Reformed Forum

The Essential Van Til — No Critic of Old Princeton Epistemology?

James J. Cassidy — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 16:46:10 +0000

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 Van Til’s thought.

But I was recently surprised by Van Til while reading Common Grace and the Gospel. There he writes:

As for “Old Princeton Theology” in the booklet on Common Grace, I have scarcely referred to it. Elsewhere I have expressed disagreement with its apologetics. In this I was following Kuyper. But never have I expressed a basic difference with its theology or its basic epistemology. (p. 177)

In context Van Til is defending himself against a number of charges leveled against him by William Masselink. Masselink asserts that Van Til disagrees with Old Princeton (among others such as Kuyper, Hepp, etc.) on the matter of epistemology. And here Van Til retorts that while he does disagree with Old Princeton on apologetics, he does not disagree “with its theology or its basic epistemology.”

This surprised me, in part, because I have always thought of Van Til’s criticism of Old Princeton as a criticism—first and foremost—of its epistemology. Of special interest here is what Van Til says about Warfield’s notion of “right reason” (for example in Defense of the Faith, 350). Is Van Til’s criticism against Warfield’s notion of how the unbeliever knows, or against his approach to the unbeliever apologetically? Or is it both?

I won’t try to answer that question here. But, it seems to me, it is awfully difficult to separate out Warfield’s idea of “right reason” (which seems to be an epistemological issue) from his apologetic method. Is Van Til being completely consistent with himself here?

Again, I raise the question not to answer it here. It seems the answer would be complex enough to warrant a longer study. Or, at the very least, it seems to warrant further discussion.

Now it’s your turn. Thoughts?

Van Til and Barth

Christ the Center — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:00:30 +0000

The group continues their discussion of Cornelius Van Til by examining Van Til’s critique of the theology of Karl Barth. Van Til’s two books The New Modernism and Christianity and Barthianism were extremely influential in developing an understanding of Barth among English-speaking theologians. The discussion brings the critique to the foreground particularly in the light of Barthianism’s dominance in the current evangelical landscape.

Bibliography

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. T&T Clark Ltd, 2005.

Brunner, Emil. Natural theology : comprising “Nature and grace” by Professor Dr. Emil Brunner and the reply “No!” by Dr. Karl Barth. Eugene OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002.

Colyer, E. “How to Read T. F. Torrance.” THEOLOGICAL STUDIES 63 (2002): 400-401.

Gaffin, Richard B., Jr. God’s Word in Servant-Form. Reformed Academic Press.

Grenz, Stanley. Beyond foundationalism : shaping theology in a postmodern context. 1st ed. Louisville Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.

Gunton, Colin. Becoming and being : the doctrine of God in Charles Hartshorne and Karl Barth. Oxford [Eng.] ;;New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Hunsinger, George. How to read Karl Barth : the shape of his theology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Machen, J. Gresham. Christianity and Liberalism. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1923.

McCormack, Bruce. Karl Barth’s critically realistic dialectical theology its genesis and development, 1909-1936. Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.

Muether, John. Cornelius Van Til : Reformed apologist and churchman. Phillipsburg N.J.: P&R Pub., 2007.

Muller, Richard A. “The Barth Legacy: New Athanasius or Origen Redivivus.” The Thomist 54 (1990): 673-704.

Oliphint, K. Revelation and reason : new essays in reformed apologetics. 1st ed. Phillipsburg N.J.: P&R Pub., 2007.

Oliphint, K. Scott. Reasons (for Faith): Philosophy in the Service of Theology. P & R Publishing, 2006.

Van Til, Cornelius. Christianity and Barthianism. P & R Publishing, 2004.

Van Til, Cornelius. Defense of the Faith. P & R Publishing, 1967.

Van Til, Cornelius. The new modernism an appraisal of the theology of Barth and Brunner, Philadelphia Pa.: Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., 1946.

Webster, John. The Cambridge Companion to Karl Barth. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

White, William. Van Til, defender of the faith : an authorized biography. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1979.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy

Cornelius Van Til

Christ the Center — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 05:00:06 +0000

Cornelius Van Til (1895-1987) developed a unique approach to apologetics which stemmed from a solid foundation in reformed theology and a background in Idealist philosophy. His method has been called presuppositionalism, transcendental and covenantal. Many recent theologians have been influenced by Van Til’s thought, especially current faculty members of Westminster Theological Seminary where he so faithfully taught. Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy and Camden Bucey discuss Cornelius Van Til and his tremendous contribution to reformed apologetics.

Bibliography

Bahnsen, Greg L. Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis. P & R Publishing, 1998.

Boa, Kenneth D., and Robert M. Bowman Jr. Faith Has Its Reasons: An Integrative Approach to Defending Christianity (An Apologetics Handbook). Paternoster, 2006.

Cowan, Steven B., Stanley N. Gundry, William Lane Craig, Paul D. Feinberg, Kelly James Clark, John Frame, et al. Five Views on Apologetics. Zondervan, 2000.

Frame, John. Cornelius Van Til : an analysis of his thought. Phillipsburg N.J.: P&R Pub., 1995.

Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. Dutton Adult, 2008.

Muether, John. Cornelius Van Til : Reformed apologist and churchman. Phillipsburg N.J.: P&R Pub., 2007.

Plantinga, Alvin. Warranted Christian Belief. Oxford University Press, USA, 1999.

White, William. Van Til, defender of the faith : an authorized biography. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1979.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jeff Waddington, Jim Cassidy