God has given us information of who He is through two different sources: special revelation and general revelation. Special revelation is a specific and direct message to us. The most obvious example of special revelation is the Bible. General revelation, just like its name implies, is more general. This is the entirety of creation. By looking at creation we get to understand the Creator.
When the inspired biblical authors use nature to illustrate the spiritual life the purpose is two-fold. First, there is the surface analogy – like the imagery of Christ as a slaughtered lamb. Second, there is truth about God to be found in the created object being referenced. We can learn something about God by studying the lamb itself – its biology, behavior, and interaction with the rest of the created order. All of this tells us something about God, whether it is the precision of His creation, the complexity of His creation, the order of His creation, etc.
Since both general revelation and special revelation have the same Author they will never contradict each other. We learn more specific details about who God is through the Bible, but nothing we ever discover about the world will contradict it or vice-versa. Through both the analogies of nature and nature itself we learn about God.
My name is Richard Smolenski and I am a theologian in training. I have an M.A. in Christian Apologetics from