# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S308
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

308

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts,
while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse
them” (Rom. 2:14-15).

The Limitations of Natural Knowledge
The natural knowledge of God does not and cannot include the knowledge of the Gospel. That
saving knowledge is revealed only in Christ and His Word.

Read Rom. 1:28–32 and Eph. 4:17-19. According to these verses, what do people, by nature,
know about God or His laws? Unitarians teach that “human nature is imperfect, but not
inherently bad . . . no man stands condemned.”11 How does such a belief contradict what is
taught in these verses?

Read Rom. 8:5-11. What is the natural human response toward God, His Law and the things of
the Spirit of God? Read 1 Cor. 12:3. Who enables us to confess the lordship of Jesus Christ?

There is other biblical evidence concerning natural law. In the Old Testament, nations are
condemned because they violated God’s natural law. Even though the God of Israel had not
revealed His commands to those nations, His law was written on the hearts of the rulers and their
subjects.

Fallen human beings have some knowledge of God, but sin corrupts that knowledge.

Read Amos 1:3-15 and Hab. 2:6-20. What had the unbelieving nations done to violate natural
law?

Fallen human beings develop false ideas about God and so create false religions to serve false
gods. Natural knowledge cannot show them the God who justifies and saves from sin. The
Formula of Concord states: “We believe, teach, and confess that the unregenerated human will is
not only turned away from God but has also become God’s enemy, that it has only the desire and
will to do evil and whatever is opposed to God.”16

Martin Luther said that the knowledge of natural law is a fact of human nature, written on the
hearts of all. He commented that the Ten Commandments summarize the content of natural law.

Read Gen. 8:21, Matt. 15:19, Rom. 3:10-18 and Rom. 8:7. What do these verses say about the
corrupting effects of sin?

Consider various world religions as well as contemporary worldviews and philosophies. What
distorted pictures of god have been invented by unregenerated human reason and human will,
that is, by human reason and human will that have not been born again in Baptism and
enlightened by the Holy Spirit? Read Jer. 10:5, Jer. 14:22, Hab. 2:18-20, and Zech. 10:1-2.
Sin-tainted human reason invents false gods. How are those gods described and compared to the
true God in these verses?

How do the following statements from other religions support the idea that natural law is
summarized in the Ten Commandments?
“I have not slain men … I have not stolen” (ancient Egyptian confession from The Book of the
Dead).12
“I have not been grasping” (ancient Egyptian confession)13
“Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded” (Hindu saying).14

Common Ground for Christian Witness

“Has he despised Father and Mother?” (Babylonian list of sins)15

An understanding of the natural knowledge of God and of the law written on the heart may be
helpful as we witness to unbelievers. Appeals to natural revelation and natural law may help us
establish common ground or a point of contact with non-Christians.

The Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) argued against natural law, saying that
morality is only “a sum of societary conventions that are adapted to serve human needs and urges
according to our experiences, which, however, may be superseded by different experiences at
some future time” (32).
How do we see Hume’s claim reflected in modern attitudes toward right and wrong?

Although Jesus and His apostles were not witnessing to atheists or agnostics, they established
common ground with those who listened. They met their fellow Jews “where they were,”
appealing to the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures and the belief in a promised Messiah. The
apostles often began their witness by referring to beliefs they held in common with their
audiences. The apostolic proclamation progressed from that which the audience did know to that
which it should know.
Read John 4:1-26. What common ground does Jesus establish with the Samaritan woman? Read
Luke 4:16-21 and Luke 10:25-28. How does Jesus make use of common ground with the Jews in
His teaching?

F. E. Mayer, The Religious Bodies of America (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1954), 507.
C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man (New York: HarperOne, 1974), 93.
13
Lewis, 85.
14
Lewis, 85.
15
Lewis, 90.
11
12

16

Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article 2, The Book of Concord, 492.2.

5

6

behavior in infants: “Babies possess certain moral foundations—the capacity and willingness to
judge the actions of others, some sense of justice, gut responses to altruism and nastiness.
Regardless of how smart we are, if we didn’t start with this basic apparatus, we would be nothing
more than amoral agents, ruthlessly driven to pursue our self-interest.”17

Read Acts 22:1-5. What common ground does Paul establish with the angry crowd in
Jerusalem? Read Acts 26:24-29. What common ground does Paul use in his witness to King
Agrippa?

Read the classroom situation described below. How do these students reveal their inborn
knowledge of God’s law?

