Revelation & the Knowledge of God¶
We've crafted an unofficial, source-cited, non-commercial index of Dr. R.C. Sproul's publicly available teachings, weighted by how many independent sources corroborate each point. The content is authored by Dr. R.C. Sproul and published by Ligonier Ministries (a few items are third-party YouTube re-uploads); see the Methodology & Rights page for more info. Quotations are brief, linked to their source, and reproduced for study under Ligonier's Copyright Policy (ligonier.org/copyright-policy). This site is humbly offered for personal use only, out of love and respect, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ligonier Ministries or St. Andrew's Chapel.
293 positions — 21 corroborated across multiple sources.
Well-attested positions¶
Independently stated in two or more of his messages.
Immediate general revelation is the knowledge of God that God plants in a person's soul without needing an intervening medium.
Rather, immediate general revelation is revelation God gives without some intervening medium. To make it simple, it is the knowledge of Himself that God plants in your soul.
Corroborated across 3 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 45:02 · Don’t Adjust Your Conscience to Fit the Culture (Ligonier article) · Man Is without Excuse (Ligonier)
People cannot use ignorance as an excuse before God because He has clearly manifested Himself through all creation.
If this is true then what it is saying here is that God has so clearly, clearly manifested Himself ever since the creation of the world through everything that is made that you can never use ignorance as an excuse before God.
Corroborated across 3 sources: Calvin’s Defining Passion in the Protestant Reformation (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 0:00 · R.C. Sproul @ 41:28
Freud and Marx suggested that religion historically emerges from humanity's psychological needs and inherent fear of natural forces.
Context: Reporting Freud's theory.
But people like Freud and Marx and Feuerbach and Nietzsche wanted a more sound explanation and so, to a man, they agreed on this: that religion emerges historically out of the psychological needs of people, out of man’s human frailty.
Corroborated across 3 sources: The Trauma of Holiness (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 8:30 · Calming the Sea (Ligonier)
The concept of something creating itself is logically absurd because it requires the entity to exist before it exists to perform the act.
To assert the self-creation of anything is to leap into the abyss of the absurd because for something to create itself, it would have had to exist before it existed to do the job.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 38:58 · In the Beginning God (Ligonier article)
Calvin was uniquely skilled, serving as both a biblical theologian and a gifted systematic theologian, always prioritizing fidelity to the Word of God.
But above all things, Calvin sought to be true to the Word of God. He was the biblical theologian par excellence who was at the same time a singularly gifted systematic theologian.
Corroborated across 2 sources: B.B. Warfield: Defender of the Faith (Ligonier article) · The Theologian (Ligonier article)
The scientific method requires both induction (observing particulars) and deduction (applying formal laws of logic).
The scientific method of inquiry is based upon a combination of two elements of knowledge: induction and deduction. Induction involves observing, measuring, and checking out particulars. Deduction involves applying formal laws of logic and coherency to those particular pieces that have been found.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article) · Christians Need Not Fear Scientific Inquiry (Ligonier article)
The concept of spontaneous generation is logically impossible because for something to create itself, it would have to violate the law of noncontradiction.
Because for something to create itself, it would have to be before it was—it would have to be and not be at the same time and in the same relationship, which violates a fundamental principle of truth and science: the law of noncontradiction.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Christians Need Not Fear Scientific Inquiry (Ligonier article) · The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
God reveals Himself through both natural revelation (nature) and special revelation (Scripture), and this revelation is intelligible.
God the Creator has revealed Himself manifestly in the glorious theater of nature. This is what we call "natural revelation." God has also revealed Himself verbally. He has spoken, and we have His Word inscripturated in the Bible. Here we're talking about special revelation—information God gives us that we could never figure out on our own.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Divine Incomprehensibility (Ligonier article) · God Is Incomprehensible (Ligonier article)
If a non-agent of divine revelation can perform a miracle, then a miracle cannot authenticate or certify a bona fide agent of revelation.
If a non-agent of revelation can perform a miracle, then a miracle cannot authenticate or certify a bona fide agent of revelation.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Does R.C. Sproul Believe in Miracles? (Ligonier article) · Healing & Preaching (Ligonier)
True systematic theology understands the system of theology contained within the whole scope of Scripture without imposing external ideas upon it.
Rather, true systematic theology seeks to understand the system of theology that is contained within the whole scope of sacred Scripture. It does not impose ideas upon the Bible; it listens to the ideas that are proclaimed by the Bible and understands them in a coherent way.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Fine Points of Calvinism (Ligonier article) · Fueling Reformation (Ligonier article)
True systematic theology must understand the system of theology contained within the whole scope of Scripture, rather than imposing foreign ideas upon it.
Rather, true systematic theology seeks to understand the system of theology that is contained within the whole scope of sacred Scripture. It does not impose ideas upon the Bible; it listens to the ideas that are proclaimed by the Bible and understands them in a coherent way.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Fueling Reformation (Ligonier article) · Norma Normata (Ligonier article)
Jesus responded to Peter's declaration of his identity by stating that the revelation came from God the Father.
Jesus responded to Peter on that occasion and said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16–17).
Corroborated across 2 sources: Jesus Christ, Anointed One (Ligonier article) · The Blind Man & Peter's Confession (Ligonier)
The Catholic view holds that God will only declare a person just after that person has achieved inherent righteousness.
Catholics argued in the sixteenth century and have continued to argue, as recently as the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1994, that God will declare a person just only when that person has achieved inherent righteousness.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Making Molehills Out of Mountains (Ligonier article) · Righteousness Revealed (Ligonier)
Reformed theology must be understood as resting on a common foundation shared with other Christian bodies, not merely as its own distinct doctrines.
But it would be a very serious distortion of Reformed theology to think of it exclusively in terms of our distinctives. We must remember that those doctrines rest upon a common foundation that we share with a host of other Christian bodies.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Reformed Doctrine of God (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 14:29
God has clearly manifested Himself to all people through creation, meaning humanity is left without excuse because general revelation has pierced their minds.
Romans 1:18–25 tells us that everyone in the world knows that God is, because God has so clearly manifested Himself to all of them in creation that men are left without excuse, because His general revelation has pierced their minds.
Corroborated across 2 sources: What Is God’s Name? (Ligonier article) · Introduction (Ligonier)
Both Roman Catholicism and Protestantism agreed that God reveals Himself through both nature and the Bible.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
One is in nature, which is called natural revelation or general revelation whereby the heavens declare the glory of God; and the other, of course, is the Bible. Now both sides agreed that the Bible was revelation. And both sides agreed that nature is also revelatory.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00 · R.C. Sproul @ 4:04
The correspondence theory of truth was modified to assert that truth corresponds to reality as perceived by God.
So ultimately from a Christian perspective, the correspondence theory of truth was modified to say this: "that truth is that which corresponds to reality as it is perceived by God because God sees reality in its fullest measure, from the perfect perspective, the depth dimension, as well as the surface."
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 5:48 · Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 4) (Ligonier)
The principle that nothing can come from nothing (ex nihilo nihil fit) dictates that if something exists now, there must have been a preceding cause.
Ladies and gentlemen, if anything exists now, this is elementary, then there never could've been a time when there was nothing, because the most fundamental maxim of all reason and all science and all philosophy is the maxim, ex nihilo nihil fit, "out of nothing, nothing comes."
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 37:07 · The Calming of the Storm (Ligonier)
Because God has given humanity sufficient information through general revelation, there is no excuse of ignorance before Him.
Paul says that everyone in this world stands without an excuse. There is no excuse of ignorance before God, not when He Himself has given you the information, so that any plea of ignorance will be an empty plea and will have no effect with God.
Corroborated across 2 sources: God’s Wrath (Ligonier) · Since everyone knows God (Rom. 1:18–23), how does that affect our defense of the faith? (Ligonier Q&A)
In the New Testament, the term 'mystery' refers to something that was once hidden but has now been revealed and made plain.
In stark contrast to those, in the New Testament the use of the term mystery or mystērion refers to something that once was hidden or concealed but now has been revealed and made plain.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 1) (Ligonier) · Peter's Vision (Ligonier)
Fire is a visible manifestation of the invisible God, known as a theophany.
Why fire? Because this was no ordinary wind. This was the wind of God, a theophany, a visible manifestation of the invisible God.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Jesus Walking on Water (Ligonier) · Pentecost (Ligonier)
Further positions¶
Drawn from a single high-trust (official transcript) source.
The systematic theologian's task is to synthesize all of Scripture's information into a coherent and meaningful whole.
Biblical scholars focus on how God has revealed Himself at various points over time, while the systematician takes that information, puts it all together, and shows how it fits into a meaningful whole.
Source: 3 Assumptions of Systematic Theology (Ligonier article)
The fundamental presupposition of scientific inquiry is that the universe is coherent and rationally ordered.
This is the grand presupposition of scientific inquiry, namely, that the universe we are seeking to know is coherent.
Source: All Truth Is God’s Truth (Ligonier article)
The science of theology provides the necessary presupposition for modern science.
The science of theology provides the necessary presupposition for modern science.
Source: All Truth Is God’s Truth (Ligonier article)
All truth ultimately originates from God, meaning that if science and religion contradict each other, at least one of them must be incorrect.
The fundamental point, of course, that Aquinas was arguing, in agreement with his famous predecessor, Augustine, was that all truth is God’s truth, and that all truth meets at the top. If science contradicts religion, or if religion contradicts science, at least one of them must be wrong.
Source: All Truth Is God’s Truth (Ligonier article)
The Christian must first trust in God's revelation before achieving a rational understanding of it.
We do not come to a rational understanding of God’s revelation before we are able to believe; rather, we must first put our trust in that revelation in order to see its coherence.
Source: Who Was Anselm? (Ligonier article)
The ontological argument posits that because we conceive of God, we must conceive of Him as existing in reality, otherwise a greater being would exist.
The idea that we have of God is not that of a mere mythical structure, but of a God who truly exists. There is a sense in which the very idea of God carries with it the idea of His existence.
Source: Who Was Anselm? (Ligonier article)
The concept of diagnosing demons and their departure signs is not found anywhere in sacred Scripture.
Nowhere in sacred Scripture is there to be found the slightest hint of this kind of demonic diagnosis.
Source: Are We Too Concerned with Demons? (Ligonier article)
The ultimate wisdom regarding suffering is revealed by God Himself, not by Job's friends or Elihu.
the final wisdom to be found in this great book comes not from Job’s friends or from Elihu, but from God Himself.
