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Neo‐Calvinism on General Revelation: A Dogmatic Sketch
Author(s) -
Sutanto Nathaniel Gray
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of systematic theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.149
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1468-2400
pISSN - 1463-1652
DOI - 10.1111/ijst.12333
Subject(s) - revelation , calvinism , sketch , philosophy , exposition (narrative) , character (mathematics) , epistemology , natural (archaeology) , theology , literature , history , art , mathematics , geometry , archaeology , algorithm
Neo‐Calvinism, it is often observed, affirms a ubiquitous and dogmatic account of general revelation. Yet, critics claim, the tradition is too reticent to affirm that there is a positive, even if limited, project for natural theology. I argue that what accounts for this apparent discrepancy is a failure to recognize some distinctive marks of the neo‐Calvinistic account of general revelation. Theologians like Herman Bavinck, Johan Bavinck and Abraham Kuyper operate with an account of general revelation that is precognitive and primordial in character – an account irreducible to propositional beliefs about God. Once this dogmatic sketch is retrieved, a strong distinction between the ubiquity of general revelation and its rational reception in the form of concepts can be made. The conclusion then draws some salient implications of the above exposition.