[ksen]

...but an awareness of a Diety...

Well, the quote you pulled does say "with some idea of his Godhead."

Man has a need to worship God. That need comes from our sense that God does exist. Our sin nature hides God's true Nature from us. We worship the image of God that makes it through the veil of our sin.

Our sin may cause us to worship God incorrectly, making Him into a whole different god, but our sin does not block our need to know God and worship Him.

How can we be said to be at war with the one we have a need to know and worship?

[RnMomof7]

Man has a need to worship God. That need comes from our sense that God does exist. Our sin nature hides God's true Nature from us

How does this fit?

    Rom 1:21   Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

     Rom 1:22   Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

     Rom 1:23   And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things

  Rom 1:24   Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

     Rom 1:25   Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. .

It seems that God darkened our understanding???

[anniegetyourgun]

I think you're both doing great! We are made in His image and therefore long for the Creator. Problem is, sin/rebellion causes us to re-make Him into our image...whether that be a trinket or, a "God who would never cast anyone into hell"...or even a "God who made me a homosexual".....and so on....

[Penny1]

Hey ksen, fun to find you here!

I've just been reading through some of the discussion and enjoying it, glad you started this thread/study.

...and adding my 2 cents.... ;)

Just because man has some inherent knowledge of God and need for God, that does not mean that man will worship Him as the one true God, as the almighty Creator. Romans 1 gives us the picture of that dichotomy. Man knows God, so he is without excuse, yet he suppresses that truth--he suppresses that knowledge of God, in order to avoid worshipping and glorifying Him as God. But...the need for God is still there, so man then substitutes anything and everything he can to try to fulfill that need for God. This results in worshiping of the creature rather than the creator, or in the case of many of the religions in the world, the worshiping of a god that simply doesn't exist.

I think that in many ways, in these first chapters, Calvin is laying the groundwork for the point that man knows God, that God has revealed Himself to man, so that man is without excuse. The punchline of what man does with this knowledge and need, in terms of salvation, is still to come.

[fortheDeclaration]

Even the wicked themselves, therefore, are an example of the fact that some idea of God always exists in every human mind.

Oh, no this cannot be!

Calvin will just ignore what he wrote when he gets to Book 3, Chapter 21 (Election)