Source: The Book of Job (Ligonier article)
Gnostics believed that truth was discovered through mystical insight and imaginative leaps of intuition, rather than through the function of the mind and rationality.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
They eschewed the function of the mind and rationality in achieving truth. Rather, truth was discovered through mystical insight and imaginative leaps of intuition.
Source: Book Review: Christless Christianity (Ligonier article)
Assuming God is only known mystically and the world only known scientifically creates an intolerable intellectual schizophrenia.
As soon as we embrace the idea that God is only known mystically and that the world is only known scientifically, we create a kind of personal schizophrenia that is intolerable for the intelligent person.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
Aquinas distinguished between nature and grace, showing that both ultimately lead to the same understanding of God.
Aquinas was not separating nature and grace; he was showing us that both nature and grace ultimately lead us to the same place, to God.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
Certain truths, such as the doctrine of the incarnation, can only be learned through special revelation (grace), not through studying nature.
We can study the circulatory system of the body, geometry tables, or any other scientific discipline but we will never discern in them the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
While general revelation from nature can supplement what is known from the Bible, it can never contradict it.
What is known from nature can supplement what is known from the Bible. It can never contradict it.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
Science can correct the theologian's interpretation of knowledge from nature, but it is impossible for science to correct the Word of God.
Understand--it is impossible for science to correct the Word of God, but it is possible for science to correct the word of the theologian.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
The existence of God is a theological question, not a scientific one, and scientists should not make theological statements outside their field of expertise.
But he is no more an expert on the existence of God than you are. Why? Because that is a theological question, not a scientific one.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
Christian science involves sober investigation of truth using both induction and deduction, while assuming that truth ultimately meets at the top.
Christian science is, in the fullest sense, the responsible, sober, careful, humble investigation of truth using both induction and deduction, yet assuming at all times Aquinas’s principle that truth meets at the top.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
The relationship between science and theology must be studied closely and deeply to discover an ultimate harmony between them.
Their relationship is to be studied closely and deeply if we are to discover an ultimate harmony between them.
Source: The Christian and Science (Ligonier article)
Pluralism inherently rejects claims of exclusivity, making the exclusive claims of Christianity incompatible with the modern pluralistic worldview.
The exclusive claims of Christianity in terms of God, in terms of Christ, in terms of salvation, cannot live in peaceful coexistence with pluralists.
Source: The Christian’s Duty to Hold Firm (Ligonier article)
The Christian faith asserts that the Bible is the sole and exclusive written source of divine revelation.
The idea of sola Scriptura is that there is only one written source of divine revelation, which can never be placed on a parallel status with confessional statements, creeds, or the traditions of the church. Scripture alone has the authority to bind the conscience precisely because only Scripture is the written revelation of almighty God.
Source: The Christian’s Duty to Hold Firm (Ligonier article)
Scientists should be careful not to make theological statements outside of their specialized scientific field, as this is a fallacy.
We must be wary of scientists who make theological statements outside the boundaries of their discipline. The scientific method of inquiry is based upon a combination of two elements of knowledge: induction and deduction.
Source: Christians Need Not Fear Scientific Inquiry (Ligonier article)
God reveals truths through the Spirit, which speaks to us in the Scriptures, a depth that no human intellect, regardless of education, can search.
Paul was saying that through the Spirit, God speaks to us in the Scriptures: “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). What human has searched the depths of God? No one.
Source: The Commission of Christian Leaders (Ligonier article)
The ability to reveal oneself to a life partner and still be loved helps one understand the nature of the relationship with God.
The more we are able to reveal ourselves to our life partners and still be loved, the more we are able to understand what a relationship with God is all about.
Source: Communication in Marriage Is Important (Ligonier article)
God's revelation in nature and His revelation in Scripture cannot contradict each other because God is the author of both.
What God reveals in nature can never contradict what He reveals in Scripture, and what He reveals in Scripture can never contradict what He reveals in nature.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Macroevolution is not primarily a question of natural science or biology, but rather a matter of interpreting historical evidence.
Macroevolution, in the final analysis, is not a question of biology or natural science, which rely upon experimented verification, but of history, which tries to interpret evidence left from the past in a coherent fashion.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Paleontology, while studying the fossil record, does not use experiments to prove evolutionary processes, but merely lines up similar fossils and infers relationships.
The discipline of paleontology, which studies the fossil record, claims to put evolution on a scientific footing, but it performs no experiments to substantiate evolutionary processes. It simply lines up similar fossils and infers that one creature must be related to another by common decent.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Sproul now holds that the Bible describes a literal six-day creation, which is the traditional interpretation.
But I have now changed my mind. I now hold to a literal six-day creation, the fourth alternative and the traditional one.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Following the plain sense of the text, the Reformation hermeneutic suggests that God created the universe and everything in it over six twenty-four-hour periods.
Genesis says that God created the universe and everything in it in six twenty-four-hour periods. According to the Reformation hermeneutic, the first option is to follow the plain sense of the text.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Hume's skepticism only addresses the difficulty of assigning a cause to a specific effect, but it cannot negate the law of causality itself.
Hume's skepticism of causality was cogent insofar as he brilliantly displayed the difficulty of assigning a particular cause to a particular effect or event. But not even Hume was able to repeal the law of causality itself. It is one thing to doubt what the cause of a particular effect is, it is quite another to argue that the effect may have no cause at all.
Source: Descartes and the Anatomy of Doubt (Ligonier article)
General revelation is the global revelation given to every human being, which is not limited to any specific group of people.
General revelation refers to the revelation that God gives to every human being on earth. It’s general in the sense that it’s not limited to any specific group of people. It’s global, and it extends to every human being.
Source: Don’t Adjust Your Conscience to Fit the Culture (Ligonier article)
God plants a conscience in every person's soul, which is the source of immediate general revelation.
God reveals His law in the mind of every human being by planting a conscience within each of us.
Source: Don’t Adjust Your Conscience to Fit the Culture (Ligonier article)
Overcoming natural human biases requires significant exposure to the Word of God.
Given our semi-Pelagian inclinations, it takes a tremendous amount of exposure to the Word of God to overcome that natural bias against the doctrines of grace.
Source: Escaping the “Cage Stage” (Ligonier article)
Scientific paradigms do not shift immediately upon encountering an anomaly; rather, they require accumulating enough challenging details.
But you don’t throw out the paradigm the first time you find an anomaly the paradigm cannot explain. You wait, you study, you get more data, and so on. The paradigm doesn’t shift until you get enough of these anomalies challenging the system.
Source: Explaining Anomalies (Ligonier article)
The modern rejection of rationality, which argues that biblical revelation is only intelligible by intuition, is itself irrational.
However, the rejection of rationalism in the modern church often carries with it the rejection of rationality. This rejection is itself irrational.
Source: Faith and Reason (Ligonier article)
God reveals Himself through creation and history, providing evidence that makes belief in Him rational.
He’s shown Himself in the created order. He’s broken into time and space. Jesus came in the flesh, was seen, and rose from the dead in history. The Apostles testify to these events in Scripture, recording those things they witnessed with their senses.
Source: Faith Has Its Reasons (Ligonier article)
Faith is not an irrational or unscientific belief, but rather a rational trust in God based on His self-revelation.
God makes it very rational for me to believe He’s there. He’s shown Himself in the created order. He’s broken into time and space.
Source: Faith Has Its Reasons (Ligonier article)
Death is not merely a natural occurrence but is a consequence of sin and God's judgment.
The secular world views death as part of the natural order, whereas the Christian sees death as part of the fallen order; it was not the original state of man. Death came as God’s judgment for sin.
Source: Fear and Uncertainty (Ligonier article)
Reformed theology is fundamentally theocentric, meaning that God is the central focus, and understanding God's character is primary to understanding all other doctrines.
The central focal point of Reformed theology is God, and the doctrine of God permeates the whole of Reformed thought. Thus, Reformed theology, by way of affirmation, can be called theocentric. Indeed, its understanding of the character of God is primary and determinant with respect to its understanding of all other doctrines.
Source: Fueling Reformation (Ligonier article)
The statement that nothing ever existed is problematic because if nothing ever was, it would logically constitute something.
If there ever was a time when absolutely nothing existed, all there could possibly be now is nothing. Even that statement is problematic because there can never be nothing; if nothing ever was , then it would be something and not nothing.
Source: In the Beginning God (Ligonier article)
The concept of anything creating itself is logically absurd because it violates the law of noncontradiction.
In order for anything to create itself, it must be its own creator, which means that it would have to exist before it was, which means it would have to be and not be at the same time and in the same relationship. That violates the most fundamental law of reason—the law of noncontradiction.
Source: In the Beginning... (Ligonier article)
The core idea defining liberalism was the influence of naturalism, which asserts that all reality can be explained using only natural categories.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
The root idea that defined liberalism was the influence of the philosophy of naturalism. Naturalism asserts that all reality can be explained in purely natural categories without any appeal to the supernatural.
Source: The Liberal Agenda (Ligonier article)
A synthetic statement is one where the predicate contains information not automatically contained within the subject.
However, if we say, “the bachelor is a poor man,” poorness is not automatically contained within the notion of bachelorhood, and so we have added something to the concept of bachelorhood by mentioning poverty. This something that is added makes this a synthetic statement.
Source: Making Molehills Out of Mountains (Ligonier article)
The decretive will of God is not merely a concept but is demonstrated by historical events, such as the light shining on its own.
When God commanded the light to shine, the darkness had no power to resist the command. The “lights” came on.
Source: The Meaning of God’s Will (Ligonier article)
Systematic theology operates on the assumption that everything God says is coherent and non-contradictory.
The idea of systematic theology assumes that everything that God says is coherent and not contradictory.
Source: Norma Normata (Ligonier article)
Paul's theological foundation comes from Christ's teaching and revelation to him, not from his prior rabbinic education.
No, he says, “Paul, a bond slave of Jesus Christ.” It is the teaching of Christ, who revealed His perspective and His own mind to Paul, that stands as the supreme foundation for Pauline theology.
Source: Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ (Ligonier article)
Nietzsche's brand of existential philosophy is nihilism, which means that if nothing exists, then nothing truly matters.
Nietzsche‘s brand of existential philosophy is called nihilism , which literally means “nothingness.” If there is “nothing” out there, then nothing really matters.