In speaking with the people of Athens, Paul establishes a point of contact with them, noting that
they are “very religious” (Acts 17:22). The apostle’s proclamation of “the unknown god” (Acts
17:22–31), however, was not the beginning of his preaching in Athens. Paul’s preaching began
in the synagogue and in the marketplace as he proclaimed Christ and His bodily resurrection
(Acts 17:16-21).
Read Acts 17:16-21. What is the Athenians’ response after listening to Paul’s first proclamation
about Jesus and the resurrection?
Some of the Athenians requested that Paul speak to them again, prompting his later speech. As
Paul does in Athens, we can begin our witness by proclaiming the Gospel, although the good
news may sound strange to those who are listening. As they become curious, or as objections
arise, we might then use their curiosity and objections as points of contact with them.
Paul found a point of contact with his listeners in the many idols and altars of Athens, a sight that
provoked the apostle (Acts 17:16). Yet in addressing his idolatrous audience, he does not tell his
listeners that the Bible forbids graven images (Ex. 20:4) or that the Bible teaches that God is one
(Deut. 6:4). Instead of quoting biblical teachings that his audience does not know or accept as
having authority, Paul begins with what his hearers already know.
Read Acts 17:22-23 and 28. What common ground with his hearers does Paul highlight?
Paul’s hearers accept the fundamental importance of religion. Quoting their own poets to them,
Paul transitions from what his non-Christian hearers do know to what they should know. “Being
then God’s offspring,” he proclaims, “we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or
silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man” (Acts 17:29). Paul calls such
thoughts “ignorance” (Acts 17:30). He then calls on them to repent of their false worship and
draws their attention to the “man whom he [God] has appointed,” and through whom “he has
given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
Read Acts 17:32-34. How does Paul’s audience respond to his proclamation of judgment and of
Jesus’ resurrection?
All people know that God exists, even if they suppress that knowledge (Rom. 1:18). Many
opportunities for Christian witness may occur in conversation with those who, like the Athenians
of Paul’s day, readily profess belief in a god—a starting point for telling them about the true
God.

“When my students tell me that ethics are merely expressions of cultural norms and not beholden
to universal truths, I catch them off guard. I ask, ‘If I grade you down just because I do not like
you, has anything wrong happened?’ These students who were all relativists very quickly become
ethical absolutists: ‘Of course it is wrong to grade someone down just because you do not like
them.’ When I push with ‘Why?’ they explain, “It isn’t fair!”18
Even in talking with atheists or agnostics, we might establish common ground from which to
proclaim the Gospel by emphasizing concerns about the law. All people recognize the simple
categories of “right” and “wrong” (unless they suppress such knowledge), an understanding that
shows they possess the concept of moral laws. There is often a significant consensus—across
chronological, geographical and cultural divides—on what these laws are and what they require.
Common concerns about the law are helpful because a clear knowledge of that law is required
before someone can recognize the Gospel as “good news.”
Christian Witness in the Public Square
Man’s natural knowledge of the law helps to maintain the outward discipline and order that
preserve society. God works through human rulers and their laws to preserve earthly good and
restrain evil.19 Because the church’s proclamation of the Gospel takes place within society, the
preservation of a just and orderly society serves the Gospel.
Read Acts 25:1-12. How does Paul, as a Roman citizen, appeal to Roman law so that he might
continue his proclamation of the Gospel?
We can appeal to human reason and natural law when talking to people who may ignore or
dismiss the authority of the Bible. Since many non-Christians in the United States recognize the
existence of God, it is not surprising that “God talk” is often heard even in public discussions.
For example, American presidents may close a speech with the words, “God bless America.”
Such references to God are part of what is often described as America’s “civil religion.” Appeals
to Scripture, to Christian doctrines or to religion in general provide opportunities for Christian
witness.

Man’s inborn knowledge of the law, even when suppressed or distorted, also provides common
ground shared by Christians and non-Christians alike (Rom. 2:14-15). Such an inborn knowledge
is increasingly recognized even by non-Christians, as noted in this comment on a study of moral

17
Paul Bloom, “The Moral Life of Babies,” New York Times Magazine, May 5, 2010 at
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/magazine/09babies-t.html?_r=0.
18
Mark Mattes, “A Lutheran Case for Apologetics,” Logia 24:3 (Holy Trinity 2015): 28.
19
God’s rule through human laws and institutions is sometimes called His left hand kingdom, or the kingdom of
power. His right hand kingdom, or the kingdom of grace, is the Church, in which He rules His redeemed people with
His Word. As Christians, we are citizens of both kingdoms (1 Peter 2:13-14; Phil. 3:20).

7

8

2019 Convention Workbook