The term “sensus divinitatis” refers to the innate sense of the divine that all humans possess according to theologian John Calvin. It is the idea that all people have an inborn awareness or instinctive knowledge of God’s existence. The sensus divinitatis is part of Calvin’s theological framework and explanation for how and why people are able to come to knowledge of God.
Calvin taught that the sensus divinitatis is a natural gift from God, part of the general revelation of God to humankind. Calvin wrote in his seminal work Institutes of the Christian Religion:
“There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity.” (Institutes 1.3.1)
This awareness of the divine is innate and universal, according to Calvin. Every human being has a sense of the reality of God, an innate inclination toward God. Calvin argued this sense of the divine is natural and instinctive to all people, regardless of background, culture, education, or religion. It’s an inherent human capacity.
The concept relates closely to the idea of general revelation in Christian theology – ways that God naturally reveals himself to all humanity. General revelation stands in contrast to special revelation in Scripture. The sensus divinitatis is part of general revelation alongside natural theology and evidence for God in creation. It’s a concept very much influenced by Calvin’s emphasis on the sinfulness of humankind – he believed all people have an innate awareness of the divine that they actively suppress or distort because of sin.
Calvin taught that even though all people posses this natural sensus divinitatis, many reject or fail to honor God. He wrote:
“Men of sound judgment will always be sure that a sense of divinity which can never be effaced is engraved upon men’s minds.” (Institutes 1.3.3)
Though all people have this innate sense of God, they disregard it or exchange the truth of God for idols because of the perverting impact of sin and evil on human hearts and minds.
An important related concept for Calvin regarding the sensus divinitatus is the semen religionis – the “seed of religion.” Calvin taught that all human beings are born with a seed of true religion implanted in them by virtue of the sensus divinitatis. It’s an inborn inclination toward right worship of God. This seed may be suppressed or directed toward idols, but it remains. The seed of religion sprouts because of the work of the Holy Spirit bringing about new birth and regeneration.
For Calvin, the sensus divinitatis and semen religionis explain why human beings have a natural inclination toward religious belief, why religion is a human universal. The innate sense of the divine impressed by God upon the hearts of people at creation causes them to look for and express religious belief. Unfortunately, because of human depravity and bondage of the will in sin, this religious zeal is often misdirected.
Calvin presented the sensus divinitatis in opposition to atheistic claims that knowledge of God or religion is manufactured by human beings or comes through reason alone. Calvin affirmed reason’s role but emphasized Scripture’s teaching that people are created with an innate, intuitive sense of the reality of God that goes beyond reason. The sensus divinitatis grounds Calvin’s arguments against atheism.
The concept became very influential in Calvinist and Reformed theology and apologetics. It remains important in presuppositional apologetics defending biblical truth claims against nonbelief. Modern thinkers in this vein argue that denial of God as Creator contradicts what God’s general revelation teaches humanity inwardly about his existence and nature.
The sensus divinitatis continues to be an important construct in Reformed epistemology. Philosophers like Alvin Plantinga have developed the concept in terms of “properly basic beliefs” – certain beliefs humans are inherently warranted to hold unless given a defeater or counter-evidence. On this view, belief in God is a properly basic, innate rational intuition humans are entitled to hold. Michael Sudduth calls the sensus divinitatis “a natural faculty or cognitive mechanism through which belief in God arises in human beings.”
Critics of the sensus divinitatis concept argue it leads to or permits an unwarranted leap of faith about God’s existence. They contend that humans do not have an innate sense of the divine but rather come to ideas about God or gods through culture and experience. Critics claim the sensus divinitatis relies circularly on Scripture to defend belief in a God said to have inspired Scripture. They argue belief arises from inference rather than any instinct or innate awareness granted by a divine Creator.
In summary, the sensus divinitatis is the concept originated by John Calvin teaching that human beings have an innate sense or awareness of God’s existence as part of the way God designed mankind. This inner awareness of the divine is universal, according to Calvin, though distorted and disregarded by many. The concept continues to be important in Reformed theology, providing an explanation for general revelation and widespread religious belief.
