Theological Term of the Week

concurrence
An aspect of God’s providence whereby he cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do1; God’s working in all things to accomplish his will in all events “without violating the nature of things, the ongoing causal processes, or human free agency.”2

• From scripture:

   [A]ll the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
   and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
  and among the inhabitants of the earth;
  and none can stay his hand
  or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34-35 ESV)

  Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” (Exodus 4:11-12 ESV)
  

• From The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, Of Providence:

  I. God the great Creator of all things does uphold,direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence….

  II. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably, and infallibly; yet, by the same providence, He orders them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.

  III. God, in His ordinary providence, makes use of means….

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof: 

  There is not a single moment that the creature works independently of the will and the power of God. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being, Acts 17:28. This divine activity accompanies the action of man at every point, but without robbing man in any way of his freedom. The action remains the free act of man, and act for which he is held responsible. … In a very real sense the operation is the product of both causes. Man is and remains the real subject of the action. 

Learn more:

1. J. I. Packer: Providence
2. James Mongomery Boice: God’s Providence
3. Wayne Grudem:  Providence (mp3)
4. Related terms: providence; compatibilism

1Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
2Concise Theology by J. I. Packer

Today’s term was suggested by a reader in an email. Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

special revelation
God’s self-disclosure in direct, supernatural revelation, disclosing truths, including the good news of salvation, that could not be known through general revelation.

• From scripture:

  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…. (Hebrews 1:1-2a ESV)

  Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-3 ESV)
  

• From The Belgic Confession, 1561, Article 2:

  The Means by Which We Know God
  
  We know him by two means:
  
  …Secondly, he makes himself more clearly fully known to us by his holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his glory and our salvation.

• From ESV Study Bible, Biblical Doctrine: An Overview: The Bible and Revelation:

  …[G]eneral revelation does not provide knowledge of the only true solution to man’s guilt before God: the forgiveness of sins that comes through Jesus Christ. This means that general revelation does not provide personal knowledge of God as a loving father who redeems his people and establishes covenants with them. For this, one needs special revelation, which God has provided in his historical supernatural activities, in the Bible, and definitively in Jesus Christ.

  The Bible is God’s God’s written revelation of who he is and what he has done in redemptive History. Humans need this divine, transcendent perspective in order to break out of their subjective, culturally bound, fallen limitations. Through God’s written Word, his people may overcome error, grow in sanctification, minister effectively to others, and live abundant lives as God intends.

• From The Starry Firmament on High by Robert Grant: 

  The starry firmament on high,
  And all the glories of the sky,
  Yet shine not to Thy praise, O Lord,
  So brightly as Thy written Word.

  The hopes that holy Word supplies,
  Its truths divine and precepts wise,
  In each a heavenly beam I see,
  And every beam conducts to Thee.

  Almighty Lord, the sun shall fail,
  The moon forget her nightly tale,
  And deepest silence hush on high,
  The radiant chorus of the sky.

  But, fixed, for everlasting years,
  Unmoved amid the wreck of spheres,
  Thy Word shall shine in cloudless day,
  When Heaven and earth have passed away.

Learn more:

1. Don Stewart: What Is Special Revelation?
2. GotQuestions.org: What is general revelation and special revelation?
3. Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry: What is general and special revelation?
4. Christianity 101 (Gospel Outreach Ministries Online):  Special Revelation
5. J. Hampton Keathley III: The Bible: The Written Word of God

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

Theological Term of the Week

general revelation
God’s self-disclosure to all humanity found in the external creation and internal human experience.

• From scripture:

  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20 ESV)

  For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them…. (Romans 2:14-15 ESV)
  

• From The Belgic Confession, 1561, Article 2:

  The Means by Which We Know God
  
  We know him by two means:
  
  First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20.
  
  All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse.

• From Concise Theology by J. I. Packer: 

  General Revelation:
  
  From the natural order it is evident that a mighty and majestic Creator is there. Paul says this in Romans 1:19-21, and in Acts 17:28 he calls a Greek poet as witness that humans are divinely created. Paul also affirms that the goodness of this Creator becomes evident from kindly providences (Acts 14:17; cf. Rom. 2:4), and that some at least of the demands of his holy law are known to every human conscience Rom. 2:14-15), along with the uncomfortable certainty of eventual retributive judgment (Rom. 1:32) These evident certainties constitute the content of general revelation.

• From ESV Study Bible, Biblical Doctrine: An Overview: The Bible and Revelation:

  General revelation shows the attributes of God—such as his existence, power, creativity, and wisdom; in addition, the testimony of human conscience also provides some evidence of God’s moral standards to all human beings (Romans 2:14-15). This means that from general revelation all people have some knowledge that God exists, some knowledge of his character, and some knowledge of his moral standards. This results in an awareness of guilt before God as people instinctively know that they have not lived up to his moral requirements. Thus in the many false religions that have been invented people attempt to assuage their sense of guilt.

  But general revelation does not provide knowledge of the only true solution to man’s guilt before God: the forgivenss of sins that comes through Jesus Christ. This means that general revelation does not provide personal knowledge of God as a loving father who redeems his people and establishes covenants with them.

Learn more:

1. Don Stewart: What Is General Revelation?
2. GotQuestions.org: Can a person be saved through general revelation?; How did people know about God before the Bible?
3. J. I. Packer:  Guilt: The Effect of General Revelation
4. Fred Zaspel: A Brief History of Divine Revelation
5. Massimo Lorenzini: Can people know about God and what he requires apart from the Bible?

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.