Apologetics Sermon Illustration #53: Spin the Bottle for Multiple Choice Homework and Atheism’s Destruction of Knowledge

GO TO PART 52

Point: Cornelius Often many anti-theists and proponents of non-Christian religions that reject the sovereignty of God would believe that chance is ultimate.  Cornelius Van Til the father of Presuppositional apologetics believes a chance universe is self-defeating of knowledge in which chance makes everything unintelligible as he stated in this excerpt

So hopeless and senseless a picture must be drawn of the natural man’s methodology based as it is upon the assumption that time or chance is ultimate. On his assumption his own rationality is a product of chance. On his assumption even the laws of logic which he employs are products of chance. The rationality and purpose that he may be searching for are still bound to be products of chance. So then the Christian apologist, whose position requires him to hold that Christian theism is really true and as such must be taken as the presupposition which alone makes the acquisition of knowledge in any field intelligible, must join his “friend” in his hopeless gyrations so as to point out to him that his efforts are always in vain. (Source: Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (P&R, 1972), p. 102.)

Van Til’s own illustration in the famous quote was the following:

Suppose we think of a man made of water in an infinitely extended and bottomless ocean of water. Desiring to get out of water, he makes a ladder of water. He sets this ladder upon the water and against the water and then attempts to climb out of the water. (Source)

But I think the following illustration below would be a helpful supplement to explain why a chance ultimate universe makes knowledge irrational and unintelligible.

Picture:

Imagine a middle school kid doing a multiple choice homework.  He has an usual method of finding out the answer to these questions.  He plays “spin the bottle” and what letters the bottle points to he writes the answer down.  He thinks doing this he is able to know the answer.  Would anyone think the child truly is learning?  No, his answer is a product of chance.

Now let’s say the child has a question who is the third president of the United States.  There’s four possible answers given.  Choice A is George Washington.  Choice B is Thomas Jefferson.  Choice C is George Bush.  Choice D is Abraham Lincoln.  The answer is Thomas Jefferson.  The child has papers he wrote A, B, C and D.  He is going to “learn” and find out the answer by “spinning the bottle” to see what letters it points to.  He spins the bottle and the answer is on B, Thomas Jefferson. Would anyone say the child have “learned” or truly “know” that Thomas Jefferson is the President of the United States?  Of course not since his answer is a product of chance.  It just happened to land on “Thomas Jefferson.” Here we see that one of the important aspect of truly knowing something is that one came to the conclusion according to proper methods as oppose to mere chance.  This is an illustration of how methods based upon chance destroys knowledge.  How much more problematic is a worldview that assert that behind every aspect of attaining knowledge is the fury of chance.  Chance melts away knowledge like a bright sun to an ice cube.  Even if it so happen that the right conclusion was reached, chance has reduce every method of knowledge to a game of dice.

POSSIBLE SCENARIO FOR EMPLOYING THIS ILLUSTRATION DURING APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

NON-CHRISTIAN: Can you explain to me why you keep on thinking an atheistic worldview destroys knowledge?

CHRISTIAN: Let me try.  You don’t believe the universe is the result of God creating it right?

NON-CHRISTIAN: No.

CHRISTIAN: So the universe therefore was not purposely created by a Person in your view.  That is, the universe’ ultimate explanation is chance, in that it is unguided, and non-purposeful.  Now let me mention a scenario.  <INSERT ILLUSTRATION>.  Do you think the child who plays spin the bottle to solve his multiple choice truly know the answer he writes down?

NON-CHRISTIAN: No.

CHRISTIAN: Why is that?

NON-CHRISTIAN: The answer he got was arrived by chance.

CHRISTIAN: Likewise with your worldview that believes in a chance universe reducing all attempts of knowledge as unintelligible.  That is because chance in a chance universe reduces the methods and tools for knowledge as irrational.

 

GO TO PART 54

Advertisement