Apologetics to the Glory of God

Tag: presup

  • Van Tilian Turf Wars (Part 2)

    Presuppositionalists are sticklers for sound apologetic methodology. But how is sound apologetic methodology discerned? Presuppositional proclivities preclude the vast majority of classical or evidentialist approaches to apologetics. That much is clear. But how does one determine who is right and who is wrong when presuppositionalists argue about methodology amongst themselves? Perhaps we all agree that presuppositional apologetic methodology is the way to go, but who is to say what presuppositional apologetic method is? Is there some standard of presuppositional orthodoxy?

    Fundamentalist presuppositionalists tend to respond to these questions by citing the Bible as their ultimate authority for apologetics. The …

  • A Presuppositional Devotion

    It is interesting to come across some very presuppositional teaching from people who don’t really fly the flag and I like to note it when I do. August 10, 2014 “For the Love of God” devotional by D. A. Carson was one such devotional. I especially appreciated his call for people to be precise about the use of the Psalm 14:1 and Romans 1. I think it is a good reminder for us all as it seems like much of the recent popular apologetics billing itself as “presuppositional” is more about the misapplying these passage by simply calling people fools …

  • Van Tilian Turf Wars (Part 1)

    At least three types of Van Tilian presuppositionalists have emerged from the recent surge in popularity of presuppositionalism.

    Fundamentalist

    The first group are the fundamentalists. Fundamentalists are not necessarily to be identified with fundamentalism in general, but rather with fundamentalist tendencies when it comes to discerning apologetic methodology. This brand of presuppositionalism takes a more biblicist approach to apologetic questions and disputes. Though arguments may be offered in the context of apologetic discussion, these arguments are typically less philosophically precise and more explicitly biblical or dogmatic. Examples of those in the fundamentalist strain of presuppositionalism include Answers in Genesis, Sye …

  • If one is uncertain; one is certainly an evidentialist?

    Someone pointed me to the following quote on facebook yesterday:

    The Baptist is inherently an evidentialist. They must look to subjective always changing evidence to prove covenant membership.

    A Presbyterian assumes an objective, universal standard for membership that can be known with certainty.

    A Baptist cannot claim certainty.

    Granted, this is a non-sequitur in its own right as it stands. It seems to be a post meant to start what those of us who have been around Internet discussions a while call a “flame war” about the subject of baptism in some purported presuppositionalist sub-group. I choose to ignore that …

  • Dr. James White Interviews Dr. Oliphint on the Janet Mefferd Show

    Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries does an excellent job interviewing Dr. K Scott Oliphint about his new book Covenatal Apologetics. Check out the show here or download the mp3 here.…

  • Christ the Center review of the Oliphint/Jaros discussion.

    Christ the Center reviewed the Dr. Oliphint/Jaros discussion that they had “Unbelievable?” Check it out here: http://reformedforum.org/podcasts/ctc288…

  • Dr Scott Oliphint Fields Questions on Unbelievable?

    That’s right, it was an inquisition! Ok, not quite that bad. Dr. Oliphint was on Unbelievable? to talk about Presuppositional/Covenantal Apologetics. He ended up having to spend the entire time defending it from Kurt Jaros who clearly doesn’t understand the Theological underpinnings of the method, or their implications. However, because of this, there are some very good explanations that Dr. Oliphint gives that I think are very helpful. One that stands out in my mind is confusion between the fact that non believers are irrational yet we can also reason with them. Listen carefully for these great answers Dr. Oliphint …

  • You Asked: Your Questions. God’s Answers. by Dr. Edgar

    Dr. William Edgar of Westminster Theological Seminary has published a new book geared towards teens to answer a lot of common questions they have. I have not read this book yet but I am willing to go out on a limb and say that this book will likely be helpful for parents in answering these questions right along with their teens. Dr. Edgar is the Professor of Apologetics at WTS and edited and footnoted some of Dr. Van Til’s works for their latest editions. Having read those I am confident that this is a book worth looking into.

    Check it …

  • Addressing a Common Evidentialist Retort

    My brother-in-law went to school with an atheist who excelled in virtually every subject he studied. This particular atheist was a sharp thinker. He was also firm in his atheistic convictions. But he liked to drink. A lot. One night he had a bit too much. By the end of the night he was weeping and crying out about how there has to be a God. Plenty of his friends witnessed the event. They brought it up later. His response was to grumpily tell them not to talk about it.

    My old Sunday School teacher had a friend who came …

  • Why do we expect the future to be like the past?

    Why do we expect the future to be like the past?

    “Because in the past, the future has always been like the past.”

    This response begs the question. It assumes the very point to be proven. In the past the future has always been like the past, yes, but why do we expect that in the future the future will be like the past?

    “We don’t know for certain that the future will be like the past.”

    This response misrepresents the question. It assumes the question is asking about certainty with respect to the future. But the question …