Why is God Silent?

James Montgomery Boice:

“Why is God silent? Why does the God of all the universe not speak? … God has already spoken everything that can probably be spoken graciously. Jesus is the ultimate, final word of God in that area. Not a syllable can be added. The only words that remain to be spoken are the final words of judgment.” (The Minor Prophets, v. 2, p. 598)

The Nativity of Mary

The Bible and false gospels:

The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary was written in Latin. It goes over much the same ground as Pseudo-Matthew, but has many features that show a later date and a different author. This false gospel focuses more on the miraculous and daily angelic visits to Mary. It was for long-held to be the work of Jerome and from this gospel was almost entirely formed the “Golden Legend” (This book depicts the lives of the saints in both factual and fictional stories; some are ridiculous, some thoughtful, and some outrageous. The Golden Legend was the most widely read book, after the Bible, during the late Middle Ages. It was written around 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine, who was the eventual archbishop of Genoa) which largely took the place of the Scriptures in the 13th century. It was among the first books printed in some countries. Its popularity should not blind us to the fact that it was a forgery, deliberately introduced into the service of the church in the 13th century, when the worship of Mary was especially promoted in the church.

The Bible teaches us:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24 ESV)

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:6 ESV)

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ESV)

The Trinity and Creation

How was the initial work of creation divided among the Trinity? According to these excerpts from Thomas Boston:

Isa. Chapter 45:12, “I have made the earth, and created man on it. My hands; stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.” Chapter 40:12-13, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as his counselor has taught him?” Job 9:8, “He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.”

These are magnificent descriptions of the creating power of God, and exceed everything of the kind that has been attempted by the pens of the greatest sages of antiquity. By this operation God is distinguished from all the false gods and fictitious deities which the blinded nations adored, and shows himself to be the true God. Jer. 10:11 “Thus you shall say to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.’” Psalm 96:5, ” All the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.” Isa 37:16, “You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” None could make the world but God, because creation is a work of infinite power, and could not be produced by any finite cause: For the distance between being and not being is truly infinite, which could not be removed by any finite agent, or the activity of all finite agents united.

This work of creation is common to all the three persons in the adorable Trinity. The Father is described in Scripture as the Creator, 1 Cor. 7:6, “The Father, of whom are all things.” The same claim belongs to the Son, John 1:3, “All things were made by him,” [that is to say] the Word, the Son; John 1:3 “All things were made through Him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” The same honor belongs to the Holy Spirit, as Job 26:13, “By His Spirit He adorned the heavens.” Job 33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me,” says Elihu, “and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” All the three persons are one God; God is the Creator; and therefore all the external works and acts of the one God must be common to the three persons. Hence, when the work of creation is ascribed to the Father, neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit are excluded; but because as the Father is the fountain of the Deity, so he is the fountain of divine works. The Father created from himself by the Son and the Spirit; the Son from the Father by the Spirit; and the Spirit from the Father and the Son; the manner or order of their working being according to the order of their subsisting. The matter may be considered in this way: All the three persons being one God, possessed of the same infinite perfections; the Father, the first in subsistence, willed the work of creation to be done by his authority: “He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” In respect of immediate operation, it peculiarly belonged to the Son. For, “the Father created all things by Jesus Christ,” Eph. 3:9. And we are told, that “all things were made through him,” John 1:3. This work in regard of settlement and ornament, particularly belongs to the Holy Ghost. So it is said, Gen 1:2, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” to embellish and adorn the world, after the matter of it was formed. This is why it is also said, Job 26:13 “By His Spirit He adorned the heavens.” (“God Alone Created the World”)