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
Truth is often paradoxical and cannot always be found in neat, consistent packages.
Truth is not always found in neat packages. It is often paradoxical, according to Kierkegaard.
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
The statement that everything is relative is a myth because it implies no ultimate reference point, which means there is no basis for truth.
We have all heard the statement, “Everything is relative.” We may even say it. If we do, we are perpetrating a myth of contemporary culture. I call this a myth because it couldn’t possibly be anything else. If everything is relative to everything else, then there is no ultimate reference point. There is no basis for truth.
Source: Pluralism and Relativism (Ligonier article)
The speaker argues that any claim of a right must be grounded by identifying its source, questioning whether the right comes from natural law, the Creator, or nature.
Before we claim a right, we should be able to state where that right comes from. To continue with this illustration of the abortion issue in our discussion of relativism, I could ask the pro-choice people what it is they are really saying.
Source: Pluralism and Relativism (Ligonier article)
The doctrine of God is the appropriate starting point for systematic theology because it defines God's nature and attributes.
Theology, of course, studies God and His character and ways, so it’s appropriate to begin with a look at His nature and attributes before examining what the Bible has to say about redemption, the church, the last things, and the other categories of systematic theology.
Source: The Reformed Doctrine of God (Ligonier article)
The account of God's revelation to Moses at the burning bush is essential for understanding God's independence and self-existence.
Then, of course, there’s the Lord’s revelation of Himself and His covenant name to Moses at the burning bush that we read about in Exodus 3. That’s a must-read chapter for anyone seeking to understand God’s independence and self-existence.
Source: The Reformed Doctrine of God (Ligonier article)
He asserts that teachings regarding demonic diagnoses are unscriptural and potentially harmful.
Nowhere in sacred Scripture is there to he found the slightest hint of this kind of demonic diagnosis. These teachings cross the line into the sphere of magic and result in serious harm to believers who are duped by them.
Source: Satan the Proud and Powerful (Ligonier article)
The Enlightenment caused philosophers to abandon the necessity of the God hypothesis for explaining the origin of the universe and life.
The principal thesis of the Enlightenment was that the God hypothesis was no longer necessary for modern science to account for the origin of human life or the universe.
Source: The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
If the universe originated from nothing, it violates the fundamental scientific principle that nothing can come from nothing.
The only option was nonbeing—which would mean that a fundamental scientific precept was violated: ex nihilo nihil fit—“out of nothing, nothing comes.”
Source: The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
Self-creation is logically impossible because it violates the law of noncontradiction, whereas God's existence is unique because He exists by His own power.
What makes God different from people, from the stars, from earthquakes, and from any other creaturely thing is that God—and God alone—has aseity ; He alone exists by His own power. No one made Him or caused Him. He exists in and of Himself.
Source: The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
The law of causality only requires that every effect must have an antecedent cause, but God, being self-existent, is not an effect.
The law of causality does not say that everything has to have a cause; rather, it says that every effect must have an antecedent cause. An effect is something that is caused by something else. A cause can only be a cause if it produces an effect. But God is not an effect, caused by something before Him.
Source: The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
Self-creation is illogical and absurd, while the idea of self-existence violates no law of reason and is a rational concept.
No—self-creation is illogical and absurd. But consider the idea of something that exists eternally on its own power. Is there anything irrational about that? That’s not to say that if something can pass the test of rationality, it must be true. I’m not saying that. But the idea of self-existence violates no law of reason; it’s a rational concept.
Source: The Self-Existent God (Ligonier article)
The biblical prologue of John affirms Christ's identity with God, stating that the Logos was 'with God in the beginning, and was God.'
John declares in his gospel that the Logos was “with God in the beginning, and was God.” This “with God” suggests a distinction between the Logos and God, but the identification by the linking verb “was” indicates an identity between the Logos and God.
Source: A Snare in Your Midst (Ligonier article)
The denial of Christ's deity by cultists is achieved by incorrectly interpreting the Gospel of John's prologue, often by substituting the indefinite article.
The way in which this identity is denied by Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cultists is by substituting the indefinite article in the text, rendering it that the Logos was “a god.”
Source: A Snare in Your Midst (Ligonier article)
Judeo-Christian theology understands deity in strictly monotheistic terms, making polytheism foreign to it.
Such polytheism is utterly foreign to Judeo-Christian theology, where deity is understood in monotheistic terms.
Source: A Snare in Your Midst (Ligonier article)
The first step toward acquiring knowledge is recognizing one's own ignorance.
Socrates argued that the first step for anyone to acquire knowledge is the admission of ignorance.
Source: Socrates or Sophism? (Ligonier article)
One must begin with the understanding that truth exists, even if its specific nature is unknown.
We must begin with an understanding that even if we don’t know what the truth is, there is such a thing as truth.
Source: Socrates or Sophism? (Ligonier article)
The classical Reformed view holds that if the ground is receptive to God's seed, God alone is responsible for preparing that ground.
The classical Reformed understanding of the good ground is that if the ground is receptive to the seed that is sown by God, it is God alone who prepares the ground for the germination of the seed.
Source: What Does “Soli Deo Gloria” Mean? (Ligonier article)
Biblical theology involves studying how concepts and themes progress throughout the entire history of revelation in Scripture.
A biblical scholar goes through the Scriptures and studies the progressive development of terms, concepts, and themes in both the Old and New Testament to see how they are used and understood over the course of the history of revelation.
Source: The Sources of Systematic Theology (Ligonier article)
Focusing on narrow parts of the Bible without considering the whole framework leads to a negative view of Scripture's coherence.
That is a negative view of the coherence of Scripture, and it is the danger when one focuses only on a narrow piece of the Bible without at the same time considering the whole framework of the biblical revelation.
Source: The Sources of Systematic Theology (Ligonier article)
The systematician must synthesize all available data—biblical, historical, and systematic—together.
The systematician looks at all the data—biblical, historical, and systematic—and brings it together.
Source: The Sources of Systematic Theology (Ligonier article)
The difference between the natural and the supernatural is the distinction between what is confined to this world and what belongs to the divine realm.
The difference between the natural and the supernatural is the difference between that which is restricted to this world and that which participates in the realm of the divine, the realm that is above and beyond the reach of what is found in simple nature.
Source: A Supernatural Faith (Ligonier article)
The core biblical principle is that God transcends the created universe and must never be identified with the natural realm.
At the heart of the worldview of both Testaments is the idea that the realm of nature is created by One who transcends that nature. That God Himself is “supra” or above and beyond the created universe.
Source: A Supernatural Faith (Ligonier article)
Understanding the supernatural must be based on God's self-revelation in Scripture, not on human speculation or pagan sources.
What we need is an understanding of the supernatural that comes to us from the supernatural, from the Author of the supernatural, who reveals to us in His Word the content of the supernatural realm—so that our understanding of angels, or demons, or of spiritual beings comes from God’s self-revelation and not from human speculation, neo-gnostic magic, or other forms of pagan intrusions.
Source: A Supernatural Faith (Ligonier article)
Christ is superior to all previous revelations, including the Old Testament prophets, because He is the very Word of God and the ultimate revelation.
Those prophets spoke the Word of God—but Christ is the Word of God. He is not merely a prophet in a long line of prophets. He is the Prophet par excellence.
Source: The Supremacy of Christ (Ligonier article)
The man's vision progressed in stages, first allowing him to discern moving forms, and then enabling him to clearly distinguish between men and trees.
It was at this point that the man began to see men as walking trees. He saw what any blind man would give anything to see. His vision was dim, blurred—but he could see. Moments earlier he could see nothing.
Source: Tender Grace (Ligonier article)
God's comprehensive knowledge means He knows everything about us, including the smallest details of the universe.
It means that God knows everything about us. As I noted above, we often find this divine sight disquieting, but the concept of God’s vision, of God seeing us, should be comforting to us.
Source: The God Who Sees (Ligonier article)
Reformation theology is currently a minority report within American evangelicalism, which is dominated by dispensationalism and neo-Pentecostal charismatic thought.
In the present scene of American evangelicalism, Reformation theology is a minority report. The dominant strands of theology that reign in current evangelical circles are dispensationalism and neo-Pentecostal charismatic thought.
Source: The History of the Reformation (Ligonier article)
Kant's work challenged traditional natural theology and classical apologetics by arguing that God cannot be known through rational deduction or empirical investigation.
In this volume Kant gave a comprehensive critique of the traditional arguments for the existence of God, wrecking havoc on natural theology and classical apologetics. Kant ended in agnosticism with respect to God, arguing that God cannot be known either by rational deduction or by empirical investigation.
Source: The Origin of the Soul (Ligonier article)
Human knowledge, including all true science, is limited to the phenomenal realm, which is the world perceived by the senses.
Our knowledge, indeed all true science, is restricted to the phenomenal realm, the world perceived by the senses.
Source: The Origin of the Soul (Ligonier article)
Systematic theology, for Calvin, was not an external philosophical system imposed upon the Bible, but rather the coherent substance found within Scripture itself.
For him, a system was not a preconceived Procrustean bed to which the Bible was forced to conform. On the contrary, Calvin’s system of doctrine was the result of his attempt to find the coherent substance of the Bible itself.
Source: The Theologian (Ligonier article)
The Protestant principle of sola Scriptura asserts that the Bible is the sole source of divine, special revelation.
Context: This quote summarizes the shift in debate from addition (tradition) to subtraction (reduction).
In that controversy, the issue had to do with something that was an addition to the Bible, namely, the church’s tradition. Since that time, the opposite problem has emerged, and that is not so much the question of what is added to Scripture, but rather what has been subtracted from it.
Source: Tota Scriptura (Ligonier article)
Christians must look beyond temporary, observable causes to understand the invisible hand of God's providence.
The Christian needs to go deeper and look behind the temporal causes of this world and see the invisible hand of God’s providence.
Source: Never Safe, Always Safe: The Paradox of God’s Providence (Ligonier article)
Nineteenth-century atheists did not primarily aim to prove God's nonexistence, but rather assumed it.
As we read the works of nineteenth-century atheists, we find that they were not particularly concerned to prove that God does not exist. These atheists tacitly assumed God’s nonexistence.
Source: The Trauma of Holiness (Ligonier article)
The biblical understanding of God's nature is characterized by monotheism, or monarchianism.
Old and New Testaments together bear witness to the eternal truth that there exists one God—monotheism. Another term for monotheism is the word monarchianism , meaning that the God of the Bible is a monarch.
