16
Henrys doctrine of creation is not, further, deficient on the grounds that it does
not appropriate natural theology. On the contrary, Henry distinguishes between general
revelation and natural theology. Henry gladly affirms the fact that God speaks in and
through creation, but he rightly reminds us that general revelation remains precisely that
revelation. And yet for this very reason, Christians have a genuine and meaningful
point of contact with the nonbelieving world simply because we all benefit, whether
witting or unwitting, from Gods rational self-disclosure whether in creation, or most
preeminently in his written word. If anything, this principle explains simply Henrys
longstanding gripe with the epistemology of Karl Barth. When Barth argued that the
imago dei was obliterated in the Fall, Henry repeatedly retorted that Barth summarily
closed down the conduit through which God speaks to human beings, whether regenerate
or not. Recent attempts to rehabilitate Barths legacy on this point in particular and on
revelation in general have not yet explained satisfactorily at least in this authors
estimation to anyone still appreciative of Henrys withering critique of neo-orthodoxy
how Barths acceptance of Kants radical phenomenal-noumenal distinction can produce
a worldview which simultaneously engages and yet challenges the prevailing secular
culture.
23
In sum, as British evangelical theologian Peter Hicks concurs, "Henrys central
thesis is that God reveals and speaks. There is no reason why we should limit God to one
form of revelation (through either a person or a book, through either encounter or
concept). God reveals and speaks in a number of ways, in his creation, in general
23
For example, see Bruce McCormacks recent paper, "Is Barth Really the Bad Guy
After All? Barths Doctrine of Scripture Reconsidered," Paper Presented Before the
Wheaton Theology Conference, March, 2001. To a lesser extent, a similar approach is
undertaken by Stanley Hauerwas in With the Grain of the Universe (Grand Rapids:
Brazos Press, 2001).