Biblical Basis
Though the term itself does not appear in Scripture, Calvin based the idea of the sensus divinitatis firmly on the Bible’s teachings. Key biblical passages that ground the concept include:
Romans 1:19-23 – This text says God’s “invisible attributes” and “eternal power and divine nature” have been clearly seen by all people through creation, leaving them without excuse (v. 20). Yet people “became futile in their thinking” and “exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (v. 21, 23). Calvin saw this as clear evidence all people have instinctive knowledge of God that they actively suppress.
Romans 2:14-15 – Here Paul speaks of Gentiles who do not have God’s revealed law, yet have the law written on their hearts and even obey it at times, thereby becoming a law for themselves. Calvin saw this as pointing to the innate moral sense all people share.
Acts 17:22-27 – In his sermon to the Athenians at the Areopagus, Paul identifies the altar “To the unknown god” as evidence of their religious longings. Paul says, “what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (v. 23). Calvin saw Paul identifying genuine but misdirected worship.
Psalm 19:1 – “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Calvin pointed to this and similar passages as evidence of general revelation of God in creation that speaks to all people.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Calvin understood this as reference to an innate sense of the eternal in human hearts.
In addition to specific verses, the biblical doctrine of mankind being created in God’s image provided important background for Calvin’s idea. Bearing God’s image implies imprinting attributes that reflect the Creator, such as rationality, morality, spirituality, and a capacity for knowing God.
Calvin wove these biblical strands together into a coherent theological concept – the notion that all people bear God’s imprint and have a native awareness of the divine that persistently makes itself felt even in distorted ways. The sensus divinitatis is detectable in biblical revelation about general revelation, common grace, and human nature.
Sensus Divinitatis in Theology
The sensus divinitatis features in theological discussion of several important topics:
General Revelation
As mentioned, the sensus divinitatis is a key component of general revelation in Calvin’s theology. General revelation refers to the ways God makes himself known indirectly to all people at all times and places. This stands in contrast to special revelation – God revealing himself directly through miraculous events, the incarnation, and ultimately Scripture.
Calvin saw the sensus divinitatis as part of the variegated way God speaks to all humanity through general revelation. Other vehicles of general revelation include observation of the natural world and moral conscience. But the inner sense of the divine is revelation within human nature itself, built into mankind’s very constitution.
Many theologians link general revelation to natural theology – what can be known about God through reason and ordinary experience. The sensus divinitatis grounds knowledge of God more firmly in human nature than reason alone. Critics argue it results in belief formed in a more subjective, existential way.
Apologetics
Closely related is the role of the sensus divinitatis idea in Reformed presuppositional apologetics. Apologetics refers to defending and commending Christian faith. Reformed apologetics prefixes its defense on Scripture (presupposing biblical authority), arguing that nonbelief contradicts what God’s general revelation shows people inwardly about his existence.
The sensus divinitatis functions as a key exhibit in presuppositional apologetics. It explains the ubiquity of religious belief as arising from an innate spiritual sense all people possess. Presuppositionalists argue unbelievers suffer from inconsistency between their professed unbelief and instrinsic human awareness of God’s reality.
In contrast, evidential apologetics seeks to establish God’s existence through rational arguments and evidence. Classical apologetics begins by arguing for the possibility of the supernatural against worldviews presuming only the natural.
Knowledge of God
The sensus divinitatis relates importantly to how believers and unbelievers know and recognize God. According to Reformed theology, unbelievers possess a latent awareness of God stemming from the sensus divinitatis that gets suppressed or misdirected.
When the Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner, the innate sense of the divine is awakened and properly oriented to respond to the gospel in faith. The sensus divinitatis gets taken off mute and fine-tuned to resonate with special revelation and the mind of Christ.
In this way the sensus divinitatis functions differently in believers vs. unbelievers. All people possess it innately, but for Christians it becomes conscious and tuned to godly truth, while nonbelievers disregard or distort it. The concept provides explanation for how a believing heart can grasp, recognize, and know God.