Source: Triune Monarchy (Ligonier article)
Christ's righteousness is real and not a fictional declaration by God.
There is nothing fictional about Christ’s righteousness, and there is nothing fictional about God’s gracious imputation of that righteousness.
Source: The Very Heart of the Reformation (Ligonier article)
Undermining the certainty of a created universe is a way to undermine any argument for the existence of God.
If they can undermine our certainty that we live in a created universe, they can undermine any argument for the existence of God.
Source: What Does “Ex Nihilo” Mean? (Ligonier article)
The classic Christian doctrine of creation is that God created something out of nothing.
The classic Christian doctrine of creation is creation ex nihilo (out of nothing).
Source: What Does “Ex Nihilo” Mean? (Ligonier article)
The rainbow serves as an example of how a common natural phenomenon can be used as a sign of a special, divine promise.
He used the common, natural phenomenon of the rainbow as a sign of an uncommon, special, divine promise of His persevering and preserving providence.
Source: What Is a Sacrament? (Ligonier article)
Jesus demonstrated the fulfillment of prophecy by opening the Old Testament to his disciples, beginning with Moses and the Prophets.
opened up the Old Testament text to them “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets” (Luke 24:27), showing that they should not have been surprised by His resurrection.
Source: What Is the Protoeuangelion? (Ligonier article)
God frequently uses ordinary or 'natural' means to accomplish supernatural ends.
God often uses ordinary—or "natural"—means supernaturally. He times things miraculously. We see here, again, the intertwining of the natural and supernatural, the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Source: What Was the Star of Bethlehem? (Ligonier article)
Theophany is the term used to describe occasions where the invisible God makes Himself visible through some kind of manifestation.
That is called a theophany, and it’s what we see with the burning bush.
Source: What Was the Burning Bush? (Ligonier article)
The fire seen at the burning bush was supernatural and independent of the bush itself.
The significance of his comment that the bush was not being consumed indicates that the bush itself was not burning—the fire was in the bush, but not of the bush.
Source: What Was the Burning Bush? (Ligonier article)
Revelation is defined as the disclosure of something that was previously hidden.
A revelation is a disclosure of that which once was hidden.
Source: What Is the Will of God for My Life? (Ligonier article)
While the knowledge itself belongs to God, the knowledge received through revelation is given to humanity.
The knowledge that is ours through revelation properly belongs to God, but God has given it to us.
Source: What Is the Will of God for My Life? (Ligonier article)
God reveals things to humanity so that people may be obedient.
God’s revealed will is given in and through His preceptive will, and this revelation is given that we might be obedient.
Source: What Is the Will of God for My Life? (Ligonier article)
The ultimate secret things belong to God, but He chooses to reveal certain things to humanity.
The secret things” belong to God, not to us. “The secret things” are not our business because they are not our property; they are His. However, God has taken some of the secret plans of His mind and removed the secrecy, and such things do belong to us.
Source: What Is the Will of God for My Life? (Ligonier article)
The speaker warns against adopting irrational theological methods, such as resolving contradictions in the mind of God.
Nor do we wish to succumb to the popular but deadly notion now popular in formerly Reformed circles, that real contradictions can be resolved in the mind of God.
Source: Who Do You Say That I Am? (Ligonier article)
Modern science provides empirical explanations for the universe's origins, suggesting that a supernatural being is not necessary to account for it.
we’re getting more information daily about the origins of this universe that seem to suggest that this universe, thank you very much, came into being without any assistance from some supernatural being that we call God.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 2:38
The Big Bang theory describes the universe originating from an eternal, condensed singularity of all energy and matter.
there was a – previous to this time – an eternal condensation of all energy and all matter in the universe into one tiny infinitesimal point of singularity and that that exploded, and that has sent bits and fragments of that explosion, and in the process of explosion generating so much energy and heat and so on, that it was actually creating – as it was exploding, it was creating new forms of energy and new kinds of atoms
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
The Big Bang theory itself is not necessarily proven, and the focus should be on the present reality of matter rather than speculating about its origins in eternity.
I don’t know whether it’s proven or not proven. It just wouldn’t matter to me whether it was or not, but when you suggest, when you make a transition from a Big Bang to eternity and eternity of matter, I take it there ought to be some sort of demonstration and not a sort of scientific throwing of its weight around.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:12
Sproul asserts that, from his perspective, truth is relative and conditioned by individual perception.
from my perspective as a modern person I have to say, Dr. Gerstner, that as far as I can see, truth is relative.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:44
He argues that the truth of a statement, such as the existence of God, is relative to the individual's perception and meaning.
So that for you, Dr. Gerstner it’s true to say there is a God because you relate to that. It has meaning for you and significance to you, but to me, Dr. Gerstner, that doesn’t mean anything. There is no God. So for me it’s true to say God does not exist.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 5:41
The speaker identifies the opponent's argument as a cosmological argument that attempts to derive knowledge of an invisible Creator from the visible universe.
What I hear coming out of your mouth – forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but is nothing more than the old cosmological argument for the existence of God that I thought that Kant demolished here. Is it not, aren’t you pleading cosmologically?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:54
The speaker argues that moving from the observable, created realm to a metaphysical sphere requires making unproven assumptions, such as the universal applicability of causality.
Now, it would seem to me, Dr. Gerstner, that in order to do that, we would have to make some assumptions, which I think, with Kant, such as – I’m trying to give it to you. That the assumption that we’re making that I would regard as gratuitous, as a leap, –
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 21:15
The speaker questions whether the law of causality applicable to the physical world can be assumed to apply equally to metaphysical or other worlds.
that the assumption here, Dr. Gerstner, is that the law of causality which we'll use in our scientific inquiry of this world -- GERSTNER: That's true. – would apply to this other world equally.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 21:41
He observes that the attempt to prove God's existence involves using the senses for worldly matters and then reason to address the first cause.
you’re using your senses for the world and then your reason to go back to this first cause.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 26:22
A person must be convinced that the Bible teaches a doctrine for them to embrace it.
And it wasn’t until, in fact, it wasn’t until I was convinced that the Bible taught it – the moment I was convinced that the Bible taught it, I embraced it.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 20:39
Paul states that Israel has experienced a partial blindness until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Paul says in verse 25 of Romans 11, "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in."
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:39
The principle of private interpretation should not be used to establish subjectivism or relativism.
Now, so it's important to understand that the principle of private interpretation is not a principle upon which is to be established subjectivism or relativism.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 22:23
God demonstrated His unconquerable power to Job by asking him questions about creation and cosmic power.
Job, can you unbuckle the Belt of Orion? I can. Can you bind the Pleiades? I can. Can you draw out the Leviathan with a seven pound fishline? I can.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:12
Systematic theology requires approaching the Bible by listening to all its details and then discerning how those individual truths fit together.
It is not to come to the Bible with preconceived system but rather to come to the Bible, listen to the word of God in all of its particulars, in all of its details, and then try to discern how all of these individual truths fit together
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
The fundamental assumption of systematic theology is that the Bible is coherent, meaning God's truth is unified in His person and character.
because the assumption of systematic theology is this: that the Bible is coherent, that though God reveals many things to us that all of His truth is unified in His own person and in His own character.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
The confession that Jesus is Lord is an explicit declaration of his deity.
And so when the Christian church confessed that Jesus was Lord, and not just Lord, not just 'kurios' but 'kurios kurion' the Lord of lords. It was clearly an ascription of deity to Jesus.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:10
Liberal theology sought to find a universal core essence running through all world religions by moving beyond supernatural elements.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
it was fundamentally anti-supernatural in its orientation, that is, in seeking to discern the essence of religion, it was seeking to get beyond myths, legends, sagas, that sort of stuff that is contained in religious stories and cultic practices in various faiths of the world, to get beyond miracle stories and angels and virgin births and dying and rising gods and all that kind of stuff
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 13:16
The act of defining who Jesus is inherently requires theological knowledge.
Well, I ask the people immediately, "Who is Jesus?" As soon as they begin to answer that question, they have already plunged themselves immediately into theology.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
The true test of a Christian is not merely believing in God, but believing God when He speaks.
And it’s not believing in God that makes the difference whether you’re Christian or not; it’s believing God. Do you believe God when He speaks?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:01
God's creation process is characterized by stages, culminating in the formation of man, and at every stage, God utters a benediction.
And so we see God's benediction being pronounced over each stage of His creation. As He creates the seas and the mountains, He looks at what He's made, and He says, "That's good." And as He makes the animals and considers them, He looks at that part of His creation, and He says, "That's good."
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:32
God will judge sin, and the consequences of sin, such as David's actions, will be addressed by divine revelation.
And thus says the Lord, behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:31
Humanity is naturally characterized by darkness and sin, which is evident since the time of Adam and Eve.
From the time of the first sin, Adam and Eve sought the cloak of darkness. They fled from the brightness of the glory of God who lighted the confines of paradise.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:23
Jesus warned that on the last day, many people will approach him pretending to have an intimate relationship with him, but he will reject them.
And Jesus said, “And I will say to those who come to me saying, ‘Lord, Lord,’ depart from me you workers of evil. I never knew you.”
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:00
While acknowledging the psychological capacity to invent religion, he argues that this ability does not prove that God's existence is merely a psychological invention.
I think we have to admit that freely. We have brains. We have the ability to project ideas. We have the ability to project wishes. We have the ability to be engaged in fantasy. We know that. And I think that it's theoretically possible, if there is no God, I think it's possible that people could invent one.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:42
The knowledge of God is not esoteric or hidden, but rather it is manifest and clear to the whole world.
That is, this knowledge of God of which the Apostle is speaking is not some vague, esoteric, arcane, secret, hidden knowledge that only some Gnostic elitist with a super intelligent capacity could ever discern, but rather it is the knowledge of God Himself that is manifest, that is clear and that it is clear to the whole world.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 34:28
The existence of God can be demonstrated with great ease, even by observing simple objects like a shoe.
I take my shoe off. I say, "Look at that! That proves conclusively, compellingly, demonstratively the eternal existence of Almighty God."
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 36:44
Paul's teaching contradicts Kant's philosophy because Paul asserts that the unseen things of God are made known through the visible things of creation.
what Paul is saying here is that the invisible things of God—things you can't see—are made known by means of, through the medium of, those things that are made, those things that are seen.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 39:01
Modalism asserts that all of reality, including angels and rocks, manifests a specific mode of the being of God, which involves inherent pantheism.
