Category Archives: Reviews

Cornelius Van Til: A Review Article (William D. Dennison)

General, Reviews, William D. Dennison

“Cornelius Van Til: A Review Article” by William D. Dennison

John R. Muether’s, Cornelius Van Til: Reformed Apologist and Churchman is a triumph as an ecclesiastical biography! Muether’s well-written and easy to read volume is not for the casual reader of biographies; rather, his achievement comes with a challenge as each page demands reflection and candid engagement. Our OP historian masterfully coordinates the narrative to entice the reader into being an engaging spectator of Van Til’s life journey. If you have a passion for the Reformed faith, then you will share in the concerns, anxieties, disappointments, frustrations, delights, joys, and triumphs of this churchman, apologist, seminary professor, husband, father, grandfather, confident uncle, and respectful sibling. You will be gripped by a penetrating look into difficult decisions: farmer or academician, Christian Reformed or Orthodox Presbyterian, Calvin Theological Seminary or Westminster Theological Seminary (a few occasions), the nature of his respect and critique for fellow Reformed comrades (e.g., Hodge, Warfield, Kuyper, Bavinck, Jellema, Daane, the DeBoers, Masselink, Clark, Carnell, Dooyeweerd, Schaeffer, Gerstner, and Clowney), evangelicals (e.g., Buswell, Henry, Graham, and Lewis), and the modernists (e.g., Barth, Marty, etc.). While using primary and secondary sources effectively, Muether’s exhaustive labors into letters of correspondence and personal interviews pull the reader into the inner dynamics of his subject. …

Presuppositionalism in the Dock (James N. Anderson)

Apologetics, Articles, Epistemology, James N. Anderson, Philosophy, Reviews, Theology

“Presuppositionalism in the Dock: A Review Article” by James N. Anderson

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and debates over Cornelius Van Til. For many, the Dutch professor is a hero of the Protestant tradition—a brilliant reformer in the mold of John Calvin who sought to further the work of the Reformation in the areas of Christian philosophy and apologetics. For others, he is more of a villain—an innovator beguiled by unbiblical idealist philosophy who led a large faction of the Reformed church in a dubious if not dangerous direction. And then there are those who fall somewhere between the two wings, acknowledging that Van Til was on the side of the angels, and that he made some positive contributions to Christian thought, but nevertheless finding significant faults in his more distinctive and provocative claims about natural theology, philosophy, and apologetic methodology. …

The Works of Cornelius Van Til (James N. Anderson)

General, James N. Anderson, Reviews

“The Works of Cornelius Van Til” by James N. Anderson

According to one leading Reformed theologian, Cornelius Van Til is “the most important Christian thinker of the twentieth century.” If that’s an overstatement, it’s a forgivable one. Van Til’s thought was profound, innovative, and provocative. He wrote voluminously, and his most prominent publications have been variously engaged, praised, and condemned by Christian scholars from practically every point on the theological spectrum. His ‘presuppositionalist’ Christian philosophy with its sharp distinction between analogical thought (“man thinking God’s thoughts after Him”) and autonomous thought (“man is the measure of all things”) has wide-ranging implications for many other disciplines: apologetics, education, systematic theology, biblical hermeneutics, scientific inquiry, counselling — indeed, for any area of human study and endeavour one cares to mention. …

The Fountainhead of Presuppositionalism (J. Oliver Buswell)

Apologetics, Articles, J. Oliver Buswell, Reviews

“The Fountainhead of Presuppositionalism” by J. Oliver Buswell

The origin of the name “Presuppositionalism” was given in a review under that title in The Bible Today for May 1948, page 235. A friendly letter from Professor Carnell, whose recent book was there reviewed, indicates that he at least does not resent the term. He suggests “Inductivism” as a counter designation, and this of course I do not resent. There is this difference, however, those who hold to presuppositionalism are advancing a negative thesis, denying that there is common ground of reasoning between those who accept Christian presuppositions and engage in the spread of the Gospel, and those who do not accept Christian presuppositions and reject the Gospel. The inductionist thesis is positive and partial rather than negative and universal. It is held that ordinary processes of inductive reasoning are valid as a part of the method of evangelism. As a part of the inductive reasoning process, it is further held that there are areas of common knowledge occupied by the Christian evangelist and the unsaved inquirer or doubter. If the unsaved person or persons declare, “The God of the Bible is only a mythological figure,” and the Christian evangelist declares, “The God of the Bible exists as a substantive entity, an actual Being,” there must be some element of common meaning in the terms employed in the two contradictory statements, if the Scriptural conception of “unbelief” has any meaning at all. …

A Critique of Classical Apologetics (Greg L. Bahnsen)

Apologetics, Articles, Greg L. Bahnsen, Reviews

“A Critique of Classical Apologetics” by Greg L. Bahnsen

Intellectual respect for Biblically-defined Christian faith is not prevalent in this age. For that reason alone Reformed Christians should readily welcome any honest effort to clarify and strengthen our method of defending the faith, as this book aims to do. We need each other’s help in more faithfully practicing the common task of defending the Word of our common Lord. …

Review of Three Essays by Karl Barth (Cornelius Van Til)

Cornelius Van Til, Reviews, Theology

“Review of Three Essays by Karl Barth” by Cornelius Van Til

The Three Essays of Earl Barth comprising this book all deal with social questions.

 

In a long foreword Will Herberg, among other things, relates Barth’s views on social and political problems to his basic theological convictions. It was only gradually that Barth attained to a completely self-conscious Christological approach in his theology. …