It is often assumed that Karl Barth’s thought is the antithesis of medieval scholasticism. It is true that Barth is exceedingly critical of Aquinas. But does Barth offer us a better theological program than that offered in Scholasticism? Van Til…
The Essential Van Til — No Critic of Old Princeton Epistemology?
I am always edified when I read Van Til. I am also always challenged to conform my thinking to the Holy Scriptures and the Reformed faith. But I am not often surprised. That is a testament to the consistency of…
The Essential Van Til — The Pastor and Systematic Theology
Who says Van Til is impractical? I would argue that Van Til in all his writing always has an eye towards the church. All of his theologizing, all of his thoughts about apologetics, has a view toward the church and…
The Essential Van Til — The Neo-Orthodox View of the Knowledge of God
In his writings, Van Til used what has now become a defunct moniker to describe an early 20th century theological movement surrounding Karl Barth and Emil Brunner. That moniker is “neo-orthodox.” Space prevents us from getting into a history of…
The Essential Van Til — As Suchness
Going hand-in-hand with what we said in a previous post about rendering God not God, Van Til points up how unbelieving thought assumes a neutral view of reality, and in so doing renders every aspect of reality as a final…
The Essential Van Til — God not God
Van Til is a master at exegeting unbelief. This is helpful for apologetics. If we do not understand the unbeliever in a biblical way, inevitably our approach to defending the faith will be unbiblical.[1] Therefore, it is very important to…
The Essential Van Til — The Centrality of God
We at the Reformed Forum have a burning desire to see Christ as preeminent in all things. We believe that the Scriptures reveal to us Christ, from Genesis to Revelation. Therefore, the ministry of the pulpits of Christ’s church are…
The Essential Van Til – The Antithesis Between Believer and Unbeliever
Following Kuyper and Bavinck, Van Til so emphasized the antithesis between believer and unbeliever that many have concluded that Van Til cuts the unbeliever off from any point of contact whatsoever. Van Til’s system has been caricatured as one in…
The Essential Van Til – Introduction and the Trinity
I’ve come again, afresh, to the writings of Cornelius Van Til. Lord willing, my plan is to compose a monograph on Van Til’s critique of Karl Barth over the next several years. In light of relentless criticism, from both Barthians…
Man’s Freedom within the Sovereign Plan of God
Today we welcome Daniel Ragusa, to speak about the Westminster Standards and their teaching of the self-sufficient and self-contained triune God of Scripture. Ragusa begins with Westminster Confession of Faith 3.1: God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise…