But the idea of modalism is simply this: that all of reality, from angels down to rocks, all of reality manifests a certain particular mode of the being of God. There is an inherent pantheism involved in this.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 5:36
The speaker prefers to take the story at face value, interpreting the event as Ham making a spectacle of his father's nakedness, rather than assuming incest.
I'm going to take it at face value, that what happens is that the young man goes in there and comes out and jests about the fact that his father is naked and makes a spectacle about that.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 5:10
Physical exposure, such as being naked, is considered a form of total humiliation, which is compounded by spiritual exposure.
Because there is a sense in which the physical exposure is made more burdensome by the spiritual exposure.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:28
Human nature includes a built-in desire to remain hidden to a certain degree, leading to discomfort when exposed.
Because built in to human nature is a desire to remain hidden to a certain degree. We do not expose ourselves physically for the world to gaze upon.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 14:39
God's revelation, whether through Scripture or nature, cannot be fallible.
How could His revelation be fallible? It’s not fallible when it comes through the medium of Scripture. It’s not fallible if it comes to the medium of nature. We’re the ones that are fallible, not God.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 2:32
The Lord's Supper involves a unique dimension of Christ's presence that is different from general fellowship.
He's here for a different purpose. There's a different kind of presence of Christ when He gathers His people at His table.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:58
God's test was highly specific, requiring Abraham to take his real, only son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah.
Abraham, take now your son, your only son, the one whom you love, Isaac—Isaac, Abraham. I want your son, your real son, your only son, the one that you have invested your heart in, the one that you love, you know who I'm talking about, and if that's not clear yet, let me name the child. I'm talking about Isaac.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:35
God manifests Himself plainly and clearly to every human being so that they know with certainty that God exists, meaning sin is not due to lack of knowledge but refusal to acknowledge God.
And God is manifesting Himself plainly and clearly to His eternal power and deity before his very eyes and in the midst of his soul so that every human being that walks upon this earth knows, and knows with certainty, that God exists. The sin of man is not that we don’t know Him. It’s that we refuse to acknowledge Him, even though we do know Him.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:33
The claim that there are no absolutes is self-defeating.
There are no absolutes except the absolute that there’s absolutely no absolutes. That is a self-defeating statement.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
The documentary hypothesis claims that Genesis 2 is written by a different author than Genesis 1, leading to the conclusion that the two creation accounts are contradictory.
It is called the so-called "documentary hypothesis," where one of the strongest points of that theory indicates that the second chapter of Genesis is written by somebody different from the first chapter and that the two accounts of creation, Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, are flatly contradictory one to the other.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 2:31
The miracle of the fish catch was a powerful event that led Peter to recognize his own sinfulness.
And then when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, ‘Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:43
The truth God refers to is not sophisticated or scientific knowledge, but rather the truth of God himself.
Not that you people are uneducated, not that you’re unscientific, it’s not that you don’t have any sophisticated knowledge, but when he says you have – there’s no truth in this land, the truth that God is talking about here is the truth of himself.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 8:33
A paradox is something that sounds contradictory but, upon closer examination, the tension is resolved.
A paradox -- the prefix "para" means "along side of" and the root comes from the Greek "dokei," which means "to seem, to think, or to appear." A paradox is something that sounds contradictory, maybe the first time you hear it, but upon further scrutiny the tension is resolved.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 2:19
The statement that God ordains everything that happens is not unique to Presbyterian theology or even uniquely Christian.
That statement doesn't divide Presbyterians from Methodists or Lutherans or Anglicans.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:28
A major contemporary issue is whether the universe originated through the intelligent work of an eternal God or if it simply appeared out of nothing.
And one of the great issues of our day is the issue of whether or not the universe has come to pass through the creative and intelligent work of an eternal God or whether it just popped into existence out of nothing.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 7:16
The doctrine of creation ex nihilo means that God created the universe without using any pre-existent matter or substance, and all matter was dependent on God's eternal being.
And when the Bible says or when the theology teaches that creation is ex nihilo, that means that God did not use some pre-existent matter or substance out of which to bring the universe, but even that substance, that core, that matter, that energy, whatever it was, was dependent for its being upon the eternal being of God, and that God brought that substance out of nothing.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 22:47
Historically, people began inventing religions by imposing the idea of a living soul into natural forces to explain events like storms or earthquakes.
And what happened historically was that people began to invent religions where the first step in the evolutionary process was to impose the idea of a living soul inside these forces so that there was a god in the storm, a god in the earthquake, a god in the pestilence.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:19
Sproul asserts that theology is distinct from religion, making this distinction clear is important.
I want to make this distinction clear that there is a difference between religion and theology.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:35
Sproul emphasizes that Reformed Theology is, in fact, a theology.
And the first thing I want to say today is that Reformed Theology is a theology.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:14
God has revealed His eternal power and deity through creation, which is known to everyone in the world.
Now in the first chapter of Romans the Apostle Paul says that God has revealed Himself through the things that are made so clearly and so manifestly that everyone in this world knows the eternal power and deity of God.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:23
Some scholars argue that Paul's restrictions were not based on personal prejudice but were part of divine revelation.
But then there are others who have a higher view of Scripture who say that Paul isn’t doing this simply out of personal prejudice but that he is an agent of revelation, that this
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:03
Marcion's principle was that the God of the Old Testament could not be sacred Scripture because Jesus revealed a different deity.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
The Old Testament was absent, and most of the gospel materials was absent, and just a few remarks from the apostle Paul were comprised in this canon because Marcion's working principle was this: that any reference to the God of the Old Testament, Jehovah, couldn't possibly be sacred Scripture because Jesus in the New Testament reveals a different deity from that explosive, hot-tempered, ill-willed deity that thundered from Sinai in the Old Testament.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:23
The text of 1 Corinthians 11 involves more than just the question of head covering; it also explains that covering is a sign of the woman subordinating herself to the man, which was a Jewish custom.
So there's lots more involved in this text than simply the question of whether or not we ought to cover -- women ought to cover their heads with veils. There are several parts to it, and as we look at that passage and ask ourselves, how are we to regard it, there are basically four different ways we can interpret and apply the principles of this text of 1 Corinthians 11.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:54
Being a son of God is not a natural state but a supernatural one that requires the presence of the Holy Ghost.
To be a son of God is not natural. To be a son of God is supernatural. And no one who is unregenerate, no one who lacks the presence of the Holy Ghost in his soul is accorded the privilege of being a son of God.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:03
The opening verse of John's Gospel reveals the mystery of the Trinity.
Clearly the most pregnant text of all in the New Testament is that opening verse of the gospel according to Saint John, where we read in John chapter one, "In the beginning was the Word (that is the Logos) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In that first sentence you see the mystery of the Trinity because in the first portion of the sentence, the Logos, who was with God from the beginning (He's eternal, but He's distinguished from God) because He's described
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:21
If Jesus claims to be the only way to God, then it is logically necessary to accept that claim, otherwise His claim of exclusiveness is undermined.
Because if He says He is the only way to God and is not the only way to God, then I doubt very much if He’s even one way to God.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:36
The statement that God has foreordained everything that happens is a distinction between theists and atheists.
This statement here distinguishes theists from atheists.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:08
Progressive revelation means that God expands the content of His self-disclosure over time, building upon what was previously given.
What we mean by progressive revelation is that there is a building upon what has been given in the past, and an expanding dimension of content to that revelation.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 2:47
The speaker suggests that the detail about Jacob stopping at a place without a prearranged spot during his journey is significant.
Now, this little editorial description of how it is that Jacob came to stop at this particular place, I think, has some significance.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:46
True spiritual discernment involves understanding God's constant presence in all circumstances, rather than merely seeing physical evidence.
we understand that we live in a world where God is not absent, that God would give us the eyes to see His presence so that whether we're here or whether we're there or over there, we say in the morning, "How awesome is this place! God is here, and I knew it all the time."
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 26:54
It is appropriate to use descriptive language of appearance, such as talking about a sunrise and a sunset, even when discussing scientific phenomena.
But it would not be incorrect for you to use languages of appearance to describe things as they appear to the naked eye.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 6:37
The Bible should not be forced into a mode that contradicts its original intent, even though it does reveal things relevant to scientific questions.
That does not mean that the Bible doesn't reveal things that have heavy bearing upon scientific questions. It does; the Bible tells us that this world was created by Almighty God, that this world is not eternal, and if a scientist comes down the road and says the world is eternal, it has no creation, we have conflict. I don't want to minimize that, but I do want to say, let's not try to force the Bible into a mode that it was never intended to be.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:59
Jesus frequently used metaphors and figurative language, such as calling himself 'the door,' which should be understood figuratively rather than literally.
Jesus does not mean to suggest that He was a door literally; He is a door figuratively; He is a door metaphorically. He is using that image to convey something that He is. He is the one through whom we must go.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:21
The speaker emphasizes that the distinction between merely distinguishing and completely separating is a crucial theological concept.
I tell them, "One of the most important distinctions you will ever learn to make is the distinction between a distinction and a separation." We say of you that you are a duality (that is a unity in duality) -- that as a human being you are made up of a physical dimension and of a non-physical dimension, which language the Bible describes in terms of body and soul.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:32
Many people entering higher education are already convinced that truth is relative and that there is no objective reality.
Ninety-some percent of students who graduate from high school, who enter the halls of learning come to the university already persuaded that truth is relative—that there is no such thing as objective reality.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 6:30
To tell the truth means to report what is, which is determined by reality.
And to tell it like it is, is to tell it as it—reality determines it. In the correspondence theory, truth is that which corresponds to reality.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:15
All truth, reality, and things hidden or done in secret will eventually be made manifest.
That's why Jesus warns that in the final analysis, all truth, reality, that which is hidden, that which is done in secret, that which is distorted, everything that is now hidden and concealed will be made manifest.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 15:54
Believing in the relativity of truth is fundamentally irrational and dangerous to human survival.
A person can't survive on this planet and believe in the relativity of truth. A person can't live for 15 minutes on this planet and believe in the relativity of truth. That kind of a person is a person we'd lock up for their own safety in an insane asylum because they've lost their minds!
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:01
According to Jesus's judgment, only those who are of the truth will hear him because he bears witness to the truth.
According to His judgment that if you are of the truth you will hear Him because He bears witness to the truth.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 33:28
The existence of a beginning to the universe necessitates that either the universe came from nothing by itself or it was created by a self-existent, eternal being.
