Never Without a Witness: Bavinck on God’s Self-Revelation

Scripture does not reason in the abstract. It does not make God the conclusion of a syllogism, leaving it to us to ask whether we think the argument compelling or not. Instead, it speaks with authority. Theologically and religiously, it proceeds from God as its starting point. It exhibits God’s perfections in his works and demands that we shall recognize him. “The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isa. 1:3). It never for a minute doubts that God reveals himself in his creatures and never leaves anyone without a witness (Acts 14:17; Rom. 1:19).
…It is God himself who does not leave himself without a witness to anyone. And it is humans themselves who, having been created in God’s image, are compelled to listen to this witness and assent to it despite themselves.
- Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation, 76.