Month: June 2010
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Comprehensive Apologetics
…Since neutrality is unattainable for either the unbeliever or believer, and since they have conflicting ultimate standards for judging claims to knowledge, the task of apologetics will ultimately be carried on at a presuppositional level. Contrasting worldviews are being debated. Each worldview has its presuppositions about reality, knowledge, and ethics; these mutually influence and support each other. There are no facts or uses of reason which are available outside of the interpretive system of basic commitments or assumptions which appeals to them; the presuppositions used by Christian and non-Christian determine what they will accept as factual and reasonable, and their
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Presuppositional Apologetics In Debate
Nick Norelli recently wrote:
“I think the thing is that plenty of presuppositionalists debate (look at James White who debates like every other day) and I’m sure they employ their method, but I think it lends itself to certain subjects better than others.”
As Nick mentioned in his response to someone concerning the apparent absence of presuppositional apologetics in the realm of debate, James R. White of Alpha and Omega Ministries is a presuppositionalist and can hardly be charged with not debating. Doug Wilson, who recently engaged Christopher Hitchens in a series of books, formal debates, and discussions (see …
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Bahnsen and Bare Possibility
…Historically, when David Hume and Immanuel Kant exposed the invalidity of the theistic proofs, apologists generally balked at returning to revelation as the basis for their certainty of God’s existence. They elected, rather, to maintain status in the the blinded eyes of the “worldly wise” by attempting to prove Christianity’s credibility by means of arguments that hopefully pointed toward the probability of God’s existence and Scripture’s truth. They settled for a mere presumption (plus pragmatic assurance) in favor of a few salvaged items (i.e., “fundamentals”) from the Christian system. Refusing to presuppose the sovereign God revealed in the Bible
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Regretfully…
Mitch and I have been extremely busy as of late so that we have been prevented from even setting a decent time for debating one another as we had planned to do some time ago. Since I felt like this was unfinished business I approached Mitch about it in private and we discussed several ways we might be able to do the debate despite school and other responsibilities. Mitch has formal education in the same areas as me and took an interest in presuppositional apologetics which resulted in some familiarity with the method and its arguments that most other potential …
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Putting Frist On A Diet
One of the weaknesses of Fristianity is also one of its strengths. The many different versions of Fristianity can make it difficult to grasp and answer. Fristianity proponents might exclaim that this difficulty is the whole point. There are a number of problems with this response. If Fristianity is no different from general objections concerning the impossibility of the contrary then it is superfluous. Similarly, if Fristianity is no different from various other objections concerning presuppositionalism in general and TAG in particular then it is superfluous. Finally, the different versions of Fristianity are often essentially different from each other rather …
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That Ol' Time Atheist Religion
Atheist fundamentalism is a sad phenomenon. Examples of it are provided below from comments made on this post.
Agreus
“Yes it’s a poor argument. The argument is deductively valid, as is the following:
If large green peas, then Jolly Green Giant. Large green peas. Jolly Green Giant.
Obviously, this isn’t a good argument for the existence of the Jolly Green Giant. Yet Chris, who supposedly is a huge proponent of TAG, seems to think these types of arguments are pretty convincing arguments for the existence of God.”
Agreus is referring to TAG here and is asserting that it is …
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Agreus Attempts to Tackle TAG
The following is from the post, “Two Initial Objections to TAG”. It has been edited down to include only the attempts on the part of Agreus to interact with the initial post and my responses to him.
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Two of the most common objections to the Transcendental Argument for God from both inside and outside of Christianity appear to be inconsistent with each other.
Consider:
1. TAG is circular.
2. TAG is unstated.
Perhaps the two can be reconciled, but I believe it would take more than the typical surface level treatment of TAG to do so. One notable …
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Choosing Hats Summer Reading List
While I am not very well read I am often asked about books I would recommend. Below is a list of introductory level books which are not too difficult to read and go by pretty quickly even if you are a slow reader like I am. The prices are reasonable as well, but make sure to look on more than just Amazon.
Biblical Theology
According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy
Goldsworthy does an excellent job of introducing a massive subject which is far too often neglected.
Systematic Theology
Charles Hodge Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge
The regular price on this …