Either the universe came out of nothing all by itself or the universe was created by something that is self-existent and eternal. Your theory of the origin of the cosmos screams for a self-existent eternal being.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
Parmenides argued that for anything to be truly real, it must exist in a state of being, because constant change makes it impossible to define what it is.
Parmenides, who was considered the most brilliant pre-Socratic philosopher, about whom almost nothing survives this day, is famous for his statement that he made on one occasion, "Whatever is, IS," because if something is constantly changing, can we ever really say what it is?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:18
Adam's initial reaction to seeing Eve was to declare her as being fundamentally connected to himself.
You remember we went over the story of how God had made man and then made woman as a special act of creation and how excited Adam was when he first beheld his wife and said, "This is flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone," and so on.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 5:33
Christian revelation provides information about the metaphysical realm, which transcends normal empirical perception.
See right at the heart of the Christian declaration is that Christianity is based upon revelation – that we receive information that is beyond the scope of normal, empirical perception – that we get information of the metaphysical realm, of the noumenal realm, of that which transcends the observable
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 24:40
When Joseph revealed his dreams to his brothers, he did so without deceit, assuming they would be happy for him.
Now, as Joseph reveals that story, we sort of catch a note in the text that he is doing it without guile. It's not like he's parading himself in front of his brothers and bragging about this future prophecy that he's just been given in terms of interpreting the dreams, but he himself is caught up in it.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:15
Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, explaining that God had sent him to preserve their lives.
And Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?' But his brothers couldn't answer him because they were so troubled, terrified, at Joseph's presence. And so, Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come near to me, I pray you.' And they came near. And he said, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now, don't be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.'
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:36
While creation provides clues about God's identity and character, intimate knowledge of God requires God's self-revelation.
Creation gives us clues as to the identity of God and the character of God, but we don't really know God intimately until God speaks, until God chooses to reveal himself and tell us what's inside.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 12:56
The scientific claim that matter was created from an explosion is nonsensical and contradicts the reality that matter already existed.
I read it and it said, “Scientists have now discovered that matter was created when matter and energy exploded.” I said, “What’s the matter with that?” We have matter being created after it already was there. Notice that won’t work.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:52
Rationalism asserts that the primary way to truth and knowledge is through the mind and the processes of thought.
Basically, rationalism says that the way to truth, the way to knowledge, is principally, if not exclusively, through the mind, through the processes of thought itself.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 19:22
Empiricism holds that the way to truth is through the senses and sense perception.
That is, the empiricist says the way to truth is through the senses, through sense perception. It's basically more physical than mental.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 20:24
The scientific method suggests that the learning process involves both the mind and the body.
the scientific method says that we are creatures who have minds and we also have bodies, and both the mind and the body is active in the whole process of learning.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:01
The initial step in the pursuit of truth is to question the certainty of one's own knowledge.
I want you to think about how you know what you think you know, to ask yourselves the question, "Am I sure about this?"
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 29:08
One theory suggests that the narrative of creation is structured in seven scenes, like a seven-act play, rather than being concerned with real history.
That theory is called the "framework hypothesis," that each day introduces a new dimension of the work of creation.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:21
Deism was a philosophical attempt to create a natural religion that removed the idea of a God actively intervening in the space-order continuum.
I'm thinking again here of the idea found in eighteenth century philosophy and theology under the rubric of the word "deism," where deism was an attempt to produce a natural religion to strip Christianity of any kind of an idea of a God who intrudes into the space-order continuum.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:04
The biblical understanding of creation shows that God remains committed to the daily continuity of life and the planet, even after the initial creation stages.
The God that is revealed in Genesis is a God who is committed, who ties Himself to the daily continuity of our lives and of our planet.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:20
Contemporary culture often holds a belief in a remote God, leading to a theoretical understanding of God coupled with practical atheism.
In a word, what we have is theoretical theism, but practical atheism. We live as if God did not exist, or if He did exist, He was so remote from us that He has no relevance to our daily lives.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 13:33
Denying the existence of God is irrational, as the creation itself testifies to the Creator.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is manifestly irrational to deny the existence of God. And when a scientist speaks out and says that he is convinced scientifically that there's no God, he has stopped being a judicious scientist and has uttered the expression of the fool.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:10
Human nature tends to hide itself from the true character of God because the holy standard exposes all sin.
Because our natural bent, our natural inclination, beloved, is to hide ourselves from Him because we know instinctively that as soon as the holy appears, it exposes and reveals anything and anyone who is not holy by virtue of that standard.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:07
The speaker asserts that the fundamental question of reality is 'Why is anything here?' rather than 'Why am I here?'
But in any case, ontology asks the question, "What is ultimate reality?" And it asks questions like this, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Do you ever ask that question? Not "Why am I here?" but "Why is anything here?"
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 17:35
The speaker argues that an explosion from nothing is logically impossible, requiring a prior state of being.
What do you mean that something exploded into being? What was it before it exploded into being, huh? If it wasn't being, what was it? Non-being. If it had no being, it was nothing, and nothing doesn't explode! Okay?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 18:52
The speaker critiques Descartes' conclusion that existence is proven solely by thought, asserting that self-awareness is a more basic and immediate realization.
Why would Descartes, like this man here, be so intent on crawling into his Dutch oven to ask himself all the questions he can muster with all the critical tools he can bring to bear to come to this simple basic conclusion "cogito, ergo sum." I think, therefore, I am.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 21:00
Descartes used the concept of self-existence to logically argue that God must also exist.
And from there, Descartes says, "If I am, then something must have being, or I couldn't be," and Descartes went like that to the concept of God based on the compelling logical conclusion derived from his own existence. "If I am," Descartes was saying, "God must be."
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 21:56
The process of human knowledge acquisition involves two dimensions: the mind's rational function and sensory perception.
What that is, is that we some how grasp that our knowledge, our learning, the whole process of education involves two dimensions. It involves the mind. And the mind functions according to certain categories of rationality.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 7:20
Empiricists are those who emphasize sensory perception as the true basis for knowledge.
So there are those, who I say, who emphasize sense perception as the true basis for knowledge and they’re traditionally called empiricists.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:14
The scientific method is a synthesis that combines both reason and sensory perception.
and which produced a synthesis, a coming together of these two activities of reason and sense perception in what is commonly and simply called the scientific method, that employs both induction, which is we gather the facts we gather the evidence we look through our microscopes we look through our telescopes, we collate all the data that we can get.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 5:02
Christianity is a revealed religion, meaning God speaks truths that humanity must believe even if they cannot be seen.
Christianity, whatever else it is, is a revealed religion. That God not only reveals Himself through nature, but as Francis Schaeffer has said, we don’t just believe in a God who is there, but a God who is spoken.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 15:48
Faith is demonstrated and proven genuine through one's works.
Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Now it is show and tell time.
Source: Abraham Justified by Faith (Ligonier)
The New Testament is fundamentally supernatural in its orientation, making it impossible to read it without acknowledging supernatural realities.
I mentioned that the New Testament is supernatural in its orientation through and through, and you can’t read it with a comb and throw out all of the allusions to those supernatural realities.
Source: The Angel & Zacharias (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The greatest foolishness is claiming that there is no God.
The real fool, however, is the one who says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Source: The Angel & Zacharias (Part 2) (Ligonier)
When God seems absent, He may simply be hidden, as demonstrated by Luther's experience.
Well, God was not gone, He was just hidden. Luther prayed that on the morrow God would visit him and give him strength, and the next morning the Lord God Omnipotent visited His servant and upheld him.
Source: The Benedictus (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The ultimate test of one's relationship with Jesus is not whether one knows Him, but whether He knows one.
In the final analysis, the question will not be, “Do you know Jesus?” but “Does he know you?”
Source: Build on the Rock (Ligonier)
Some Enlightenment atheists incorrectly concluded that life and the universe originated spontaneously, believing this was supported by modern science.
They came to this conclusion by saying the God hypothesis was no longer necessary because we now knew that the origin of life, and indeed the origin of the whole universe, had come to pass through the power of spontaneous generation.
Source: The Calming of the Storm (Ligonier)
The ultimate cause for Simon's selection was the eternal, determinate counsel of God, not the soldier's observation.
Behind the scenes, however, in the eternity of God’s providence, in the secret hand of that mystery, the primary cause of the selection of Simon of Cyrene was the eternal, determinate counsel of God Himself.
Source: The Crucifixion (Part 1) (Ligonier)
According to the idea presented, being present in the garden meant being present in the mind of God, which equates to being present in reality.
the idea in simple terms is that in the garden you were present, not because your soul was there, but because your soul was in the mind of God, and what is present to the mind of God is present in reality.
Source: Death in Adam, Life in Christ (Ligonier)
The natural law discussed in the theological distinction is not related to the debate about a transcendent framework for laws enacted in various nations.
Here, when the distinction is made between the natural law of God and the purposive law of God, it is not related to the debate about a transcendent framework for the laws that are enacted in various nations.
Source: Do Not Cause Another To Stumble (Ligonier)
Jesus taught that nothing hidden will remain unknown, and everything spoken in secret will eventually be revealed publicly.
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Source: Fearing God (Ligonier)
All attempts to conceal sin or maintain an inauthentic facade will eventually be exposed and revealed.
for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed.
Source: Fearing God (Ligonier)
Naturalists reject supernatural claims in the New Testament, leading them to reject anything that appears supernatural as unscientific and irrational.
If we are naturalists, we cannot believe in the supernatural, ergo, anything that pretends to be supernatural must be rejected as unscientific and irrational.
Source: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Ligonier)
Modern people who are not committed to biblical theology often talk about being 'spiritual' in a way that is disconnected from biblical teaching.
People who are rank pagans, who will not stand any biblical theology, still talk about being “spiritual,” whatever that means.
Source: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Ligonier)
The fulfillment of Jesus' predictions, particularly regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, should convince any rational person of the truth of his claims about himself and the Word of God.
In light of the tremendous precision and fulfillment of these predictions, you would think this would be all it would take to convince any rational person that Jesus spoke the truth in every prophetic utterance He made, including those statements about Himself being our Redeemer and the Son of God, so that there would be no intellectual excuse for rejecting the truth claims of Jesus and the Word of God.
Source: This Generation Will Not Pass Away (Ligonier)
God's revelation of Himself is not an occasional event but a constant manifestation throughout every moment of creation.
