Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: BK

  • 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 …

  • Knapp’s “Induction and the Unbeliever”

    Recently the “Bahnsen Burner” Dawson Bethrick took a swing at  Choosing Hats founder and administrator Brian Knapp’s contribution to The Portable Presuppositionalist as a part of his ongoing attempt to provide an answer to the Problem of Induction from within the confines of the Objectivist worldview. Mr. Bethrick quotes from page 124 of Knapp’s “Induction and the Unbeliever” in The Portable Presuppostionalist where Knapp asks, “Why do you believe nature is uniform, and how is that belief rationally justified?” Bethrick begins to provide an answer early in his post as follows:

    [N]ature is uniform on its own, independent of

    …

  • 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

    …

  • Can the Bible Be Understood … or Not?

    It never ceases to amaze me when individuals argue that a Christian’s interpretation of the Bible is subjective (and therefore dubious) while simultaneously appealing to their own interpretation as being correct in order to make their argument. Case in point:

    Atheist: So, you are wrong, because there are many other Christian churches besides the odd Westboro who really do have a better idea of what Jesus meant than YOU do. It’s only your opinion – just as it is Westboro’s opinion that they can determine what Jesus meant.

    Westboro, for those of you who are not familiar, is the …

  • A Collision is Coming

    Atheist Christopher Hitchens (“God is not Good”) and Christian Doug Wilson (“Letter From a Christian Citizen”) have been on tour for the past year holding a series of debates and public appearances that have eventually led to the production of the film “Collision”. The film is due to be released October 27, 2009 and can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.

    There are a number of videos already on YouTube about the film … here is just one …

    The URL for the website is www.collisionmovie.com.

    BK…