Category Archives: Philosophy

A Primer on Presuppositionalism (Joel Garver)

Apologetics, Articles, Joel Garver, Philosophy

“A Primer on Presuppositionalism” by Joel Garver

“Presuppositionalism” is the name most often given to the variety of Christian apologetics that grows out of the writings of Cornelius van Til. In the following essay we shall consider van Til’s general philosophical outlook and how that gives rise to his basic apologetic stance. Admittedly, his ideas were not as rigorously worked out as well as one might have liked, but I’ll try to fill in the details as I think he would have liked them to be filled in and with some hints from what I take to be some of his better interpreters (e.g., John Frame, Vern Poythress, etc.). Additionally, I shall consider some of the objections to presuppositionalism and attempt to provide a reply.

Two Theological Accounts of Logic (Nathaniel Gray Sutanto)

Articles, Nathaniel Gray Sutanto, Philosophy, Theology

“Two Theological Accounts of Logic: Theistic Conceptual Realism and a Reformed Archetype-Ectype Model” by Nathaniel Gray Sutanto

In this essay I analyze two emerging theistic accounts of the laws of logic, one precipitated by theistic conceptual realism and the other from an archetype-ectype paradigm in Reformed Scholasticism. The former posits the laws of logic as uncreated and necessary divine thoughts, whereas the latter thinks of those laws as contingent, accommodated forms of a pre-existing archetypal rationality. After the analysis of the two accounts, I offer an explication of the theological rationale motivating the archetype-ectype model of the laws of logic, and apply that model to recent discussions on theological paradox, abstract objects, and the function of natural-theological argumentation in apologetics. Finally, I respond to three anticipated objections against the archetype-ectype model.

The Influence of Idealism on the Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til (Timothy I. McConnel)

Apologetics, Articles, Philosophy, Timothy I. McConnel

“The Influence of Idealism on the Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til” by Timothy I. McConnel

Cornelius Van Til completed his doctoral work at Princeton University in 1927 with a dissertation entitled “God and the Absolute,” in which he argued that the God of Christian theism could not be identified with the Absolute of philosophical idealism. A couple of years earlier he had completed his Th.M. at Princeton Theological Seminary, with a thesis entitled “Reformed Epistemology.” In spite of the close proximity and historical relationship of these two institutions, they were clearly distinct, with the seminary then being a much more conservative institution. The philosophy department of Princeton University at that time was under the direction of the British idealist Archibald Allen Bowman. Van Til’s own interest in philosophy, and in particular idealism, had begun during his undergraduate days at Calvin College. There the philosophy department had consisted of only one instructor, W. Harry Jellema, who was himself only a couple of years older than Van Til, and was at the very beginning of his teaching career. Jellema began teaching at Calvin in 1920, while working on his dissertation on Josiah Royce at the University of Michigan, which he completed in 1922. One of the textbooks which he used for the undergraduate courses in philosophy at Calvin was F. H. Bradley’s Appearance and Reality, to which Van Til would continue to refer in his later writings on idealist philosophy. …

Van Til and Analytic Philosophy (James N. Anderson)

Articles, Epistemology, James N. Anderson, Philosophy

“Van Til and Analytic Philosophy” by James N. Anderson

In honor of the centennial of his birth, the Spring 1995 issue of the Westminster Theological Journal featured a collection of articles on the thought of Cornelius Van Til. One of the articles, by William Dennison, took aim at two critics of Van Til, Cecil and Jesse De Boer, for their reliance on the methodology of analytic philosophy in their critique to Van Til’s epistemology. Dennison also targeted John M. Frame, a fellow ‘disciple’ of Van Til, for his adoption of elements of analytic philosophy in his defense and development of Van Til’s apologetic. In Dennison’s estimation, all three had failed to reckon with a central and distinctive element of Van Til’s thought, namely, the role that his philosophy of history plays in his epistemology. The article also conveyed the clear insinuation that analytic philosophy and Van Tilian philosophy are fundamentally at odds and should be kept at a safe distance. …

Foundations of Christian Scholarship (ed. Gary North)

Apologetics, Books, Epistemology, Gary North, Philosophy, Theology

Foundations of Christian Scholarship: Essays in the Van Til Perspective edited by Gary North