God does not create a world and say, “Guess where it came from?” Paul is saying that in that world, every second, God manifests Himself through the things that are made, so that His testimony to His own nature is plainly evident all the time.
Source: God’s Wrath (Ligonier)
God reveals His nature and testimony through the things that are made in the world.
Paul is saying that in that world, every second, God manifests Himself through the things that are made, so that His testimony to His own nature is plainly evident all the time.
Source: God’s Wrath (Ligonier)
God, though invisible, is seen through the things that are made because He reveals His character through visible things.
God is not seen directly, but He is seen through the things that are made because God, who is invisible, reveals His invisible character through that which you can see with your eyes.
Source: God’s Wrath (Ligonier)
General revelation reveals God's eternal power, His God-ness (including immutability, omniscience, and omnipresence), and His moral perfection, holiness, and sovereign right to command.
It is His eternal power that is revealed and His God-ness, which we understand refers to His inherent attributes—His immutability, omniscience, omnipresence—all that fits deity is made clear through nature. We will see later that also included in this content that God reveals of Himself is His moral perfection, holiness, righteousness, and His sovereign right to impose obligations upon His creatures without their permission or assent.
Source: God’s Wrath (Ligonier)
The natural man does not possess the intimate, salvific knowledge of God, but he can possess an intellectual awareness of God's reality.
When he writes to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of the Spirit who gives that kind of knowledge, and he says the natural man does not know God in that sense. But in the sense of having an intellectual cognition, a cognitive awareness of the reality of God, Paul is saying in Romans that their problem is not that the knowledge fails to get through.
Source: God’s Wrath (Ligonier)
General revelation provides all people with an inescapable cognitive knowledge of God.
General revelation gives to all men a cognitive knowledge of God that is inescapable, and though we seek to destroy it and do not want to have it in our minds, we cannot eliminate it all together.
Source: The Golden Chain (Ligonier)
Jesus knew Zacchaeus from eternity, not just when he saw him.
Touching His divine nature, however, there never was a time that Zacchaeus was unknown to Him.
Source: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Ligonier)
The existence of God is proven by general revelation found in creation, not by miracles.
The creation proves the existence of God. Paul tells us in Romans 1 that God’s general revelation, the revelation He gives of Himself externally in nature and internally in the conscience of every human being, reveals God clearly, plainly, manifestly, and convincingly to every human being that walks on the face of the earth.
Source: Healing & Preaching (Ligonier)
God's general revelation, which is given through nature and conscience, makes it clear to every person that God exists.
Paul tells us in Romans 1 that God’s general revelation, the revelation He gives of Himself externally in nature and internally in the conscience of every human being, reveals God clearly, plainly, manifestly, and convincingly to every human being that walks on the face of the earth.
Source: Healing & Preaching (Ligonier)
Jesus' miracles are unique because they are both against nature and against evil.
Jesus’ miracles are both against nature and against evil.
Source: A House Divided (Ligonier)
God has made His revelation so clear that no one has an excuse for denying Him.
Paul labors the point that God has manifested Himself so clearly to every human being that nobody has an excuse for denying Him.
Source: Introduction (Ligonier)
Humans are naturally Pelagian, meaning they assume they have the power to motivate themselves to come to Christ.
▷ A view Sproul explains or critiques — not his own position.
Dr. Nicole once made the observation that we are by nature Pelagian—that is, we assume by our fallen nature that we have the power to motivate ourselves, to incline our own hearts to make the decision unaided to come to Christ while we are yet in the flesh.
Source: Israel's Rejection of Christ (Ligonier)
The speaker believes it is his duty to openly state his perspective and actively persuade students of certain truths, rather than remaining a neutral source of information.
I felt it was my duty on the opening day of class to tell my students my basic perspective, where I was coming from. I would tell them: “I’m coming at this from a Christian perspective, from a Reformed perspective, and I’m here not only to give you information, but I’m after your minds. So, you might as well be prepared, because I’m going to do everything I can to persuade you of these truths.”
Source: Israel's Rejection of Christ (Ligonier)
Paul's opening affirmation is intended to show that he is speaking as a Christian who embraces and loves truth, and that he is speaking from his own conscience.
In other words: I’m speaking in Christ; I’m speaking in the Holy Ghost, and I’m speaking to you out of the depths of my own conscience. My conscience bears witness to me that I speak the truth.
Source: Israel's Rejection of Christ (Ligonier)
Understanding the depths of Scripture requires divine revelation.
We know none of these things save by Your revelation of them through the Scripture to us.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 1) (Ligonier)
Humans cannot know the mind of the Lord except when He chooses to reveal it.
The only way we can know the mind of the Lord is when the Lord is pleased to reveal it. When He does, we can know for sure that what He reveals is not deceitful or inaccurate.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 3) (Ligonier)
Scripture is the primary means by which God reveals His mind to humanity.
The Bible reveals the mind of God to us.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 3) (Ligonier)
Objective truth refers to reality that exists independently of individual preferences or subjective belief.
So, when Schaeffer spoke about true truth, he was referring to truth that was beyond the preferences or the tastes of individual subjects.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 4) (Ligonier)
The miraculous event will eventually become public knowledge, requiring those who receive Christ's grace to tell everyone.
That moment will come, when He will charge them and all who receive the grace of Christ to tell everybody.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The darkness experienced during Christ's death was an unnatural, supernatural event commanded by God, contrasting the original creation light.
At noonday, twelve o’clock, when the sun was at its apogee, God said, “Let it be dark.” This darkness came ex nihilo , out of nothing—not from an astronomical perturbation, not from an extended solar eclipse, but by divine, supernatural fiat and command, the world was plunged again into utter darkness.
Source: Jesus Dies (Ligonier)
The statement 'I tell you truly' is a solemn declaration, like an oath or a vow, indicating the unvarnished truth.
When He said this, He prefaced His statement with the Greek word amēn , or amen. This is a solemn statement. It is like an oath or a vow, where He’s saying, “Before Almighty God, what I’m about to say to you is the unvarnished truth, and you need to hear it in all of its weightiness.”
Source: Jesus Rejected (Ligonier)
Jesus' human knowledge was limited, and supernatural knowledge was gained through divine revelation, not inherent human insight.
You say: “No, Thomas. Jesus’ human knowledge was as limited as anybody else’s human knowledge, unless the divine nature communicated information to the human nature.”
Source: Jesus in the Temple (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated profound theological knowledge at a young age, astonishing the scholars.
Never in history did a boy know more theology than did this young man who astounded the scholars on that day.
Source: Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem (Ligonier)
Before the Son of Man's revelation, he must first endure suffering and rejection from the current generation.
But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Source: The Kingdom Come (Ligonier)
Paul's confusion in Romans 7 is not about abstract theology, but rather about his own behavior and actions.
What is perplexing him here is his own behavior. Paul essentially says: “Sometimes I don’t understand myself. I just don’t know why I do the things that I do.”
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The speaker warns against the mechanistic view, which teaches that the universe operates like a machine governed by fixed, autonomous laws.
This view teaches that the universe works something like a machine, and that machine functions according to fixed, inherent laws within nature. We have been told from the time we were infants that the universe operates according to the laws of nature, and the laws of nature are presented to us as if they were immutable, fixed, inherent powers that are autonomous—that is, they operate by their own steam and are accountable to nothing outside of or above and beyond nature itself.
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 2) (Ligonier)
God reveals Himself plainly and clearly to all people everywhere, meaning that all false religions cannot extinguish this revelation.
God reveals Himself plainly and clearly to all people everywhere. All the false religion we have cannot extinguish the revelation that God gives of Himself.
Source: Legion (Ligonier)
God has revealed Himself in the human heart such that people inherently know the difference between right and wrong.
Paul talks about the nature of the human heart, recognizing that God has revealed Himself in the human heart in such a way that everybody knows what is right and what is not right.
Source: Man Is without Excuse (Ligonier)
In the pivotal moment of recognition, Jesus changed the pattern of questioning by interrogating his own students.
Changing the pattern of rabbi and student, where normally the students or the disciples are constantly asking questions of the rabbi, here the rabbi interrogates His students.
Source: The Blind Man & Peter's Confession (Ligonier)
A public profession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah is a blessing because it is a divine revelation, not a secular or learned belief.
For He would say, “Blessed are you,” because this is not something you learned in kindergarten, this is not something you learned from the newspaper or from the secular media.
Source: The Blind Man & Peter's Confession (Ligonier)
God's revelation is inherently coherent and consistent, meaning God does not speak with a forked tongue.
The second assumption is that God does not speak with a forked tongue. What God reveals in His truth is always coherent and consistent.
Source: Defilement from Within (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Sproul suggests that the evidence points to the voice crying out to Jesus coming from the demons inside the man, rather than the man's natural voice.
If we look at the other gospel records, I think the weight of the evidence indicates that the voice crying out to Jesus was coming from inside the man, from the devils.
Source: The Gadarene Demoniac (Ligonier)
Jesus not only predicted Peter's denial but also predicted his own resurrection and subsequent meeting with his disciples.
Not only does He predict the denial of Peter but He also predicts His own resurrection when He says, “After I am raised, I will meet with you all in Galilee.”
Source: The Garden of Gethsemane (Ligonier)
Aquinas' explanation that Jesus pretended not to know something to accommodate his disciples is insufficient because it would disqualify Jesus from being a Savior.
If Jesus told His disciples He did not know something when in fact He did know something, we call that a falsehood. Even if it was a small falsehood, even if it was a peccadillo, that peccadillo would be just enough to disqualify Jesus from being our Savior.
Source: The Garden of Gethsemane (Ligonier)
The critical issue is not whether one knows Jesus, but whether Jesus knows the individual.
The issue is not, “Do you know Jesus?” The issue is, “Does Jesus know you ?”
Source: Jesus' Arrest (Ligonier)
Jesus initially kept his true identity private to ensure he could fulfill his mission and avoid being overwhelmed by crowds.
So, Jesus was loath to make public His true identity, particularly early on in His ministry. Not only that, but if the leper went out and told everybody in the countryside that he was just cleansed by Jesus of Nazareth, every leper within the sound of his voice would rush to Jesus, and Jesus would never have time to do the mission He had been called to do.
Source: Jesus Heals Many (Ligonier)
Jesus claimed that he came to bear witness to the truth, and those who are truly of the truth will hear his voice.
