The second reason Charnock gives for the folly of atheism (again, the first reason being swimming against the tide of the universal testimony of mankind) is that it is foolish to deny God's revelation of himself in creation, what is termed general revelation. To support this he cites Romans 1:19, 20: "[S]ince what may be known about God is plain to [wicked men who suppress the truth], because God has made it plain to them. For 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, so that men are without excuse." Paul could not be more explicit.
Charnock employs an analogy of a mirror--just as in a mirror we see a true (if not complete) depiction of the image of a person or object, so creation reflects the glorious image of its Creator. The heavens are especially eloquent on this point (see Psalm 19, for example). "Where Scripture was not revealed, the world served for a witness of a God."
He then elaborates this concept by looking at four aspects of how creation testifies to the reality of God: the very existence of creation, its harmony, its preservation, and its several purposes. We will look at these in more detail.
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