A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
By Steve West
About the Author
John Frame is a Christian scholar who has written numerous important books in the areas of theology, philosophy, apologetics, and ethics.
Introduction
This book presents a brief examination of the role nature plays in revealing God, with a focus on the apologetic value of this revelation. Frame argues that nature and conscience clearly testify to the existence and character of God. Human beings suppress this witness in their sinful natures, but in Christ there is redemption and the conscience can be cleansed.
Table of Contents
Part One: The Witness of the Created World
- The Greatness
- The Oneness
- The Wisdom
- The Goodness
- The Presence
Part Two: The Witness of Human Nature
- The Seared Conscience
- The Accusing Conscience
- The Awakened Conscience
- The Good Conscience
Epilogue
Appendix on Natural Law: Four Letters
Brief Book Summary
Chapter 1: The Greatness
The sheer incredible size of God’s creation is a testimony to his greatness. Pascal rightly saw that we are vanishingly small in comparison to the universe, but also enormous in comparison to the microscopic world. He was able to see this as a testimony to the greatness of our Creator. Pascal could see the wonder of our inner being—how we were made up of wonderfully small, intricate, and complex parts that all worked together. We are the products of material, genetic, natural, and social factors. Everything we are and do is dependent on countless realities around us. The wonder that we exist, that we survive, and that we can accomplish anything at all is partly responsible for making human beings religious creatures. We ought to worship God and be thankful. People tend to try to take credit for everything they do, and to reduce the greatness of God down to their level.
Chapter 2: The Oneness
When Paul confronted the Athenians in Acts 17, he insisted on the oneness of God. He pointed out that they worshiped many gods—some of whom they didn’t even know—but that there was really only one divine being. Paul proclaimed that this God was not merely the god of one thing (like wealth or shepherds): he was the God of everything. It’s not only the greatness of God, it’s his oneness that is essential. Because there is only one God, everything comes from him, and he does not need us to provide for his wants. He coordinates nature and everyone’s story. Nature reveals God’s many-in-oneness (i.e. even if it doesn’t reveal the Trinity per se, it does reveal unity and diversity). In idolatry, we deny the oneness of God, and that is part of the suppression of truth that Paul describes in Romans 1.
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