Customer Reviews

Van Til's Apologetic

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Greg Bahnsen's final book is a combination of select readings from many different loci of Cornelius Van Til's writings and a running commentary on those texts by Bahnsen. The Van Til readings are all organized topically and they are systematically explained by Bahnsen. Greg Bahnsen offers some insightful comments on both interpreting and applying Van Til's unique brand of apologetics to contemporary society. Fans of Van Til will especially appreciate Bahnsen's interaction with Van Til's many critics. Both those who oppose presuppositionalism and those who advocate it will be forced to reckon with Bahnsen's authoritative presentation of that school of thought. Anyone who is serious about apologetics in general, and presuppositionalism in particular, must have this book! It is an invaluable resource for all would-be Christian apologists.

This book cannot be ignored by the Christian Defender. I was skeptical and had questions about Van Til's Transcendental Argument, but this book cleared it all up. In fact, it changed my apologetical methodology. I am no longer evidential in my approach, but presuppositional! Unfortunately, this method is deviant amongst the Christian circle. Thank God, that it is growing. The evidential Christian has much to answer to when reading this book!

As a seeker of the faith, I often read books that grasp the Aquinas type of theology. That is, books that support the Cosmological, Teleological, and Ontological argument for the existence of God. But in so using these arguments, one must be neutral in their approach. Is it indeed MORAL to be neutral in your apologetical approach? Read the book? Is the existence of God probable in which so many evidential apologist say it is? Read the book. Is Van Til's approach fideistic? Read the book. Is Natural Theology Biblical? Read the book.

Christian, if you are serious about apologetics, then you have to get this book! It's worth every penny.

Dr. Bahnsen is the best defender and debater on this apologetic. I recommend that you listen to his debate with Dr. Gordon Stein.

I am almost finished reading Van Til's Apologetic for the second time. And even though there is a lot to absorb I am slowly but surely coming to a greater understanding of Van Til's approach to defending truth against pretended atheism. There is no doubt that God's Word is sufficient of itself to stand as the self-testifying communication of God to man. Bahnsen does a great job of explaining what Van Til taught. He meticulously and graciously deals with various misconceptions that have been held by Van Til's critics. The truth that Van Til so ably communicated is that without God --the Triune God of christianity-- absolutely nothing is intelligible; nothing can be made sense of. God is the ultimate unifier of all that is, and apart from Him there is nothing but irrationalism. There is so much that can be said for this book, but I would like to recommend it as a book that will really help to make you courageous for Christ's kingdom and glory.
This is a difficult book, but like puzzle pieces coming together you will begin to grasp its content better the more you read it.

Reading this book has been nothing less than 'epoch-making.' Dr. Van Til's writings are voluminous, spanning 3 feet on a book shelf when combined. Greg Bahnsen has done the church a great service by compiling, and systematically organizing some of Van Til's key writings into about 3 inches of shelf space (764 pp). The book is almost an anthology with running commentary by Bahnsen. Bahnsen usually opens each section with an intro, which is followed by many sections of Van Til's writings pertaining to the relevant topic, with lots of footnotes from Bahnsen analyzing, adding, and answering critics along the way. Van Til can be hard to read in places, as he is very well read, and expects his reader to be familiar with the history of Western philosophy. Bahnsen is very helpful here in the footnotes. The book has 9 chapters:
1. An Introduction to Van Til's Apologetic
2. The Task of Apologetics
3. A Simple Summary and Illustration
4. The Epistemological Side of Apologetics
5. The Apologetical Side of Epistemology
6. The Psychological Complexities of Unbelief
7. The Presuppositional Apologetical Argument
8. Comparisons and Criticisms of Apologetical Methods
9. Concluding Summary: How to Defend the Faith
It is saddening to know that this book has not and probably will not gain much of a hearing outside Presbyterian circles. Van Til really is a brilliant gift to the church and was crucial in the 'Reformation of Christian Apologetics.' One could not ask for a higher view of Scripture. Van Til took the lordship of Christ seriously, especially concerning the realm of knowledge.

