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Albert Einstein wrote that if you “try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature . . . you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Rom 1:20).

Both references are to what theology calls general revelation. While Einstein recognized only the “force” behind nature, Paul correctly identified it [him] as God. Biblical theology teaches that with the coming of Christ, general revelation has been supplemented by special revelation. Through creation God revealed his existence; through Christ he revealed his love. The incarnation is God invading his own creation and through Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Nature reveals the “eternal power” and “divine nature” of God; the incarnation is a demonstration of his love. He revealed himself as redemptive love by sending his Son as the necessary sacrifice for sin. A correct translation of the Greek houtos in John 3:16 makes the verse read, “For this is how God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son . . . ” Now that is special!