Apologetic Sermon Illustration #31: Transcendental Argument illustrated with Anti-Cop Rapper Has Life Saved by Cop

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Point: An argument in the arsenal of Presuppositional apologetics is the Transcendental argument.  John Frame describes apologist Cornelius Van Til’s transcendental argument in the following matter with one of Van Til’s famous illustration:

The non-Christian, then, in Van Til’s famous illustration, is like a child sitting on her father’s lap, slapping his face. She could not slap him unless he supported her. Similarly, the non-Christian cannot carry out his rebellion against God unless God makes that rebellion possible. Contradicting God assumes an intelligible universe and therefore a theistic one.

(Source)

I think what follows below is another illustration in explaining Presuppositional apologetics.

Picture: Over at Breitbart there’s a piece with the following headlines: “Rapper Who Sang About Killing Cops Has Life Saved — By Cops”

Rapper DMX, who once rapped that he “hate[s] cops” and sang about murdering them, was revived by police officers in New York on Monday after falling unconscious due to a suspected drug overdose.

According to TMZ, DMX, real name Earl Simmons, was found unconscious in a parking lot at a Ramada Inn in Yonkers, New York, Monday evening. The rapper reportedly had no pulse and was not breathing, and police immediately began administering CPR.

…

Some of the lyrics of DMX’s songs detail the rapper’s apparent hatred of police. On “Crime Story” from the rapper’s 1998 album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, DMX raps about coming across police officers who are looking for him.

“Run though the hallway, see police, face to face/And being I’m telling you this story, means I caught another case,” DMX raps, referring to catching another murder case. At the end of the song, the rapper enters a police precinct and blows himself up with C4 strapped to his chest.

…

Regardless of the circumstances, it appeared the quick action of the responding police officers was responsible for saving the rapper’s life.

“This was an excellent job by the officers and they definitely saved the life,” Lt. Patrick McCormack told the New York Daily News. “They found him in a lifeless condition with no breathing. They were able to bring back some breathing.”

There’s an irony that someone who raps about killing cops and hate police officers who have had multiple run-ins with them would find himself being saved by one.

POSSIBLE SCENARIO FOR EMPLOYING THIS ILLUSTRATION DURING APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

OPPONENT: I don’t get what you are trying to do.  What’s your point.

CHRISTIAN: I’m trying to show how your worldview is self-refuting and how you actually need God to even justify the tools and argument that you are trying to use against it.  I suppose an illustration would be appropriate.  Have you heard on the news about the Rapper DMX passing out?

OPPONENT: No.

CHRISTIAN: <INSERT ILLUSTRATION> Do you see any irony in the story?

OPPONENT: Yes.

CHRISTIAN: Do you think he was also relying on the services the store provided, in this case their phone?

OPPONENT: Yes.

CHRISTIAN: I think the irony is that DMX who is against police officers ended up having his life saved by an officer.  He owes his very life to an officer–the very person and occupation he hates.  In the same way I see you are doing the same thing, but with God.  You are going against Him and yet at the same time all your life, and experiences in life including rationality, morality, etc., all rely on God, the very God whom you are denying and/or hating.

GO TO PART 32