June 14, 2012 by SLIMJIM
There are two podcasts out there of note:
1.) Introduction to Presuppositionalism with Dr. James Anderson with the original page here and the link to the audio here
2.) Vern Poythress’ interview about his latest book on Inerrancy and Worldview can be heard here.
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Thanks for linking to these. Listened to both of them – really excellent.
Praise the Lord! Thanks for your feedback on the podcasts. I’m grateful for Poythress and Anderson’s contribution towards theology and apologetics.
[…] MP3 Podcasts on Presuppositional Apologetics- I’ve been prepping a post on presuppositional apologetics for a while now, and was delighted to find these discussions of the topic. […]
Given some of Anderson’s recent work–I’m thinking of his “Lord of Noncontradiction,” authored with Greg Welty–I don’t think he understands presuppositional apologetics. He is very able in the realm of philosophy (formal transcendental argumentation, stuff like that), but I get the distinct impression that the theological substructure of presuppositional apologetics hasn’t benefited from his attention. For one thing, in that paper the Trinity doesn’t figure at all in his transcendental argumentation. That’s a dead giveaway–he’s mssing the best stuff.
Hey Nate, I have to say that I appreciate much of what you have to say over at Reformed Forum when it comes to “Philosophy for Theologians” and the rest of the guys in the show. Do you think Anderson’s article (LoN) omission of certain aspect of Presuppositional apologetics has a lot more to do with his attempt of tailoring that paper for journal requirements rather than the case of him not understanding Presuppositonalism? I do agree to some extent with you that the essay (from memory) was not as distinctively Presuppositional or Covenantal as much as I would expect it to be.
By the way, a side question for you brother: How is the Free University of Amsterdam? Are they still true to their theological convictions of the past–where are they now theologically?
In my opinion, “Lord of Noncontradiction” is a piece of theology that no confessionally Reformed, let alone Van Tillian presuppositionalist, should have written. By natural theology I mean theological fiction. Natural theology never truly speaks about God, and nor do Anderson and Welty in that article. Put it this way: since natural theology is theology by reason without the aid of revelation, strictly speaking it never uses the word “God” truthfully. NT just isn’t about God, as much as we want it to be, as much as it might look like it is. It may echo–even verbatim reproduce–revealed theology and theology by good and necessary consequence drawn from Scripture. But since it is based on an arevelational theological method, it can never truly refer to God, but only to finite false gods. This is a first and very basic fact of Van Tillian presuppositionalism, and even of Reformed theology itself. Put it this way, if I utter the Shahadah in Arabic, without understanding a word of what I am saying, will I have spoken or confessed the Shahadah? No, because my utterance is not grounded in true understanding, but only in, say, a grasp of the mechanics of making those particular sounds in Arabic. I would characterize the truth value of natural theology in a similar way. “Lord of Noncontradiction” demonstrates a troubling disregard for this most basic fact of theological knowledge or theological method, from a Reformed point of view. I find it just weird that an RTS professor has claimed to reason his way up to heaven.
As for the Free, I live in Philly, while I work through the VU. I’m no expert on what goes on there, nor on 20th century Dutch Reformed theology. In fact, my understanding of the history of Dutch Reformed theology is embarrassingly weak. I can tell you very simply though that it is not Kuyper’s and Bavinck’s theology (Bavinck was at Kampen, though, not at Amsterdam) anymore. These days, you can find just about anything you want at the VU, as far as I understand, but I haven’t come across the confessional fortitude of guys like Machen and Van Til.
Thanks
You’re right, Presuppositional apologetics is more than a form of Transcendental argument from the laws of non-contradiction, reason, etc. There’s a larger theological foundation that must be taken into account in how we do apologetics if it is going to be VanTillian.
Yeah Jim, that’s exactly right. God is the a se, triune, self-existing creator who has graciously revealed himself to the finite sinner. I think that just has to be the point of view from which to operate. Thanks
Hello Nate,
Regarding your schooling at Free, do you have to spend certain amount of time in Holland or you can complete the whole program while residing in Philly?
Hi Andy,
That depends on the student and on the advisor. Most people have to go for at least 6 months, some advisors do not accepts external students at all.