We know that God speaks through his “two books,” Scripture and Nature. One of my students asked how we should interpret God speaking to us in creation. He felt that verses such as Ps 19:1-2 and Rom 1:19-20 only convey the idea that God speaks to us intellectually, and this would preclude any emotional connection to God. I wanted to ask you if you felt that was true. Aren’t feelings an essential part of who we are, and thus valid responses to the wonder of Creation? The heavens declaring the glory of God would seem to include emotions such as wonder, awe, appreciation, and fascination. – G.G.
Whether people feel emotional connections by reading the second book (science etc.) varies with the individual. Our emotions on viewing sunsets or volcanic eruptions or meteor showers can be overwhelmingly strong! Yet the intensity of our emotions falls on a spectrum, from mere awareness to being mildly impressed to be totally wowed.
The feeling of awe or wonder comes indirectly from God, who whose creation inspires such wonder. But the sensations themselves are not the direct action of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this was the nation your student was pushing back against.
Maybe your student is confusing God’s general revelation with our feelings in response to them. I don’t believe we need to be excessively leery of the emotional. So many elements in the creation deserve a strong emotional response. On the other hand, we require more than “general revelation” to get the heart of God. “Special revelation” (in Scripture, for example) is needed if we are to understand what God has done for us in Christ.
