“Presuppositional Procedure” by Greg L. Bahnsen

Here then is how the presuppositional (transcendental) method of defending the faith would proceed once the preliminary discussions and clarifications have taken place with the unbeliever – and the two outlooks now come head to head. The unbeliever says that he knows that miracles are impossible, that a personal almighty God does not exist, that ethical principles are not normative across cultural boundaries, etc. Or the unbeliever says that the believer cannot know that the Bible is God’s word, or that Jehovah exists, or that Christ was His Son, etc. The Christian apologist must seek to uncover what this unbeliever’s personal convictions are regarding metaphysical and (coordinated with it) epistemological matters which are relevant: e.g., what is the nature of things which are real, how does the world operate, where did it come from, what is man’s place in the world, what is man’s nature, are there moral or epistemological norms which are not chosen by the individual, what are the criteria of truth, what are the proper methods of knowing, is certainty possible, etc.? Once the believer has a fairly good grasp of the general kind of worldview assumed (or explicitly advocated) by the unbeliever, we can suggest that it should be compared to the worldview of the Christian. The Christian can show that the particular objections raised by the unbeliever would, within the Christian outlook, not prove to be legitimate objections or intellectual problems at all. Thus who really “knows” what he is talking about, the Christian or the non-Christian? The cogency of each side’s theory and practice of knowing must be tested within the broader worldviews of which they are a part. The apologist explains how rationality, communication, meaning, science, morality, man’s redemption and renewal are quite understandable, meaningful, coherent, or intelligible within the Biblical worldview – within “the picture” of thinking God’s thoughts after Him. The apologist then engages in an internal critique of the unbeliever’s worldview to show that it is (1) arbitrary, and/or (2) inconsistent with itself, and/or (3) lacking the preconditions for the intelligibility of knowledge (language, logic, science, morality, redemption, etc.). Since that is the case, the unbeliever cannot “know” the things which he urges against Christianity – indeed, could not know anything at all and loses all claim to rationality. The Christian has proven the rationality and necessity of His scripturally based worldview. …

“Van Til’s Why I Believe in God” by Greg L. Bahnsen

Want a small gem which explains and illustrates presuppositional apologetics? Then get hold of Cornelius Van Til’s brief pamphlet “Why I Believe in God.” It isn’t flashy in style. It isn’t complex in content. But it is devastating.

 

The pamphlet is less than twenty (small) pages long and is written in an easy, conversational style. It has Van Til “talking” to the reader in an imaginary dialog over belief in God — comparing his life to the reader’s hypothetical background and education, parrying objections, and always coming back to the underlying nature of the dispute itself. …

“Machen, Van Til and the Apologetical Tradition of the OPC” by Greg L. Bahnsen

Apologetics gave birth to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and continues to be its legacy and reputation. The modernism of the early twentieth century was not simply a theological variant within historic Christianity, not merely a new version of Christian doctrine which retained at its center the evangel. It was, according to J. Gresham Machen’s analysis in Christianity and Liberalism, a departure from the Christian religion altogether, abandoning the proclamation of the supernaturalistic good news of redemption which had distinguished the Christian church throughout history. Liberalism was simply another religion or philosophy of man in competition with the historic biblical faith. Accordingly, the battle with modernism was more than “polemical theology” against an exegetically weak or inconsistent school of evangelical Christianity. It was apologetics with unbelief. …

“The Encounter of Jerusalem with Athens” by Greg L. Bahnsen

What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church?… Our instructions come from “the porch of Solomon”…. Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus…!

 

So said Tertullian in his Prescription against Heretics (VII). Tertullian’s question, what does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?, dramatically expresses one of the perennial issues in Christian thought—a problem which cannot be escaped by any Biblical interpreter, theologian, or apologist. We all operate on the basis of some answer to that question, whether we give it explicit and thoughtful attention or not. It is not a matter of whether we will answer the question, but only of how well we will do so. …

“Socrates or Christ: The Reformation of Christian Apologetics” by Greg L. Bahnsen

It is not difficult to understand the general idea of apologetics. Simply put, apologetics is the study and practice of defending the Christian faith against the array of challenges, critical attacks, and scrutinizing questions leveled contrary to it by unbelievers. As Cornelius Van Til expresses the thought in the opening sentence of his apologetics syllabus, “Apologetics is the vindication of the Christian philosophy of life against the various forms of the non-Christian philosophy of life.” Consequently, to be an apologist, one simply needs “to join the struggle in defense of the faith, the faith which God entrusted to his people once and for all.” …