Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 41:1 (Mar 1998)
Article: Without Excuse: Classic Christian Exegesis Of General Revelation
Author: Thomas C. Oden

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JETS 41:1 (March 1998) p. 56

Without Excuse:
Classic Christian Exegesis Of General Revelation

Thomas C. Oden*

* Thomas Oden is professor of theology and ethics at Drew University, Madison Avenue, Route 24, Madison, NJ 07940.

The theme of general revelation is plagued by many controversies, hazards and potential misconceptions: Is Almighty God revealed clearly in creation and the providential ordering of the cosmos? Is this revelation intended for all and accessible to all? Is it saving knowledge? Does general revelation tend toward or lead to saving knowledge without further efficacious saving grace through the revealed Word? All of these questions were critically appraised in early Christian exegesis of Rom 1:18–22.

The purpose of this paper is to treat general revelation from a theological perspective with special reference to the Church fathers and ancient Christian exegetes. I hope this presentation might serve two modest purposes: to provide some ancient Christian exegetical guidelines concerning the substantive issues of general revelation, and to demonstrate a classic method of inquiry into general revelation.

I. Introduction: A Case Study In Orthodox Exegesis

1. Objective. My modest objective is to show textually that there is a well-defined, reliable, pre-European, classical Christian teaching of general revelation consensually received for a millennium before the Reformation that has been generally received and valued not only by the Lutheran and Reformed traditions but also by the evangelical and revivalist traditions, whether sanctificationist, Baptist or pentecostal, as well as by Eastern Orthodox and traditional Roman Catholics. This is a Spirit-led tradition of exegesis to which worldwide Christians of all cultural situations have a right to appeal insofar as it is accountable to Scripture.

2. Method. This teaching will be demonstrated by the method of orthodoxy—that is, by appealing textually to those consensual exegetical documents of the earliest Christian centuries that sought to interpret the mind of the believing Church—prior to its divisions—concerning those texts of sacred Scripture that pertain especially to general revelation.

3. Text. Arguably the weightiest text to which all Christian interpretations of general revelation appeal is Rom 1:18–22. No text on general revelation is more frequently or consequentially referenced by the worldwide

JETS 41:1 (March 1998) p. 55-68

ekklesia of all generations. No contemporary discussion of general revelation can ignore this paramount Scriptural locus. Orthodox...

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