--The gospel of the self-authenticating God speaking through Christ in Scripture offers man salvation, not only for his life, but for his science and philosophy and theology as well. (571)
--Christianity alone is reasonable for men to hold. It is wholly irrational to hold any other position than that of Christianity. Christianity alone does not slay reason on the altar of `chance.' (730)
--Every Evangelical, as a sincere Christian is at heart a Calvinist. But witnessing is a matter of the head as well as the heart. If the world is to hear a consistent testimony for the Christian faith, it is the Calvinist who must give it. (582)
--So in presuppositional apologetics we seek to "remove the enemy's foundation" by reducing his worldview to absurdity, thereby rendering the claims that constitute his case against the gospel unintelligible and demonstrating the necessity of the Christian worldview if we are to make sense of argumentation about reasoning about, and interpretation of, any element of human experience. (111)
--It is therefore mandatory that Reformed theologians urge their fellow Protestants everywhere to call upon modern man to interpret his life in terms of the book of God and therefore in terms of the God of the book. (713)

Although large in volume, you'll find it an easy andstraightforward read (at least I did). This is college-level readingthough.

I'm a bit disturbed by how some have critiqued the author Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen. Personally, I don't see how Bahnsen misrepresented the Roman Catholic faith in his debate with Matatics. I would challenge you (the reader) to get a copy of this debate and see who really misrepresented who. Furthermore, I don't think that Bahnsen's critique on Dispensationalism is mistaken. In fact there's a book he wrote (with Dr. Ken Gentry) entitled "House Divided" (available at Amazon) where he goes straight to the issue of wheter Israel is distinct from the church or not (and then some). Besides, it depends on which form of Dispensationalism you're talking about. For instance, there is Progressive Dispensationalism.

Although Bahnsen (and Van Til) disagrees on the issue of Natural Theology with John Frame, would it hurt to say that Frame was wrong? Because (in my opinion) he was. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how because I don't have the room to, but you can get Bahnsen's critique on Frame.

I'll grant that Roman Catholics and Classical (and Evidential) apologists can use the presuppositional method, but there has to be a compromise in theology. If you get to the nitty gritty both methods oppose each other. As Van Til said, "What will the apologist do? If he is a Roman Catholic or Arminian he will tone down the nature of Christianity to some extent to make it appear that the consitent application of his friend's neutral method will lead to an acceptance of Christian theism after all. But if he is a Calvinist this way is not open to him (561, Van Til's Apologetic)." Only the Reformers can consistently hold to the presuppositional method. It is the most Calvinistic and the most Biblical. I recommend you get a copy of Bahnsen's debate with Dr. R.C. Sproul on different aplogetical methodology. And if you want to see how one can apply the presuppositional method to non-Christians get a hold of his debate with Dr. Gordon Stein or Dr. Edward Tabash or Dr. Michael Martin (actually Martin declined to debate openly with Bahnsen). Or read Van Til's essay "Why I believe In God."

Read Van Til's Apologetic, highlight the important parts, use in in your philosphical term papers, use it in religion, and in college Sunday school, or read it for pleasure... you'll never forget the dictum: "Antitheism presupposes theism"!

Dr. Greg Bahnsen is the best in defending the presuppositional and transcendental apologetic methodology. Dr. Cornelius Van Til who is probably the most brilliant Christian thinker of the twentieth century has surely picked the right man to further this important philosophy. Although Bahnsen has passed away, he has left us with a treasure of knowledge in this book. This is indispensable reading because it's the best and most faithful book on Van Til's thoughts!

I encourage you to get Bahnsen's debates with Gordon Stein and Edward Tabash and George Smith (and the controversy generated with Michael Martin). Furthermore, Bahnsen's friend Michael Butler has debated Dan Barker and Douglas Krueger. Both debates worth getting. If VAN TIL'S APOLOGETIC is too sophisticated for some of you then Bahnsen's book ALWAYS READY would be perfect for you.

Cornelius Van Till (1895-1987) is best known today for his dispute with Gordon Clark concerning the comprehensibility of God and his inspiration for many thinkers in the Christian Reconstruction movement (although I gather Van Til was not in agreement with the politics of men such as R.J. Rushdoony).

Van Til was an apologist for Christianity and an accomplished philosopher. He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he studied under Philip Wheelwright. His apologetic system is often called "presuppositionalism" and he developed it in numerous books, articles and syllabi.

