As we prepare for the conference, I have been asking myself, “why attend a conference.” Conferences can be informative and enjoyable. The topic might be one of personal or professional interest. You might have read something by one of the speakers and want to see them present material in person. There are some excellent reasons. I am going to add to them a list of things you will take away from this conference. These are what we are offering you as outcomes for attending this conference. We will have a weekly blog post describing these outcomes.

For this week, the first outcome is a skill. It is the ability to use reason to show what is eternal. General revelation starts with this question: what has existed from eternity? It is what we are naturally looking for when we ask, “where did that come from?” Our mind continues to go back in a search for what had no beginning. Christianity teaches that only God is eternal. And it teaches that this is knowable from general revelation. Not only can we know it, but we also have a responsibility to know it.

The truth expressed in Genesis 1:1 is the foundation for the clear general revelation of God’s eternal power. God existed from eternity, and all else had a beginning. God alone is eternal and is the creator. The creation had a beginning. The creation, as the work of God, reveals the nature of God. Scripture, as redemptive revelation, assumes both that there is a clear general revelation of God and also that we have rejected this revelation and need redemption.

But how can we know this is true? It is one thing to believe it but quite another to show that it is indeed true. In fact, there are many competing views about what has existed from eternity. I was once told: “Everyone believes in God because everyone believes something is eternal.” But of course, that is just to say “God” means “what is eternal.” When we say “God,” we mean the creator and redeemer. How can we know that this view of what is eternal is correct in contrast to the other options?

That is what you will learn how to do at our conference. 1) identify the competing beliefs about what is eternal, 2) use reason to develop a sound argument about what is eternal. In our next blog posts, we will get into the steps of how to do this. The first is: how can we know that anything is eternal at all? Could it be that nothing has existed from eternity? What can you do to prepare for the conference? Leave your questions about this post in the comments. Refer friends that you believe would be interested in the conference to sign up to receive our weekly email.

We look forward to hearing your questions.