Please click on the link to view Thomas C. Oden, “Without Excuse: Classic Christian Exegesis of General Revelation,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41/1 (March 1998) 55–68.
From the introduction:
The purpose of this paper is to treat general revelation from a theological
perspective with special reference to the Church fathers and ancient Christian
exegetes. I hope this presentation might serve two modest purposes: to
provide some ancient Christian exegetical guidelines concerning the substantive
issues of general revelation, and to demonstrate a classic method of
inquiry into general revelation.
Oden conclusion:
We conclude that there is a substantive consensus of classic Christian
commentary on Rom 1:18ff. that confirms with Paul that all humanity is
offered some true, even if limited, knowledge of God by contemplating the
majesty and goodness of God in the whole of creation. But the ancient Christian
writers did not presume or imagine from this that such knowledge could
constitute a saving knowledge of God. Rather, it took away any excuse by
which natural humanity might plead a righteousness of its own in the presence
of God, whose righteousness is once for all incomparably revealed on
the cross.This consensus is clearly found in the earliest written Christian recollections
of the meaning of Paul’s letter. It was a maturing exegesis in the second
and third centuries and was maturely stated in the fourth century and
following. In time it became appropriated and recon˜rmed by Luther, Calvin,
Wesley, and North American evangelical revivalism as rightly and thoroughly
grounded in Scripture.
