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Atheism and presuppositional apologetics (view source)
Revision as of 12:23, March 4, 2017
, 12:23, March 4, 2017→Presuppositional Apologetics and the claim that atheists know God exists
During his debate with Dr. Gordon Stein, Bahnsen pointed out that the [[atheist worldview]] cannot account for the [[laws of logic]], but the Christian worldview can.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM Greg Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein: The Great Debate (FULL)]</ref><ref>[http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/ "The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"]</ref> See also: [[Transcendental argument for the existence of God]]
During his debate with Dr. Gordon Stein, Bahnsen pointed out that the [[atheist worldview]] cannot account for the [[laws of logic]], but the Christian worldview can.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM Greg Bahnsen vs. Gordon Stein: The Great Debate (FULL)]</ref><ref>[http://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2006/12/05/greg-bahnsen-vs-gordon-stein-the-great-debate/ "The Great Debate: Does God Exist?"]</ref> See also: [[Transcendental argument for the existence of God]]
== presuppositional apologetics and zntitheism presupposes theism ==
Dr. James N. Anderson writes:
{{Cquote|"By this rejection of God, agnosticism has embraced complete relativism. Yet this relativism must furnish a basis for the rejection of the absolute. Accordingly, the standard of self-contradiction taken for granted by antitheistic thought presupposes the absolute for its operation. Antitheism presupposes theism. One must stand upon the solid ground of theism to be an effective antitheist."
([http://www.reformed.org/apologetics/sce/cvt_sce_contents.html Cornelius Van Til, A Survey of Christian Epistemology], p. xi)
“Antitheism presupposes theism” is one of Van Til’s best lines, because it captures in a nutshell the genius of presuppositional apologetics. It’s not merely that theism is true; it’s not merely that theism can be shown to be true; it’s that theism can be shown to be true by any attempt to prove it false. One can prove theism to be false only if, as a matter of fundamental metaphysical fact, theism is true — which is just to say that antitheism is self-defeating.
The [http://www.proginosko.com/2011/12/the-lord-of-non-contradiction/ paper I co-authored with Greg Welty gives] one line of argument (there are others) in support of Van Til’s pithy and provocative slogan. As we conclude:
[I]f the laws of logic are metaphysically dependent on God, it follows that every logical argument presupposes the existence of God. What this means is that every sound theistic argument not only proves the existence of God but also presupposes the existence of God, insofar as that argument depends on logical inference. Indeed, every unsound theistic argument presupposes the existence of God. And the same goes, naturally, for every antitheistic argument. The irony must not be missed: one can logically argue against God only if God exists.
The last statement is really nothing more than a paraphrase of Van Til. Moreover, our paper sheds light on how one might understand the term ‘presupposes’ in Van Til’s famous statement. (I don’t claim that this is exactly how Van Til meant it, but I do claim that it’s consonant with his overall apologetic vision.) We have argued that the laws of logic should be understood as divine thoughts — more precisely, as divine thoughts about the essential relations between divine thoughts. Thus the relationship between God and the laws of logic is none other than the relationship between God and God’s thoughts.<ref>[http://www.proginosko.com/2011/12/antitheism-presupposes-theism-and-so-does-every-other-ism/ Antitheism Presupposes Theism (And So Does Every Other ‘Ism’)]</ref>}}
== Presuppositional Apologetics and the claim that atheists know God exists ==
== Presuppositional Apologetics and the claim that atheists know God exists ==