What General Revelation Does (and Does Not) Tell Us

by Mary L. VandenBerg
The Reformed theological tradition tends to affirm scientific inquiry and often seeks to harmonize the discoveries of science with the biblical text. Much of what underlies the Reformed affirmation of science and the desire to harmonize the findings of science with the Bible is related to the theological understanding of the “two books” of revelation: nature and the Bible. Because God is the author of both books—the physical world and the Bible—so the argument goes, there can be no disagreement between them. Although one can appreciate the basic sentiment expressed by the assertion of agreement between the physical world and the Bible based on a common author, this assertion is fraught with problems. At a minimum, using the metaphor of the two books to advocate for a harmonization of the findings of science and the stories of the Bible with regard to the nature of the physical world represents a misunderstanding of the two-books metaphor as traditionally articulated and, therefore, a misappropriation of the theology of revelation to the task of harmonization.

PSCF 61, no. 1 (2010): 16–24