Psalm 45 Publications

The crystallization of presuppositionalism as an apologetical method is a historic occurrence which has its roots solidly within Reformed thought, and which in fact facilitates the extension of foundational Reformed principles to the defense of the faith. While it may be anachronistic to speak of Calvin, for example, as presuppositional, his writings do evince certain principles, such as the self-authenticating nature of divine revelation, which are foundational to the presuppositional outlook. To substantiate: “For the truth is vindicated in opposition to every doubt, when, unsupported by foreign aid, it has its sole sufficiency in itself” (from chapter 8 of the first book of the Institutes). The ready reception of the presuppositional ideal among many Reformed Christians has been, in my estimation, a largely positive affair. Therefore, having recently observed a new trend toward rejecting presuppositionalism as an apologetic method by discrediting its widely-accepted “father,” Cornelius Van Til, I determined that some thoughts on this particular strain of argument would be in order. Continue Reading

The Nature of Proof

It is universally recognized that proof demands an objective system of criteria by which the thing to be proved is evaluated, and which is external to that object of proof. A thing cannot prove itself, because, before it can be a standard of proof, it must first be solidly established, or proved itself; and if it already be thus established, the need for proof is thereby precluded. In other words, a thing can only be proved by something that is true prior to itself, whether a system of laws, a body of evidence, or any other thing: the system of criteria for evaluation must be established before its object, and must therefore be more fundamental than its object. Continue Reading