Remember that Jesus said: “I came to bear witness to the truth, and all who are of the truth hear My voice.”
Source: Jesus before Pilate (Ligonier)
Jesus is referring to himself as the lamp, signifying that he is the source of the light that should not be hidden.
He is not talking about any lamp. He is not talking about a lamp. He is talking about the lamp, who is the subject of this discourse. What Jesus says is, “ The lamp comes not to be hidden under a bushel.”
Source: Parables of the Kingdom (Ligonier)
Jesus came to be openly displayed like a lamp on a lampstand so that the light he brings can manifest clearly to all who are in darkness.
I came here as a lamp that is to be set upon a lampstand, so that the light I bring may burst forth and manifest itself clearly to all who dwell in darkness. I didn’t come to be covered with a basket or hidden under a table.
Source: Parables of the Kingdom (Ligonier)
Nothing that is hidden or kept secret will remain so, as everything will eventually be revealed.
For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
Source: Parables of the Kingdom (Ligonier)
The apparent contradiction regarding the number of angels is resolved by noting that if there were two angels, it necessarily implies the existence of at least one angel.
If there were two angels present, and somebody says an angel was there, that is not a contradiction. Manifestly, if there were two angels there, there also had to be one angel there.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The speaker asserts that most theological errors stem from a lack of knowledge of Scripture, which is the source of divine revelation.
I think 100 percent of the theological errors we make are because we do not know the Scriptures, because God has revealed the same things to all of us, and all from the same book.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The highest status for a theologian is being known by their name, rather than by a title.
We do not talk about Professor Calvin or Professor Luther or Professor Augustine . We just speak of them by their names.
Source: The Scribes and the Widow (Ligonier)
The blind man, Bartimaeus, demonstrated sound theology by correctly identifying Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of David.
What I find fascinating about the blind man’s appeal was the soundness of his theology. Without eyes to see, he knew who was coming: the Messiah, the long-promised Deliverer of Israel who would come out of the family and lineage of David, who would be David’s greater son, who would restore the kingship to David, who would be David’s son yet at the same time David’s Lord.
Source: Son of Man, A Servant (Ligonier)
The Gospel account is a divine revelation, not merely the opinion of human authors.
Beloved, you have just heard not the opinions of John Mark or Peter or Paul, but the veritable Word of God Himself.
Source: The Syro-Phoenician Woman (Ligonier)
There is an intimate and eternal continuity between the revelation in the Old Testament and the New Covenant, though some elements are abrogated.
No, no, no—there is an intimate relationship between Old Testament revelation and what is given to us in the new covenant. There is a sense of eternal continuity between the things taught in God’s revelation in the Old Testament and that which comes to us in the New Testament. At the same time, there are things that pass away and are abrogated.
Source: New Wineskins (Ligonier)
The truth, once revealed by the Word of God, must be made manifest and visible to all people.
As we understand the Word of God and it takes root in our hearts, we are not to put it under a bushel or hide it under the bed. Rather, we are to put it in a place of prominence, where it can be made manifest and seen clearly by all.
Source: The Parable of the Revealed Light (Ligonier)
All words and actions, including hidden ones, will eventually be revealed and brought into judgment.
Everything will come into judgment because our Lord said, “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.” That “nothing” is not a little something. Nothing that is hidden now will remain hidden.
Source: The Parable of the Revealed Light (Ligonier)
The light that appeared to Paul was supernatural, enduring for several moments, and was clearly of divine origin.
But in Paul’s case, the intensity of the light endured for several moments, and it was clearly something of a supernatural origin, and Paul was thrown to the ground.
Source: Paul's Conversion (Ligonier)
Significant divine events happen suddenly and instantly, without gradual build-up.
The text continues: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly ”—that is the first key: it does not happen gradually. There is no build up. There is no slight zephyr in the air that grows in tempo and strength. Suddenly, instantly, something radical happens:
Source: Pentecost (Ligonier)
Peter realized that his experience was not a dream or fantasy, but a genuine reality.
Luke then tells us that when Peter had come to himself—that is, when he was fully conscious, fully awake—he realized this was not a fantasy nor a dream, but reality.
Source: Peter in Prison (Ligonier)
The most significant question derived from Scripture is what the disciples believe Jesus' true identity to be.
Nevertheless, it raises perhaps the most significant question that any of us can ever be asked coming from sacred Scripture, when our Lord asked His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”
Source: Peter's Confession and Our Cross (Ligonier)
After publicly denying Jesus, Peter wept bitterly.
Then “he went out and wept bitterly.”
Source: Peter's Denial (Ligonier)
The passage in Psalm 110:1 is central because it discusses God speaking to someone other than Himself, which is remarkable given Israel's monotheism.
The astonishing thing in light of the monotheism of Israel is this conversation to which David calls attention regarding God speaking to someone other than Himself who is David’s Lord.
Source: Peter's Sermon - Part 3 (Ligonier)
True zeal for God must be informed by His Word and should manifest as both heat and light.
He wants His people to be filled with zeal, but a zeal that is according to knowledge, a zeal that is informed by His Word. The fire that is in our hearts ought not be a fire that is only heat, but one that is also light, which comes from His Word.
Source: Present Condition of Israel (Ligonier)
By natural disposition, humans tend to avoid God and the biblical Christ.
By nature, you do not want God in your thinking. It is your normal, fleshly makeup to flee from the presence of God and to have no affection for the biblical Christ.
Source: Rebirth (Ligonier)
Sproul asserts that he does not know the details of the resurrected state and that human inquiry must cease where divine revelation has ceased.
I do not know. Where God has ceased His divine revelation, I will cease from inquiry.
Source: The Resurrection & David's Son (Ligonier)
God does not merely fail to reveal Christ to everyone; rather, He actively conceals Christ from certain people.
It is not simply that God does not reveal Christ to everyone in a passive manner, but He actually conceals Christ from people.
Source: The Return of the Seventy-Two (Ligonier)
The Bible reveals that God hides truth from those who are wise in their own conceits and who do not fear God.
Jesus said: “I thank You, Father. You’ve kept truth from people who are wise in their own conceits, who set their own minds above the wisdom of God, who have no fear of God in their hearts. Thank you, Father, for hiding these things from them and revealing them to babes.”
Source: The Return of the Seventy-Two (Ligonier)
The only valid test for determining if a leading is from the Holy Spirit is by applying the test of the Word itself.
We are called to test the spirits to make sure that the spirit leading us is the Holy Spirit. The only test that we can apply is the test of the Word itself.
Source: Sanctification (Ligonier)
Sproul argues that while some accounts, like angel appearances, are difficult to verify scientifically, many details in Luke's work are testable through archaeological examination.
But there are many things included in Luke’s work that do have testability—that is, they can be verified or falsified by archeological examination.
Source: A Second Account (Ligonier)
Sproul recounts how William Mitchell Ramsay, a former skeptic, became a believer after archaeological evidence confirmed the details recorded in the book of Acts.
Ramsey started out a skeptic and ended up a believer because he was overwhelmed by the evidence he was able to uncover, where the stones were crying out that every title of every magistrate whom Luke recorded in the book of Acts was verified by the turning over of the shovels of archaeologists.
Source: A Second Account (Ligonier)
Seeking more evidence from God after the ultimate sign has been provided is futile because God has already given the ultimate sign.
Those of you still looking for signs, those of you still waiting to be convinced, if you are looking for more evidence from God than He has already given, your hope is futile. You are on a fool’s errand that will get you nowhere, because the reality is, God has already provided you with the ultimate sign.
Source: Seeking a Sign (Ligonier)
Truth, like light, must be openly displayed and cannot be hidden or kept secret.
No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light.
Source: Seeking a Sign (Ligonier)
Spiritual blindness means that even if one's physical senses function, a lack of Christ's light results in a life of utter darkness.
If you do not have the light of Christ in your heart and soul, no matter how well your eyes function organically, you are living in utter darkness.
Source: Seeking a Sign (Ligonier)
He explains that a 'particular negative proposition' (using the word 'some') logically suggests the opposite, which is a 'particular affirmative'.
In simple language, what that means is that when Jesus says, “Some of you who are standing here will not taste death until this event takes place,” it strongly suggests some of them would taste death before this event would come to pass.
Source: The Transfiguration (Ligonier)
The Transfiguration revealed the divine nature in the presence of the Law and the Prophets.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, the divine nature broke through in the presence not only of the disciples but of the Law and the Prophets, of Moses and Elijah, who had called the people’s attention to the One who would come.
Source: The Transfiguration (Ligonier)
The fulfillment of specific prophecies should be sufficient proof to silence the most skeptical people.
In fact, that very truth of the fulfillment of specific prophecies should be enough to stop the mouths of the most obstreperous skeptics in the world.
Source: The Triumphal Entry (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated supernatural knowledge by stating that he saw Nathaniel under a specific tree and knew him even before Nathaniel was aware of it.
Jesus said, “I saw you under the tree over there, and I knew you even before then.”
Source: The Twelve Apostles (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Liberal theology is fundamentally characterized by unbelief.
Context: Quoting Emil Brunner
The problem with liberalism is that it is simply unbelief. Those who embrace liberal theology are unbelievers.
Source: Woes to Hypocrites (Ligonier)
People cannot claim ignorance of God on the last day because God has revealed Himself plainly.
And no one will be able to say on the last day, “I didn’t know that you existed,” because God has revealed himself plainly.
Source: Are those who have never heard of Christ going to hell? (Ligonier Q&A)
The Old Testament progressively points toward the fuller revelation found in the New Testament.
The Old Testament, in a progressive fashion, points us to a fuller revelation that comes forth in the New Testament.
Source: Did believers in the Old Testament have a complete understanding of the Trinity? (Ligonier Q&A)
Sproul asserts that the theology of Islam regarding God's nature and being is very different from the Christian understanding of God.
If you mean to ask whether the content of the theology of Islam with respect to the nature and being of God is the same as you find in the Christian understanding of the being and character of God, I would say that there’s very little resemblance between the two.
Source: Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? (Ligonier Q&A)
The two main theological views regarding the transmission of human nature are creationism, which posits that every person is a new creation by God, and traducianism, which holds that the whole person is transmitted naturally from parents.
The two schools of thought on that are creationism and traducianism. Traducianism says that the whole person, body and soul, is transmitted from the parents to their progeny through the natural process of birth. Creationism argues that every time a human being is born, that person is a brand new creation by the immediate and direct power of God’s creativity.