (Anselm): God is the greatest of all conceivable beings.

2. God has revealed himself in human history .

a. The preservation of God’s special people, Israel

b. God’s redemptive work in human history: the Jesus of history, Acts 2.22-23

(1) Historie : actual human history