(May 9, 2017 at 10:34 am)Whateverist Wrote: My own bent is to seek experience which directly confirms what there may be beyond our human filters and rationality. I would recoil from looking to a text to harmonize my interpretation with the broader xtian community. Why aren't there more shamanic Christians, I wonder?
That is precisely why Christians study scriptures. The sensus divinitatis has two aspects. First, the Holy Spirit convicts by revealing to each person the fallen state of the world and him or her personally. Things are not as they should be. We are not as we should be. Something is missing. That is the meaning of Romans 1:18 where Paul writes about “…those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” The natural apprehension of the divine is downplayed or dismissed outright, not just because it offends our sense of moral autonomy, but also because our reasoning about it is corrupted and our intuition of it is dulled.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit (sensus divinitatus) offers a way to correct those deficiencies by reorienting each of us towards the truth, the truth beyond our human filters and natural reasoning. This is the meaning of Romans 12:2 where Paul writes “..do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”. General revelation is available to all but special revelation compensates for our limitations and supplements our understanding.
(May 9, 2017 at 10:34 am)Whateverist Wrote: I do think you put your finger directly on the real use to which the bible and apologetics are put by nearly all Christians. It has much more to do with maintaining in themselves the state they desire than in spreading it
And why not? If the sensus divinitatus does in fact point to God, then it is only right and proper for people to attune themselves to and become more sensitive to it. If there is a God that loves us without measure then it only makes sense seeking to grow in our love for Him.
