Tag: presuppositionalism
-
Presuppositional Apologetics In Debate
Nick Norelli recently wrote:
“I think the thing is that plenty of presuppositionalists debate (look at James White who debates like every other day) and I’m sure they employ their method, but I think it lends itself to certain subjects better than others.”
As Nick mentioned in his response to someone concerning the apparent absence of presuppositional apologetics in the realm of debate, James R. White of Alpha and Omega Ministries is a presuppositionalist and can hardly be charged with not debating. Doug Wilson, who recently engaged Christopher Hitchens in a series of books, formal debates, and discussions (see …
-
Regretfully…
Mitch and I have been extremely busy as of late so that we have been prevented from even setting a decent time for debating one another as we had planned to do some time ago. Since I felt like this was unfinished business I approached Mitch about it in private and we discussed several ways we might be able to do the debate despite school and other responsibilities. Mitch has formal education in the same areas as me and took an interest in presuppositional apologetics which resulted in some familiarity with the method and its arguments that most other potential …
-
Putting Frist On A Diet
One of the weaknesses of Fristianity is also one of its strengths. The many different versions of Fristianity can make it difficult to grasp and answer. Fristianity proponents might exclaim that this difficulty is the whole point. There are a number of problems with this response. If Fristianity is no different from general objections concerning the impossibility of the contrary then it is superfluous. Similarly, if Fristianity is no different from various other objections concerning presuppositionalism in general and TAG in particular then it is superfluous. Finally, the different versions of Fristianity are often essentially different from each other rather …
-
Agreus Attempts to Tackle TAG
The following is from the post, “Two Initial Objections to TAG”. It has been edited down to include only the attempts on the part of Agreus to interact with the initial post and my responses to him.
________________________
Two of the most common objections to the Transcendental Argument for God from both inside and outside of Christianity appear to be inconsistent with each other.
Consider:
1. TAG is circular.
2. TAG is unstated.
Perhaps the two can be reconciled, but I believe it would take more than the typical surface level treatment of TAG to do so. One notable …
-
Choosing Hats Summer Reading List
While I am not very well read I am often asked about books I would recommend. Below is a list of introductory level books which are not too difficult to read and go by pretty quickly even if you are a slow reader like I am. The prices are reasonable as well, but make sure to look on more than just Amazon.
Biblical Theology
According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy
Goldsworthy does an excellent job of introducing a massive subject which is far too often neglected.
Systematic Theology
Charles Hodge Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge
The regular price on this …
-
Jesus and the Paralytic (Part 1)
Passage
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the …
-
Initial Comments on the Reiter Article
Adam Omelianchuk has done everyone a great service by summarizing David Reiter’s recent article on the Transcendental Argument for God (TAG) which recently appeared in Philosophia Christi. I left a comment there with my initial response to the article. (I was working from memory and do not have a copy of the article in front of me even now so I cannot get very specific.)
__________________
I have read the article in question and it appears to me as though a traditional argument form is being assumed in the case of TAG in order to argue that it is …
-
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 …
-
William Lane Craig’s Inconsistent Objections to Presuppositional Argument
I recently wrote that two of the most popular objections to TAG are in fact inconsistent with one another. The objections are that TAG is circular and that TAG is unstated. These two assertions are far too readily accepted as some kind of meaningful objections. Moreover, they are inconsistent with one another.
Today curiosity got the best of me and I began to wonder if anyone in Five Views On Apologetics might have made the error of trying to use not one or the other of the objections in question, but both of them at the same time. …
-
Two Initial Objections to TAG
Two of the most common objections to the Transcendental Argument for God from both inside and outside of Christianity appear to be inconsistent with each other.
Consider:
1. TAG is circular.
2. TAG is unstated.
Perhaps the two can be reconciled, but I believe it would take more than the typical surface level treatment of TAG to do so. One notable exception might be when a bare assertion is offered as the proof itself. However it would be odd to describe a mere assertion as “circular”.…