Category: Presuppositionalism

apologetics, Atheism, Dr. Cornelius Van Til, Dr. Greg Bahnsen, Dr. James Anderson, Dr. John Frame, Dr. Vern Poythress, Ethics, logic, philosophy, Presuppositionalism, WarrantLeave a comment

A little Presup before Dinner

TheSire

This is an article that is an introduction to what I believe the method of Reformed Apologetics that we should use and that should be understood as the best approach. 1. Transcendental Argument: This is just an introduction to the presuppositionalist argument known as TAG. TAG stands for the transcendental argument for God’s existence. What is a transcendental argument(TA)? They are arguments that deal with preconditions of knowledge and I think it could be expanded to one that deals with the preconditions for ethics. These are truths that are necessary for other truths to make sense. It means that a certain belief is … Continue reading A little Presup before Dinner

apologetics, Atheism, Dr. Greg Bahnsen, philosophy, PresuppositionalismLeave a comment

Bahnsen Debates

TheSire

Here are the Bahnsen debates that I could find on the internet for free: R.C. Sproul vs Bahnsen: http://www.philvaz.com/SproulBahnsenDebate.mp3 Dr. Bahnsen vs Dr. Stein: Bahnsen vs Smith: Bahnsen Lectures at Westminster: Part 1: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb201_podcast.mp3 Part 2: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb202_copyright.mp3 Part 3: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb203_copyright.mp3 Part 4: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb204_copyright.mp3 Worldviews in Conflict: Part 1: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb101-copyright.mp3 Part 2: http://media1.wts.edu/media/audio/gb102-copyright.mp3 Continue reading Bahnsen Debates

apologetics, Calvinism, Dr. Cornelius Van Til, Epistemology, PresuppositionalismLeave a comment

Van Til and Common Grace

TheSire

A very important insight of Van Til is his notion of Common Grace. Here is William Dennison’s words on Van Til’s notion: Readers of Plato’s dialogues must be sensitive to what literary critical scholars refer to as the “Socratic problem,” that is, the task of separating which concepts belong to Socrates (470/ 469– 399 BC) and which concepts belong to Plato. Although a number of ideas continue to be subject to speculative analysis, many scholars follow Aristotle’s (384– 322 BC) lead, maintaining that the doctrine of Forms that appear in the middle and later dialogues belongs to Plato. 137 For … Continue reading Van Til and Common Grace

apologetics, Epistemology, Jimmy Stephens, philosophy, Presuppositionalism, Steve HaysLeave a comment

Stroud and Van Til

TheSire

My friends Jimmy and Békefi Bálint had a conversation on the issue of his paper: Bosserman on Stroud’s Objection https://philarchive.org/archive/BKEVTV Necessitarian-discord-tact-convo Modest TAG argument: Modest is Hottest: A Brief Response to Bálint Békefi’s “Van Til versus Stroud: Is the Transcendental Argument for Christian Theism Viable?” Is TAG viable? Continue reading Stroud and Van Til

philosophy, Presuppositionalism, theology, TrinityLeave a comment

Trinity and Personality

TheSire

It is sometimes asked if God could include one less or more persons in the Godhead. The obvious answer is in the negative but interesting metaphysical reasons may be behind why. Sufficient meditation on the above observations yields the conclusion that God cannot be any more or any less than three divine persons, without being reduced to a common class with those finite “impersonally-contained” deities mentioned earlier. Any other number of divine persons would create a disparity between the personal contexts and the personal relationships; between the “one” and the “many” of the Godhead. For example, if God were bi-personal— … Continue reading Trinity and Personality

apologetics, Jimmy Stephens, PresuppositionalismLeave a comment

Dubious Deism

TheSire

Necessitarian: Here is a dilemma that ensues on deism. Is the deist god a transcendent creator? If so, then there are no categories, properties, or principles (nothing) he shares in common with creation by which to know of or about him without revelation. Yet, as the creator of the world, the unknowable god would still be the only one to possess an exhaustive concept of the universe, and so would still be indispensable to epistemology. And so, if the deist god is a transcendent creator, knowledge is impossible. Is the deist god an immanent creator? If so, then this god … Continue reading Dubious Deism

apologetics, Calvinism, Epistemology, Jimmy Stephens, Metaphysics, Presuppositionalism, theologyLeave a comment

Cartesian Demons and Christianity

TheSire

I’ll post a recent conversation between Jimmy and an atheist that recently occurred: Ledouche said: How do you know god isn’t an infinite deceiver? Jimmy said: I don’t consider infinite deceivers a possibility. Given the Christian worldview, the existence of the Christian God and His revelation rule out the possibility that there is such a deceiver floating about. God Himself is the original archetype of truth: his perfect self-coherence, self-reflection, and self-containment (by which I mean that all universals about God exhaust the particulars, and all particulars exemplify universals). And God determines the truths of the cosmos; His word is … Continue reading Cartesian Demons and Christianity