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"This could help explain all the different religions in the world. God has made Man in such a way that Man has an innate sense that God exists. But due to our sin nature our picture of God becomes perverted and in our attempt to worship this twisted view of God we get all sorts of false religions from animism to voodooism and everything in between."

Yup! Basic Calvinism 101

Reading on in Book I of the Institutes you will find:

CHAPTER 3.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD NATURALLY IMPLANTED IN THE HUMAN MIND.
Sections.

1. The knowledge of God being manifested to all makes the reprobate without excuse. Universal belief and acknowledgement of the existence of God.

2. Objection--that religion and the belief of a Deity are the inventions of crafty politicians. Refutation of the objection. This universal belief confirmed by the examples of wicked men and Atheists.

3. Confirmed also by the vain endeavours of the wicked to banish all fear of God from their minds. Conclusion, that the knowledge of God is naturally implanted in the human mind.

CHAPTER 4.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD STIFLED OR CORRUPTED, IGNORANTLY OR MALICIOUSLY.
Sections.

1. The knowledge of God suppressed by ignorance, many falling away into superstition. Such persons, however, inexcusable, because their error is accompanied with pride and stubbornness.

2. Stubbornness the companion of impiety.

3. No pretext can justify superstition. This proved, first, from reason; and, secondly, from Scripture.

4. The wicked never willingly come into the presence of God. Hence their hypocrisy. Hence, too, their sense of Deity leads to no good result.

CHAPTER 6.
THE NEED OF SCRIPTURE, AS A GUIDE AND TEACHER, IN COMING TO GOD AS A CREATOR.
Sections.

1. God gives his elect a better help to the knowledge of himself--viz. the Holy Scriptures. This he did from the very first.

2. First, By oracles and visions, and the ministry of the Patriarchs. Secondly, By the promulgation of the Law, and the preaching of the Prophets. Why the doctrines of religion are committed to writing.

3. This view confirmed, 1. By the depravity of our nature making it necessary in every one who would know God to have recourse to the word; 2. From those passages of the Psalms in which God is introduced as reigning.

4. Another confirmation from certain direct statements in the Psalms. Lastly, From the words of our Saviour.

If your getting your Institutes on-line, I recommend actually buying the books. It's much easier to cross reference and index when you have the actual book in front of you.

Jean

If your getting your Institutes on-line, I recommend actually buying the books. It's much easier to cross reference and index when you have the actual book in front of you.

Unfortunately online is all I can do right now. Besides, it is much easier to cut-and-paste the chapters over here instead of having to type them in. ;^)

Ok, so far in chapter 1 we have:

1) Man can only know God by knowing himself;
2) Man can only know himself by knowing God;
3) Sin hinders Man from truly knowing God, and thus from truly knowing himself.

Does all that sound fair?

Now, the question is, does our sin nature COMPLETELY stop us from coming to know God, or does it merely HINDER us?