Natural Theology

God has revealed himself through Scripture, but has God also revealed himself through nature? Some argue that the Fall has erased any form of natural theology, but the Reformed tradition has argued that classical orthodoxy routinely and uniformly taught and practiced natural theology. Theologians in the Great Tradition testified to God’s self-disclosure in creation, but they were not satisfied to merely acknowledge the existence of natural revelation. No, they wanted to read and exposit God’s “second book” – the created order. Indeed, it has been common Christian practice to demonstrate God’s existence, attributes, and providence by arguing from the effects all around us back to their First Cause. In this issue of Credo, contributors show that natural theology is a practice supported by Scripture and exemplified by the Reformed tradition, a tradition indebted to great thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas. With the Psalmist, readers can say with confidence, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”