I know it has been a while, but with finishing school, I have had minimal time to actually sit down and read. But, here I am, back to take another crack at another book. This will be a bit different than my first book, as I will go more in-depth, due to the fact that the previous book was mostly verses. Now, without further adieu, let's get into this!
Christian Apologetics: Introduction
BASICS
As the title suggests, this book is all about apologetics, and no; not the proper way to say "I'm sorry." Rather, Apologetics is being able to defend your beliefs; it is knowing what you believe and why you believe it. This is a very crucial aspect of the Christian life, for there are many non-believers who would like to know why you are a Christian, and it is important that we "know how we ought answer every man" {Col. 4:6}. Many theologians have dedicated many years to researching the proper way to defend the faith. Van Til was one such man.
"[Van Til] graduated from Calvin College (A.B., 1922), Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1924; Th.M., 1925) and Princeton University (Ph.D. 1927). He served as the pastor of the Christian Reformed Church in Spring Lake, MI, 1927-28 and was instructor of apologetics at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1928-29. He was professor of apologetics at Westminster, 1929-72. He held an honorary professorship at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, in 1938; the Th.D. (honoris causa) from the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa; and the D.D. from Reformed Episcopal Seminary, Philadelphia. He was a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from 1936 until his death. Van Til was also instrumental in the founding of Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy, serving as the president of the board....Van Til's published writings include The New Modernism (Presbyterian & Reformed, 1946), The Defense of the Faith (P&R, 1955) and Christianity and Barthianism (P&R, 1962), plus several syallabi and numerous reviews and articles." [1]
OVERVIEW
The introduction to this book is very well laid out. It is written by the editor, Mr. William Edgar, and is a beautifully crafted first step into the topic of apologetics; more specifically, presuppositional apologetics. Mr. Edgar goes into detail about the basics of this viewpoint, and prepares the reader for the topics to come. Overall, this is a very well-crafted intro
THOUGHTS
Again, the books that I read are very Reformed, so the information given will be from that point of view. That aside, for me this is a topic that I have wanted to tackle for quite some time. How DOES one go about defending his faith? Can you prove the existence of God based on facts? These and many more questions I hope will be answered sometime during this read-through.
CHOICE QUOTES [2]
- "Presuppositional apologetics asks that we but recognize that all ideas and arguments come within a basic arrangement, a framework within which they make sense"
- "Even our self-knowledge is rooted in the knowledge of God"
- "Facts do come in a framework. Religious and philosophical faith commitments cannot be avoided. Paradigm shifts have something in common with conversion."
- "Van Til argues not for subjective faith, nor the right to be different, but for objective truth, provable truth!"
What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with the quotes above? Comment what you think!
[1] -- Quote taken from "http://www.vantil.info/articles/obituary.html"
[2] -- Van Til, Cornelius, Christian Apologectics, P&R Publishing, 1976,2003, pgs 1-16
Christian Apologetics: Introduction
BASICS
As the title suggests, this book is all about apologetics, and no; not the proper way to say "I'm sorry." Rather, Apologetics is being able to defend your beliefs; it is knowing what you believe and why you believe it. This is a very crucial aspect of the Christian life, for there are many non-believers who would like to know why you are a Christian, and it is important that we "know how we ought answer every man" {Col. 4:6}. Many theologians have dedicated many years to researching the proper way to defend the faith. Van Til was one such man.
"[Van Til] graduated from Calvin College (A.B., 1922), Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1924; Th.M., 1925) and Princeton University (Ph.D. 1927). He served as the pastor of the Christian Reformed Church in Spring Lake, MI, 1927-28 and was instructor of apologetics at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1928-29. He was professor of apologetics at Westminster, 1929-72. He held an honorary professorship at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, in 1938; the Th.D. (honoris causa) from the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa; and the D.D. from Reformed Episcopal Seminary, Philadelphia. He was a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from 1936 until his death. Van Til was also instrumental in the founding of Philadelphia-Montgomery Christian Academy, serving as the president of the board....Van Til's published writings include The New Modernism (Presbyterian & Reformed, 1946), The Defense of the Faith (P&R, 1955) and Christianity and Barthianism (P&R, 1962), plus several syallabi and numerous reviews and articles." [1]
OVERVIEW
The introduction to this book is very well laid out. It is written by the editor, Mr. William Edgar, and is a beautifully crafted first step into the topic of apologetics; more specifically, presuppositional apologetics. Mr. Edgar goes into detail about the basics of this viewpoint, and prepares the reader for the topics to come. Overall, this is a very well-crafted intro
THOUGHTS
Again, the books that I read are very Reformed, so the information given will be from that point of view. That aside, for me this is a topic that I have wanted to tackle for quite some time. How DOES one go about defending his faith? Can you prove the existence of God based on facts? These and many more questions I hope will be answered sometime during this read-through.
CHOICE QUOTES [2]
- "Presuppositional apologetics asks that we but recognize that all ideas and arguments come within a basic arrangement, a framework within which they make sense"
- "Even our self-knowledge is rooted in the knowledge of God"
- "Facts do come in a framework. Religious and philosophical faith commitments cannot be avoided. Paradigm shifts have something in common with conversion."
- "Van Til argues not for subjective faith, nor the right to be different, but for objective truth, provable truth!"
What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with the quotes above? Comment what you think!
[1] -- Quote taken from "http://www.vantil.info/articles/obituary.html"
[2] -- Van Til, Cornelius, Christian Apologectics, P&R Publishing, 1976,2003, pgs 1-16