Christian commentators have pointed to the contradictions of the modern world, and they have asserted that the answers to these contradictions can be found in the Bible. Yet whenever pastors or Christian instructors confront the congregations or each other with concrete requirements of biblical law, the instant response in that “the churches shouldn’t meddle in things that don’t concern them,” meaning politics, economics, or anything else that might prove controversial. The Bible has the answers for every problem, but these are supposed to remain vague generalities except when in accord with the accepted cultural heritage in question. …

Jerusalem and Athens (ed. E. R. Geehan)

Apologetics, Books, E. R. Geehan, Philosophy

Jerusalem and Athens: Critical Discussions on the Philosophy and Apologetics of Cornelius Van Til edited by E. R. Geehan

First published in 1971 and now back in print, Jerusalem and Athens follows Van Til’s brief and accessible introduction to his own thought with twenty-five critical essays that orient readers to important problems and issues discussed in Van Tillian apologetics. Van Til responds.

Christian Civilization is the Only Civilization – In a Sense, Of Course (Michael H. Warren)

Apologetics, Articles, Michael H. Warren, Philosophy, Theology

“Christian Civilization is the Only Civilization – In a Sense, Of Course” by Michael H. Warren

Intellectuals throughout history have given their views as to what the source, goal and nature of civilization is.  The ancient philosopher Plato described a well-ordered civilization as a three-tiered hierarchy of philosopher-kings, the soldier class, and the merchant class.  The philosophers are the kings because they are allegedly the most knowledgeable about the ideas of justice and the good.  Hegel offered a comprehensive philosophy of life in which he said that the state is God, and the ideal of civilization is for all people to become unified under the State.  Freud expressed the predominate view of 20th Century intellectuals when he said that civilization is defined by the degree that a culture rejects the psychological projection of a loving, divine Father as the explanation for the mysteries of the world and embraces rational, scientific, materialistic explanations of the world.  In this essay I do not examine all of the competing explanations for civilization in detail.  However, despite all their differences, all non-Christian views of civilization have a common point of view that allows for a single refutation that applies to them all and allows for a single proof (see the introductory quote from Van Til above) that Christian Civilization is the only rationally possible civilization. …

The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox (Brant Bosserman)

Apologetics, Books, Brant Bosserman, Epistemology, Philosophy, Theology

The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox by Brant Bosserman

The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox grapples with the question of how one may hold together the ideals of systematic theology, apologetic proof, and theological paradox by building on the insights of Cornelius Van Til. Van Til developed an apologetic where one presupposes that the triune God exists, and then proves this Christian presupposition by demonstrating that philosophies that deny it are self-defeating in the specific sense that they rely on principles that only the Trinity, as the ultimate harmony of unity and diversity, can furnish. A question raised by Van Til’s trademark procedure is how he can evade the charge that the apparent contradictions of the Christian faith render it equally self-defeating as non-Christian alternatives. This text argues that for Van Til, Christian paradoxes can be differentiated from genuine contradictions by the way that their apparently opposing elements discernibly require one another, even as they present our minds with an irresolvable conflict. And yet, Van Til failed to sufficiently vindicate the central Christian paradox–the doctrine of the Trinity–along the lines required by his system. Hence, the present text offers a unique proof that God can only exist as the pinnacle of unity-in-diversity, and as the ground of a coherent Christian system, if He exists as three, and only three, divine Persons.

Knowledge and the Fall in American Neo-Calvinism (Bálint Békefi)

Articles, Bálint Békefi, Epistemology, Philosophy, Theology

“Knowledge and the Fall in American Neo-Calvinism: Toward a Van Til–Plantinga Synthesis” by Bálint Békefi

Cornelius Van Til and Alvin Plantinga represent two strands of American Protestant philosophical thought influenced by Dutch neo-Calvinism. This paper compares and synthetizes their models of knowledge in non-Christians given the noetic effects of sin and non-Christian worldview commitments. The paper argues that Van Til’s distinction between the partial realization of the antithesis in practice and its absolute nature in principle correlates with Plantinga’s insistence on prima facie–warranted common-sense beliefs and their ultimate defeasibility given certain metaphysical commitments. Van Til endorsed more radical claims than Plantinga on epistemic defeat in non-Christian worldviews, the status of the sensus divinitatis, and conceptual accuracy in knowledge of the world. Finally, an approach to the use of evidence in apologetics is developed based on the proposed synthesis. This approach seeks to make more room for evidence than is generally recognized in Van Tilianism, while remaining consistent with the founder’s principles.

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. …