Apologetics to the Glory of God

Tag: presuppositionalism

  • TAG Does Not Save

    There is an objection to TAG out there that goes something like this:

    TAG cannot save anyone.

    Depending on your context, sometimes it goes like this instead:

    Apologetics cannot save anyone.

    Of course, this is not much of an objection. It is more so just a slightly annoying comment. Perhaps that is an indication that I need to be frequently reminded of it. Apologetics do not save; the Gospel saves. I do not save; Jesus Christ saves. But then, how many times does it take before I have the categories here straight? Could it be that the person raising this …

  • Monergism.com

    July 2011 is presup month at www.monergism.com. Make sure to check it out, and spend some time on the articles that are available there. There are a lot! This is an excellent way to begin feeling one’s way around the presuppositional/covenantal apologetics landscape. The site continues to be a convenient resource for me.

    HT: JM…

  • The Phantom Menace

    One of the complaints against the use of the Transcendental Argument for God involves a denial of the claim that there are fundamentally only two worldviews. The Christian claim is that all non-Christian worldviews have at root the principle of autonomy. Autonomy is not only rebellion towards the Christian God but an active suppression of the personal knowledge of Him and a turning away to worship the creature instead of the Creator. It is a rejection of the authority of the Creator over all of reality. Van Til illustrated this using Eve and her reasoning at the time of the …

  • A "Serious Problem" with "An Introduction to Covenantal Apologetics"

    Lyndon Unger has a “SERIOUS problem” with my Introduction to Covenantal Apologetics.  He expresses his concerns in the comments here. I asked him a series of questions that he has not answered, so I will go ahead and give a few of my thoughts in response to his comments. His comments are below, followed by my questions, followed by some explanation of why I asked what I did.

    _____

    Why does Bolt attach Covenant theology to his system of apologetics?

    I’m confused as this sure sounds like he’s riding a hobby horse from one field to another and

    …

  • WTS iTunes Lectures

    I have found these to be quite helpful.

    Apologetics Van Til, Bahnsen, Oliphint (iTunesU link)

    History and Nature of Apologetics by Dr. Cornelius Van Til (iTunesU link)

    Doctrine of God by Dr. Scott Oliphint (iTunesU link)

    Christ and Human Thought by Dr. Cornelius Van Til (iTunesU link)

    * These are all available from the Westminster Theological Seminary Resources website though you may need to create an account to download them.…

  • "Getting to God" – Thomistic Misconceptions of Van Tilian Presuppositionalism (Updated)

    David Gadbois from Green Baggins wrote the following in a comment on Fides, Ratio, et Mysterium:

    I’m definitely in the camp that doesn’t believe that Christianity is transcendentally necessary. I think the VanTilian presuppositionalists overreached in trying to make Christianity, as a package deal, into a transcendental necessity. The various transcendental arguments that have been offered really only get you as far as God’s existence, a personal and just God, not [sic] doubt, but really nothing beyond what is revealed in general revelation. God’s acts of redemption in time and space, as recorded in special revelation, were

    …

  • Commenting on Canon

    “Do you mean why should we accept Hebrews rather than the Gospel of Thomas as canonical?

    Well, the primary reason is because Hebrews *is* canonical, whereas the Gospel of Thomas is not.

    But then I guess you’re asking how we know that.

    I would say that it is self-attesting.

    See, self-attesting is always objective.

    This is strange to me – people usually take that to be subjective.

    I’m not talking about a subjective mark, but an objective one.

    But it presumes itself authoritative in the same way as other Scripture.

    And is qualitatively the same.

    I’m not talking about the …

  • Next 2011 Lectures Available

    I posted about the NEXT 2011 conference a while back and noted that they were covering what seemed to be a basis for presuppositional apologetics. The lectures are available for download now and they will not disappoint. Jeff Purswell starts out the conference with covering the creator/creature distinction which he did very well and much in line with what Van Til espoused. Dr. Scott Oliphint had an enlightening lecture as well especially regarding the knowledge of God in the unbeliever, and D.A. Carson exegeted Acts 17 faithfully and clearly. R.C. Sproul, while a great Theologian, had some interesting things to …

  • Christianity Today Article, Harold Camping, and Intro to Apologetics

    Jim Spiegel wrote in Christianity Today on Unreasonable Doubt.

    Check out a site pertaining to Harold Camping called Rapture Fail.

    Remember that the introductory series on Covenantal Apologetics is done and can be bookmarked here. It is also available by clicking on the Series button at the top right of the page.…

  • A Tale of Two Philosophers

    Those of you who are actually good at philosophy spend so much time reading and studying it that you forget what it is you started studying it for in the first place. You are more concerned about the accuracy of your abstract analytic philosophical musings than you are about defending the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You look down upon those who are not gifted the way that you are and immediately dismiss entire realms of Christian thought in the areas of historical and systematic theology (etc.) because of it. You are more concerned about how the philosophical community …