Belief in God is “living in the truth of Jesus Christ” (Barth 25). It is not a mere point-by-point assertion of belief one must be intellectually convinced of. It is an invitation into a particular kind of life in light of who Jesus is. While "the heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1 NRSV), science cannot prove or disprove God's existence. Science studies nature and the supernatural is beyond its purview. To understand God's speech in creation, we need the testimony of Scripture. "So Scripture, gathering up the otherwise confused knowledge of God in our minds, having dispersed our dullness, clearly shows us the true God" (Calvin 70). Yet, "only the Spirit of God can make a person inwardly certain of the truth of divine revelation" (Bavinck 131). When the Holy Spirit confirms the testimony of Scripture and when Scripture clarifies what humanity sees naturally, we are confronted with the work of Jesus Christ. "God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant forever. The Son is his Father's definitive Word" (Catechism 24). As witnesses to those around us, we faithfully proclaim Christ as found in Scripture, but it is the Holy Spirit's work to reveal Christ tothose who need Him.

Bibliography

Barth, Karl. Dogmatics in Outline. New York: Harper & Row, 1959.

Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004.

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. MacNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1961.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Liguori, M: Liguori Publications, 1994.