Unity among a Diversity of Presuppositional Apologists

Unity is important. There are Bible verses that speaks on the topic of unity: Psalm 133:1, Philippians 2;2 and 1 Peter 3:8.  1 Corinthians 1:10 also talks about not having division.  And in an area like apologetics there’s always the danger of disunity since the nature of apologetics is polemical and sometimes people’s sinful nature with fighting and arguments comes out, and the root of sinful quarrelsome attitude (versus apologetics in a gentle and respectful matter) is pride.

So in this post I want to focus on Unity among a Diversity of Presuppositional Apologists (taught by Cornelius Van Til), though I think there’s implications of how we have unity among other school of apologetics too (and Christians in general).

1. I noticed that some Presuppositionalists are much more skilled with philosophy more than others.  I’m amaze at how some are very good with logical syllogism, analytic philosophy and logical symbols, etc.  While Presuppositional Apologetics’ stress the role of the self-attesting Bible and also a Biblical worldview with one’s apologetics still these guys can sharpen what we are trying to say and argue for and argue against.  Now I’m not one of these guys.  I find it helpful in terms of unity to learn from them.  What they are doing actually challenge me to learn more about formal logic and while I haven’t done a deep dive on a logic textbook yet I pray ahead of time that I will do so.  Speaking of prayer I also pray for these guys to continue to grow in their philosophical skills and yet remain faithful to God in what they are doing. I also let them know I am learning from them.
2. Some presuppositional apologists are quite experts with the Bible.  Here I think I fall into this category more.  But even here there’s diversity.  Some are exegetes with the biblical languages.  Some are into Biblical theology.  And I benefit from others with this bent since there’s a mutual iron sharpening iron and also I learn from them there’s still so much more to learn about the Scriptures!  That’s encouraging.
3. There’s also those who are more bent on systematic theology.  They’ve read systematic theologians like Bavinck, Vos, Berkhof, etc., and are good at thinking in theological categories and distinctions.  I think these guys are important and recent controversies show that its important to be clear and precise with issues like the Trinity, Divine Simplicity, and Trinitarian operations, etc.  (I do think there are recent slanders about Presuppositionalists not believing in historic Christian faith that I and others have constantly refuted time and time again on social media).  So I appreciate these guys.
4. There’s been an increase of people asking how does Presuppositional Apologetics refute false worldviews and other religion, since so much of Van Til, Bahnsen, etc., talks about responding to atheism.  I appreciate guys in other countries who have written and taught on Presuppositional Apologetics refuting other unbelieving worldviews like Neo-Hinduism, Islam, Jehoavh’s Witness, etc.  There will be more need for these guys with counter-cults, etc.  I also pray for more of these guys to come along in the years to come.
5. There’s also those who have quite a presence on Youtube and video format.  I appreciate these individuals as many will have their first encounter about Presuppositional Apologetics from videos.  I personally have been cautious in the past with being on video just so I don’t have problems going overseas, though I have thought about doing this, so I am glad there’s guys doing this.  And I appreciate these guys doing it whether interviewing professors, engaging in debates, or discussions on related topics.
6. Also a big shout-out to the “everyday Joe” and “every day Jane” who are lay people and not pastors, theologians or professors but apply it “to the streets” if you will.  I love seeing people learning and introducing what they learn to others and help answer questions others might have.  That’s so encouraging.  People like that remind me that its not just about how smart and how deep we can get, but how faithful and also to apply what we learn.  They help me a lot more than they realize!

A big part of unity would be praying and encouraging these diverse individuals.  But what drives praying and encouraging would have to be love.  Pray for love.  Then go love the believers.