The central problem in understanding Van Til is the nature of his writings. He wasn't the clearest of writers and his works tend to get bogged-down into lengthy summaries of other schools and thinkers. His insights are scattered throughout multiple book and if your goal is to understand the basics of his thought, no particular book is well suited. Even his introductory THE DEFENSE OF THE FAITH contains a 25-page excursus on a critique of his thought by J. Oliver Buswell, which is particularly out of place given that Van Til's argument is that Buswell didn't understand him.

Fortunately, the late Greg Bahnsen has distilled Van Til's fundamental ideas from the vast corpus of Van Til's writings and arranged them topically with introductions. Bahnsen was an orthodox Van Tillian, and he interacts with John Frame's semi-revisionist approach to Van Til. There is a particularly good section containing Van Til's critique of Gordon Clark. Bahnsen's introduction is quite helpful because he shows the areas of overlap between these two men and then lets Van Til's critique of Clark speak for itself.

If you are a Christian, then you want to acquire, study, and know this book. There is so much apologetic ammunition in here that you will be thoroughly equipped to not only give a reason for the hope that you have, but also demonstrate how the fool says in his heart that there is no God.

What will you learn from this book? This book covers all of the basics and then some of Van Til's apologetic method, presuppositional apologetics. In here you will learn about Christian metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics (only indirectly the later). This may initially sound overwhelming to one not familiar with these terms, but you will not only be familiar with these words, but you will understand how practical a working idea of these terms are for your life and apologetics. These are THE issues in apologetics. As you read and comprehend what Bahnsen and Van Til are saying, then you will be equipped to analyze arguments in light of a given world-view. The nature of this apologetic is two-fold: giving an answer for the hope that we have (laying out the Christian view of things) and demonstrating the folly of the non-believer saying there is no God.

Who should read this book? I guess every Christian and non-Christian, but that isn't realistic. If you are a minister, college student, or Christian that wants to be thoroughly equipped, then you want to acquire this book. Parents, purchase it for your children; layman, purchase it for your pastors; and students, purchase it for your campus ministers.

Why this book? Simply, it covers what is necessary for apologetics, especially in a postmodern age. There is an element of technicality, but I don't believe it is beyond the reach of your average college student, especially the way that Bahnsen explains everything prior to giving you Van Til's excerpts from his works and providing appropriate footnotes where Van Til's own wording may not be clear or one unfamiliar with philosophy may need some help.

This is a great review and analysis of Van Til's philosophy written by one of his most brilliant and articulate students. The publishers have done the Christian Church a tremendous service by finishing and publishing this book after Dr. Bahnsen's untimely death. There are many who criticize Van Til for various reasons. The empiricists call him a fideist and the disciples of Clark believe he wasn't really a presuppositionalist. I think Bahnsen, through his extended quotations and analysis, answers these charges well. One of the more accurate critiques of Van Til is that he is not readable (I can attest that he is not easily read and understood). However, Bahnsen is, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a student of Christian apologetics, is interested in one of the greatest apologists who ever served the Christian Church, or simply wants to develop a better understanding of what a consistent, biblical Christian worldview should look like, from epistemology to how it interacts with competing worldviews (and defeats them). A very good read.

I personally that this is one of the most well done books out there when it comes to understanding Van Til. When Van Til wrote his two largest books (on epistemology, and on apologetics), Van Til writes as if you, the reader, are in a master of divinity program. What Greg Bahson does, one of the greatest theologians and apologists of his time, is take Van Til's works and explain them to the reader who is either 1) unfamiliar with Van Til's works, or 2) wants to better understand Van Til's basic principles of presuppositional apologetics.
Van Til is explained in such a fascinating way, telling the reader the most basics of Van Til's presuppositional apologetics, and even delving a little further.
Although there is, of course, the Greg Bahson influence when he makes a quick note in the favour of reconstructionism, twisting Van Til's theonomy and autonomy excerpt located on Page 21, Note 65 (reconstructionism did not exist when Van Til made that statement), the entire work is done very well otherwise.
This book provides a simpler insight to Van Til's complicated works, as well as some of Van Til's personal history located at the beginning of the book.
In the end, this is an excellent work. Van Til's words in these works speak the authority he had back when he was alive. I give this book a 5 out of 5 rating. Not only is this Greg Bahson's best work (my person opinion), but this is also one of the greatest explanations of the best of presuppositional apologetics. Van Til.