Apologetics to the Glory of God

Author: BK

  • Borrowing from the Christian Worldview

    The question has been asked a couple of times now just what is meant by the Presuppositionalist when they claim that unbelievers “borrow from the Christian Worldview”, and so I thought it made sense to address this in its own post at this point.

    In the Bahnsen/Stein debate, Bahnsen makes the following comments in his rebuttal to Stein regarding the laws of logic:

    “As invariant, they don’t fit into what most materialists would tell us about the constantly changing nature of the world. And so, you see, we have a real problem on our hands. Dr. Stein wants to use

    …

  • Why Presuppositional?

    The following transcript is an excerpt from “Van Tillian Apologetics, I” by Greg Bahnsen. It can be found for free on iTunes U. The entire series is an excellent resource for those who wish to better understand Presuppositional apologetics as a method.

    This particular segment speaks to the reason why the Christian apologist must necessarily reason in a Presuppositional manner:

    The apologist must presuppose the truth of God’s word from start to finish in his apologetic witness … When we talk about presupposing or if we talk about a presupposition, what we’re referring to is an elementary assumption in

    …

  • Was Van Til A Philosopher?

    In response to a recent post on this site, our good friend Mitch from Urban Philosophy made the following comment:

    One can grant that Van Til was a philosopher, but they need not grant that he was a competent philosopher. 😉

    A few comments later, Pierre-Simon Laplace shared with us his own perspective on Van Til’s Presuppositional approach to apologetics. After sharing this, he then posted a rather interesting follow-up comment (in response to Mitch, as far as I can tell).

    “Oh, and Van Til was NOT a Philosopher.”

    At first blush, one might see this merely as a knee-jerk …

  • Resources on iTunes U

    I was recently impressed with the wealth of information available on iTunes University. One set of courses that caught my attention in particular (and that I am currently listening to) is a 3-part series on Systematic Theology, taught by Dr. Douglas F. Kelly from RTS. I have provided links below for those who may be interested in downloading these free lectures:

    Systematic Theology I
    Systematic Theology II
    Systematic Theology III

    BK…

  • Where’s the Data?

    Although I don’t spend as much time in apologetic discussions as I used to, I do, on rare occasions, find the time to have a short conversation here and there. One recent encounter I had provided me with a text book example of the potential problem with making self-referencing universal statements; that is, statements which are unqualified in their extent, and are worded in such a way as to include themselves as referents.

    By way of example, consider the statement “any assertion is a statement which implies its own truth”. Since the statement “any assertion is a statement which implies …

  • When I Use a Word …

    ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’

    ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

    ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’

    For those of you who have read Alice in Wonderland, this exchange between Alice and Humpty Dumpty may ring a bell.  I know it rings a bell with me, because it has been “used” against me in many discussions/debates I have had about God, …

  • Collision – A Brief Review

    I received my copy of Collision yesterday from Amazon, but didn’t get a chance to watch it until this evening.  I must say I was captivated throughout the entire 90 minutes.  Doug Wilson and Christopher Hitchens are the two “characters” (which is a truly accurate characterization) of this documentary/debate/discussion that left me wishing I was present in-person for the interchanges between them, instead of having to watch it replayed without a chance to interact with either of them.  Both are intelligent, witty, quick on their feet, and passionate about their opposing beliefs.

    Doug Wilson is a Presuppositionalist who, in …

  • Falling Down

    A section of the ongoing discussion between Chris the evil Presuppositionlist (inside joke, sorry) and Mitch over at Urban Philosophy caught my attention today.  It is a section that discusses the concept of “common ground” between believer and unbeliever by using the analogy of gravity.  Here is the entirety of what Mitch stated caught my attention:

    The common ground of reality affect both the believer and the non-believer, and this is a common ground from which dialogue may begin. Knowledge of gravity is not required for the effects of gravity. We do not see babies flying because they do not

    …

  • Faith and God’s Glory

    I was reading a Tweet from John Piper today and wanted to share this article that he referenced, that was transcribed from a sermon preached in 1999. It is a great analogy as to how our faith in God makes him look good (i.e. gives him glory).

    The article can be found here

    Your daddy is standing in a swimming pool out a little bit from the edge. You are, let’s say, three years old and standing on the edge of the pool. Daddy holds out his arms to you and says, “Jump, I’ll catch you. I promise.” Now, how

    …

  • Warming Up to Presuppositionalism

    While the rule seems to be that most non-Christians do not accept Presuppositionalism as a valid form of argumentation (due mostly to misunderstanding it), there are those who have, in my experience, warmed to the idea over time. Case in point, a cyber-friend of mine I will call by the initials “HR”. HR and I have known each other for close to 7 years now, primarily through the medium of a discussion board that he and I frequent. When we first met online, I was just coming up to speed on the Presuppositional approach to defending Christianity. Needless to say, …