Total Depravity
Another related theological issue is the doctrine of total depravity – that sin has impacted and corrupted every part of human nature. This raises the question – how can such totally depraved beings have any untainted insight or knowledge of God through the sensus divinitatis?
In response, Calvin affirmed that every dimension of human nature – including rationality, conscience, and the sensus divinitatis – is tainted and twisted to some degree by the fall and sin. The innate sense of the divine persists in all people, but is resisted and dishonored because of the corrupting influence of evil on the minds and hearts of sinners.
So the doctrine of total depravity relates closely to the sensus divinitatis. The persistence of the sensus divinitatis in all people testifies to the imprint of God’s image that remains despite human fallenness. But its disregard and misuse stem from the pervasive effects of depravity.
Faith and Reason
Finally, the sensus divinitatis connects to longstanding discussion about the relationship between faith and reason. Some oppose faith and reason as separate and competing ways of knowing. Calvin and his modern theological heirs see reason and the sensus divinitatis working in harmony rather than conflict in coming to knowledge of God.
The sensus divinitatis functions as a bridge concept that links faith indissolubly with reason. It grounds reasonable belief in God’s existence internally in mankind’s intuitive awareness of the divine through general revelation. This natual intuition Russell calls “a fundamental epistemic faculty” uniting reason and faith.
Historical Development
Understanding historical development sheds light on the sensus divinitatis concept:
Precursors
The idea of an innate divine sense did not originate with Calvin. Earlier thinkers explored similar concepts:
- Augustine spoke of humans bearing the imago dei and having a natural capacity for knowing God.
- Aquinas taught humans gain limited but true knowledge of God through observing the natural world.
- Anselm argued faith seeks understanding – that believing leads to rational appreciation.
These laid conceptual foundations for Calvin’s innate sense of the divine as linking faith and knowledge of God.
Calvin’s Development
John Calvin most fully developed the sensus divinitatis in his systematic theology. He first introduced the term in his 1536 Institutes. Calvin argued extensively for innate human awareness of God in Institutes Book 1 drawing on Scripture, experience, and philosophy.
Calvin contended this inner divine sense persists in all people, though it gets suppressed or distorted. It provides an inner point of contact for the revelation of God in creation to be perceived and understood by humans made in God’s image.
Calvin also closely associated the sensus divinitatis with the semen religionis. Together they indicate all people have native religious tendencies that get expressed even in perverted forms.
Reformed Orthodoxy
Reformed scholastics after Calvin, like Turretin and Voetius, refined but retained the sensus divinitatis concept. They elaborated natural theology but kept the sensus divinitatis as an innate disposition enabling knowledge of God, not the knowledge itself. This distinction preserved the priority of Scripture in theology while explaining general revelation.
Modern Applications
In the modern era, Reformed thinkers continue to develop Calvin’s original idea:
- Kuyper emphasized the innate sense of God as a gift of God’s common grace.
- Bavinck highlighted the close relation between sensus divinitatis and conscience.
- Berkouwer stressed how sin twists the divine sense each person possesses.
- Plantinga framed it as properly basic beliefs about God people are rational to hold.
The sensus divinitatis remains an important construct in modern Reformed theology and philosophy.
Key Takeaways
In summary, a few key points about the sensus divinitatis emerge:
- It refers to an innate human awareness of God’s existence posited by Calvin.
- Calvin based it on Scripture’s teaching about general revelation and human nature.
- It is a universal capacity all people possess by virtue of bearing God’s image.
- Though universal, it gets suppressed or misdirected because of human sin.
- It continues to feature prominently in Reformed theology and philosophy.
- The concept links God’s general revelation to mankind’s reasoning faculties.
- It provides an internalist account of knowledge of God arising from within human nature.
The sensus divinitatis remains an important construct in theology for understanding general revelation, the persistence of religious beliefs across cultures, and how human beings are capable of knowing God.
