Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 48:2 (Fall 1986)
Article: The Sense of Divinity: A Critical Examination of the Views of Calvin and Demarest
Author: N. H. Gootjes

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WTJ 48:2 (Fall 1986) p. 337

The Sense of Divinity:
A Critical Examination of the Views of Calvin and Demarest

N. H. Gootjes

What is, with an unclear term, often called “general revelation” confronts us with a number of important questions. To mention a few: What is the relation between the religions of the world and God’s continuing revelation in his works? How important is it for missionaries to realize that people who have not yet heard the gospel, already have been confronted with the revelation of God? And what are the consequences for Christians of the fact that the God they know through Scripture is the same who reveals himself in this world?

But any discussion of these questions should be based on a solid foundation. What then is this so-called “general revelation”? It has become customary to distinguish two parts in this revelation. Bruce A. Demarest uses the terms intuitional knowledge of God and acquired knowledge of God.1 The first is generally known as the “sense of divinity,” a term coined in all probability by John Calvin. In this article I would like to investigate this first part of “general revelation.”

The views of Calvin and Demarest are singled out for special examination. Calvin opened his Institutes with a profound exposition of the knowledge of God the Creator, where he explained the sense of divinity as one of the sources of man’s knowledge of God.2 He made use of the thoughts of such theologians as Augustine, but he

WTJ 48:2 (Fall 1986) p. 338

seems to have been the first to systematically discuss the theme of knowledge of God in general. The view of Calvin was assimilated into the Lutheran and Reformed dogmatic tradition.3

In this tradition Demarest now has become the latest one to devote a study to this subject under the title General Revelation (1982). In this book a wide-ranging historical survey is followed by a systematic treatment. Over against much recent opposition as well as misuse he sets out to give a full-scale exposition and defense of God’s general revelation.

In the following I will first try to give an interpretation of Calvin’s view of the sense of divinity (I). Then follows the view of Demarest, compared to that of Calvin (II). Next is an investigation of the proofs Demarest gives for his view (III). Finally I return to Calvin, to examine his proofs and to present my own opinion (IV).

I

As mentioned above, Calvin’s discussion of the sense of divinity forms a part of his systematic exposition of our knowledge of God the Crea...

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