Paul Jenkins asks, “How come so many people claim to believe patently crazy stuff?”
I’ve reached my nonsense-tolerance limit as far as presuppositional apologetics is concerned, and I’ll no longer engage with it in any but the most cursory way. PA is a minority belief within the broader theistic morass (indeed it appears to be an undesirable bedfellow to much of that morass) so ignoring it will be of little consequence.
So there you are. Paul J has joined the ranks of atheist quitters. I have not seen where he has established anything close to his implicit claim that theists or Christians or presuppositionalists believe crazy stuff, nor have I seen where he has explained why presuppositional apologetics are “nonsense.” His encounters with presuppositional apologists have ended with him admitting that he does not know enough to engage on the topic. That’s a little different from illustrating how the method is nonsense.
What is most amusing about Paul’s post is his insistence that ignoring presuppositional apologetics will be “of little consequence.” Why do I find that amusing? Because atheists are easily a minority. A teeny, tiny minority of typically noisy, annoying pseudo-intellectuals who will make assertions all day long without a care in the world for consistency or warrant in making such claims. Paul is a little better. At least he has examined some apologetic arguments. But he is still in the minority, and from what he is saying, that minority will become an even smaller group as atheists face a major “schism.” All of that is of little consequence for the rest of us though. At least that’s what Paul would have us believe.
Maybe we should take a cue from atheists and scoff right back at their generally poor attempts to pretend like they really matter in the grand scheme of things. I have plenty of friends who frequently ask why I do not do exactly that. The answer has always been clear to me. Atheists are proud of the fact that they are godless animals (- David Smart), but they are much more important than that. They are created in the image of God. Even if their numbers are laughable, they are worth talking to. The consequences are huge. Eternity hangs in the balance.