Apologetics to the Glory of God

Category: Convos, Observations, and Quotes

  • Cornelius Van Til The Covenant Apologist

    “To bring out the interrelatedness of God’s revelation in Scripture with his revelation

    in nature, we speak first of the necessity of natural revelation. It is customary to speak of

    the necessity of supernatural revelation because of the fact that there is no revelation of

    grace in nature. However, it is equally true that the revelation of grace would operate in a

    vacuum if it did not operate in nature as revealing God. The supernatural can never be

    recognized for what it is unless the natural is recognized for what it is: both must be

    recognized in the light of …

  • The Shack

    William Young’s novel “The Shack” was a recent bestseller in the “Christian” Fiction community. The odd and usually disfigured presentation of trinitarian theology in that book was truly strange, and in no way wonderful. That, however, is not the subject of this post. The subject of this post is the theology that underlies our apologetic methodology, and what should flow out of that theology. Our Theology Proper and Anthropology should be complementary and cohesive with one another – with the proper priority given to the former, to inform the latter. What you believe about God should determine what you believe …

  • T. Kurt Jaros and “Finesse”

    T.K. Jaros recently posted an article entitled “Total Depravity: Theological Finesse Needed, Part 1.” As the title implies, it’s obviously merely the first of a series. What struck me, and practically everyone else who I’ve linked the article to, is that immediately after saying “finesse is needed” in the title, the definition he gives of the doctrine is not from a theologian, but from… Wikipedia. Obviously, his posts are not especially thorough, and despite his MA in Systematic Theology, not especially theological, on the whole. As with most of modern evangelicals, his primary interest seems to be philosophy. …

  • Van Til on The Will and Covenant

    “Hence we seek not to subject any part of Scripture to the principium generale, nor subject any part of scripture revelation to any other part, for that amounts to the same thing as again subjecting it to our own judgment. We found . . . that the Reformed covenant theology remained nearest to this Biblical position. Other theories of the will go off on either of two byways, namely that of seeking an unwarranted independence for man, or otherwise of subjecting man to philosophical necessitarianism. Reformed theology attempts to steer clear of both these dangers; avoiding all forms of Pelagianizing …

  • Covenantal Apologetics – Reformed Forum with K. Scott Oliphint

    An excellent show, with a number of in-depth and interesting discussions.

    Find it here.…

  • Justin Taylor on Dr. Oliphint’s new book Covenantal Apologetics

    Justin Taylor over at The Gospel Coalition has a nice little piece featuring Dr. Oliphint’s new book “Covenants Apologetics.” Check it out here: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2013/07/09/covenantal-apologetics/…

  • Controversy, Purity, or Consistency?

    As the release of K. Scott Oliphint’s “Covenant Apologetics” draws nigh, I’m finding that it’s harder and harder to get away, in Presuppositionalist circles, from the objections to the very use of these terms, and a modest storm of controversy that continues to build. There is, I think, a very good reason for that. It’s quite obvious, I’ve gathered, that the usage of”Covenant Apologetics” is significant in that it marks a watershed between a variety of streams of thought, and that of covenantal apologists. First, it marks a watershed, in the most general sense, from the postmodern conception of presuppositions …

  • Apologetic Method and a CH Shoutout

    Dr. White finished his review of the Jaros/Oliphint discussion, and mentioned Choosing Hats toward the beginning.…

  • What Sort of Mockery?

    There are frequent references to two texts in particular for the subject of mockery in a Christian context. So let’s be clear from the outset. I do believe that 1) The Scriptures both display and teach mockery and 2) That there is a proper time – and way – to engage in such mockery. The most appealed to texts in this vein are 1 Kings 18, and Galatians 5. Additionally, there are also Christ’s denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, and God’s mocking challenge to the idols, in Isaiah. So, while it’s plain in the Scriptures that both the …

  • The Prophecy of Hosea: God’s Covenant Faithfulness

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