Atheists in the world
We see, when God opens our eyes, that we were before without God, or rather Atheists in the world (Ephesians 2:12). We had by nature no knowledge of God, no acquaintance with him. It is true, as soon as we came to the use of reason, we learned the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things that are made (Romans 1:20). From things that are seen, we inferred the existence of an eternal, powerful Being who is not seen. But still, although we acknowledged his being, we had no acquaintance with him. As we know there is an Emperor of China, whom yet we do not know, so we knew there was a King of all the earth, yet we know him not. Indeed we could not, by any of our natural faculties. By none of these could we attain the knowledge of God. We could no more perceive him by our natural understanding than we could see him with our eyes. For no one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal him. And no one knows the Son but the Father, and he to whom the Father reveals him (Matthew 11:27).
1771 text
3. We see, when God opens our eyes, that we were before ἄθεοι ἐν κόσμῳ· without God, or rather Atheists in the world. We had by nature no knowledge of God, no acquaintance with him. It is true, as soon as we came to the use of reason, we learned the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things that are made. From things that are seen, we infered the existence of an eternal, powerful Being, that is not seen. But still, although we acknowledged his being, we had no acquaintance with him. As we know there is an Emperor of China, whom yet we do not know; so we knew, there was a King of all the earth; yet we know him not. Indeed we could not; by any of our natural faculties. By none of these could we attain the knowledge of God. We could no more perceive him by our natural understanding, than we could see him with our eyes. For no one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal him. And no one knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to whom the Father revealeth him.