Apologetics to the Glory of God

Tag: presuppositionalism

  • Should we get to the real topic?

    Series on Does God Exist? Dr. Greg Bahnsen versus Dr. Gordon Stein

    Debate Transcript

    Should we argue for “general theism”?

    Should our case be “subjective or personal”?

    Should we concede anything to our opponents?

    Should we get to the real topic?

    The end of Bahnsen’s concession to Stein’s expertise notes that the subject of the debate between Bahnsen and Stein does not directly pertain to the specific area or field of Stein’s expertise. Bahnsen states that, “our subject tonight is really much different, calling for intelligent reflection upon issues which are philosophical or theological in character.” It is important to …

  • Clarification On Self-Deception

    In my debate with Ben Wallis I answered the following in response to a series of questions asked of me during the cross-examination period.

    “It is correct that I believe that in their heart-of-hearts everyone believes that God exists…I apologize for the poetic language. Belief in God is a first-order belief of everyone; every human…I believe that when you state that you do not believe that God exists that is a claim based upon a second-order belief that you have concerning your first-order belief in the existence of God.”

    The phrase “heart-of-hearts” is by no means philosophically precise language nor …

  • Refusing Antithetical Assumptions

    We make our gods unknowable entities. The God of the Bible is knowable. Throughout all of Scripture God never presumes Himself to be unknown or unknowable but rather known. The Bible contains no proofs in the strictest sense for the existence of God. The Bible starts out with a declaration that God exists and assumes His existence throughout. The sinful fool knows that God exists but holds the truth down in unrighteousness saying in his heart, “There is no God.” (Romans 1.18ff; Psalm 14.1)

    The individual who fashions for himself an unknowable god makes an idol that is wholly irrelevant …

  • Praxis Presup: Episode 4

    Praxis Presup
    Episode 4 – August 31, 2010
    Chris Bolt

    More discussion concerning debates in general and the recent debate between Ben Wallis and Chris Bolt on the existence of God.

    Praxis Presup 4

    …

  • Should we concede anything to our opponents?

    Series on Does God Exist? Dr. Greg Bahnsen versus Dr. Gordon Stein

    Debate Transcript

    Should we argue for “general theism”?

    Should our case be “subjective or personal”?

    Should we concede anything to our opponents?

    Bahnsen’s last introductory remark prior to his main argument for the existence of God involves a concession to Stein’s “area of expertise.” As insignificant as this concession seemingly is it serves as a refutation of the oft-repeated-but-never-cited claim that presuppositional apologists contend that unbelievers cannot know anything. The truth is that if unbelievers were epistemologically consistent they could not know anything, but unbelievers are never epistemologically …

  • Nature Grace Dualism (Part 2)

    Nature Grace Dualism Part 1

    Nature Grace Dualism Part 2

    The presence of nature grace dualism throughout Roman Catholicism has resulted in a host of worries. Goldsworthy quotes Vittorio Subilia’s observation that Roman Catholicism is marked by “a phenomenon of complexio oppositorum.”  The claim is an historical one supported by the evidence of Roman Catholic syncretism. While Gnosticism and mystery religions are cited as examples of non-Christian systems of thought that have at times been adopted by Roman Catholicism and blended in with Christian categories the non-Christian systems of thought stemming directly from philosophy are perhaps more interesting to …

  • WCF, LBC, and TAG

    A friend pointed me toward this post by Brandon Adams. From what I can tell Brandon is influenced a good bit by Gordon H. Clark and argues in his post that Van Tillian presuppositionalism and specifically TAG is inconsistent with the WCF and LBC. While I am not one to excitedly engage in the Van Til versus Clark debate there are a few areas where I believe Brandon is simply mistaken about Van Til and Bahnsen’s method. One of the reasons I do not tend to engage in arguments against Clarkianism is that I am rather unfamiliar with the position. …

  • Thoughts of H.W.B. Joseph

    In 1931 a late nineteenth and early twentieth century philosopher at Oxford by the name of H.W.B. Joseph published a book called Some Problems in Ethics. The following is quoted from the aforementioned work:

    If thought is laryngeal motion, how should any one think more truly than the wind blows? All movements of bodies are equally necessary, but they cannot be discriminated as true and false. It seems as nonsensical to call a movement true as a flavor purple or a sound avaricious. But what is obvious when thought is said to be a certain bodily movement seems equally

    …

  • Should our case be “subjective or personal”?

    Series on Does God Exist? Dr. Greg Bahnsen versus Dr. Gordon Stein

    Debate Transcript

    Should we argue for “general theism”?

    Should our case be “subjective or personal”?

    Having presented his reasons for arguing for Christian theism as a unit or system of thought Bahnsen moves on to discuss what the debate is about. Bahnsen transitions from the aforementioned topic he addresses at the very beginning of his first opening statement through placing a slightly different emphasis upon the systematic nature of Christian theism. Bahnsen is arguing for Christian theism as a unit or system of thought so that the debate …

  • Choosing Hats Turns Two!!!

    The end of July/beginning of August marks the two year anniversary of Choosing Hats! We are grateful to God for the good he has brought about through the site and determined to fix anything which has kept us from using the site to its full potential. We want to thank our many readers for taking time out of their day to see what’s new here and those who have left comments for putting forth the effort to understand and interact with the material here.

    Those involved with Choosing Hats have recently been discussing how we might bring the site back …