General Revelation

Our next excerpt from Natasha Crain's Talking with Your Kids about God is: The knowledge about God that we obtain through the observation of nature is called general revelation.

Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge."

The apostle Paul says there is no excuse for not believing in God because He has so clearly revealed himself in nature:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

Paul goes on to say that God has also given humans an innate knowledge of right and wrong - a moral conscience:

(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:14-16)

WHY PEOPLE DISAGREE ABOUT the EVIDENCE
 for GOD in NATURE

To answer that, we need to understand four key points about the nature of any evidence that doesn't literally speak for itself.

1. Evidence is a body of facts that require human interpretation.

    People look at the evidence in the natural world inevitably draw different conclusions. That doesn't
    make the evidence any less valuable for consideration. It's simply the nature of any evidence.

2. Because evidence requires human interpretation, there will always be multiple possible
    explanations for it.

   The relevant question is not how many possible explanations there are but rather which is the most
   likely explanation given the evidence.

3. If we rule out certain possible explanations before considering the evidence, we on't ever
    conclude that the evidence points to those explanations.

    If we rule out God before we even consider the evidence, of course we will conclude there's no 
    evidence that points to God!

4. The best explanation for a body of evidence is often debatable and rarely certain.

    We may determine a best explanation, but even best explanations aren't certain.

So How Do We Start Our Thought Process
on Evidence of God in Nature?

Try writing your thoughts in a journal!

Imagine that you grew up without hearing anything that's in the Bible. What, if anything, do you think you would be able to know about God from looking at the world around you.

Evidence from nature- such as the universe, life, and our innate moral knowledge - provides good reason to believe that a Being consistent with whom we call God exists.

Dive Deeper

Read:
Psalm 19:1-2

Romans 1:18-20

Romans 2:14-16

What does each passage say the natural world can tell us about God?

Most of what we know about God comes from the Bible. If you don't read it much you should. How else can you personally know about Him if you do not know what it says? 

Why do you think evidence for God's existence outside the Bible and our personal experiences is important - for both Christians and nonbelievers?

People can draw very different conclusions about the meaning of any evidence depending on their assumptions, life experiences, and motivations. What are some ways those things might impact whether people believe the evidence in the natural world points to God?

NOW LET US APPLY IT

It's great to be proactive in our thoughts so we know how to respond when the situation presents itself.

When Someone says there's "no evidence" for God (or anything else), what questions could you ask to clarify what that person means?

As you can see Natasha invokes thought provoking questions that we all need to think about and be ready to have an answer for. Trust me, one gets tired of feeling defeated because they can't offer an explanation. As I once heard an atheist say to me when I was younger. " Why should I convert to Christianity if Christians can't even explain why they believe in God or give evidence that He exists?".