Sin Excusa: La Escritura, la razón y la Apologetica Presuposicional (Ética y Apologética)

by David Haines, Elson Y. Gutierrez (Translator), Joseph Minich (Contributor)

The twentieth century was unkind to classical Reformed theology. While theological conservatives often blame liberals for undermining traditional Protestant doctrines, the staunchest conservatives and neo-Orthodox also revised several key doctrines. Although Cornelius Van Til developed presuppositional apologetics as an attempt to remain faithful to timeless Christian truth as the Reformed tradition expresses it, he sacrificed the catholic and Reformed understanding of the use of natural revelation in theology and apologetics in the process."The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made...so that they are without excuse," writes the Apostle Paul. Without Excuse seeks to grapple with this indictment and show how Van Til's presuppositionalism fails as an account of natural revelation in light of Scripture, philosophy, and historical theology. It argues that these three sources speak with one voice: creation reveals itself and its God to the believer and unbeliever alike.Contributors: J.T. Bridges, Travis James Campbell, Winfried Corduan, John DePoe, John R. Gillhooly, Nathan Greeley, David Haines, Kurt Jaros, M. Dan Kemp, Bernard James Mauser, Joseph Minich, Andrew Payne, Thomas Schultz, Manfred Svensson.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy

436 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2020

About the author

David Haines holds a BTh. from CTS, an M.A. in philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a PhD. in philosophy from Université Laval. He and his wife live in Minnesota with their 4 children. David is assistant professor of philosophy and theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary, associate professor of philosophy and religion at VIU, lecturer in medieval philosophy at University of Sherbrooke, lecturer in dogmatics and philosophy with the Davenant Hall, associate professor of ethics at SEMBEQ, and has taught History of Christian Apologetics at FTE-Acadia. He is also the founder and was the first president of Association Axiome, an association of French Protestant scholars. His academic research focuses on Ancient and Medieval philosophy, C. S. Lewis, Thomism, and natural theology.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some essays are stronger than others, but this collection goes a long way to exposing the novelty of presuppositionalism from a Reformed point of view. Of course, the presuppositionalists will dismiss it as having not understood presuppositionalism.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is an extensive set of essays that interact with the key features of presuppositional apologetics. The contributions are as follows, with a few comments on where I noted the most usefulness.

1 The Bible, Verification, and First Principles of Reason M. Dan Kemp. This essays addresses the question of circularity, and whether first principles can be proven, or not. It also tackles the question as to whether the Scripture regards itself as the"only source"of the basic principles of all reason.

2 Faith and the Natural Light of Reason Kurt Jaros. This deals with the clarity of natural revelation, seeing Van Til as giving with one hand and taking with the other. The root issue here is the way that CVT applied total inability to "all" knowledge, which is a move away from the standard Reformed view and WCF.

3 The Place of Autonomous Human Reason and Logic in Theology John DePoe.
Van Til claims there is no point in arguing via the uses evidences with the natural man, but then offers a presuppositional argument that the natural man is meant to follow to have the inconsistency of his position demonstrated.
Can the natural man discover truths about God without grace? The Reformed have argued that he can, but that it always falls short of a saving knowledge. Van Til differs.

4 The Structure of Knowledge in Classical Reformed Theology: Turretin and Hodge Nathan Greeley.
This essay addresses Oliphant's treatment of Aquinas. The Reformed view of the place and use of reason is clearly set out from the Post-Reformed, and 19th century men - Hodge et al.

5 Moderate Realism and the Presuppositionalist Confusion of Metaphysics and Epistemology J. T. Bridges.
This is good primer on Thomism. If we are not in some sense "Realists", we are in trouble. Scripture assumes this.

6 Presuppositions in Presuppositionalism and Classical Theism Winfried Corduan

7 Presuppositionalism and Philosophy in the Academy Thomas Schultz
A much needed analysis of the philosophical background to Van Til's method in Idealism. Too often PA is presented as though it were fresh out of the Bible, whilst all other views are defective and contaminated with non-Scriptural sources!

8 The Use of Aristotle in Early Protestant Theology Manfred Svensson
Good historical essay.

9 The Use of Aquinas in Early Protestant Theology David Haines
Another careful historical piece.

10 Classical Theism and Natural Theology in Early Reformed Doctrines of God J. Andrew Payne

11 Van Til’s Transcendental Argument and Its Antecedents John R. Gilhooly
The background of transcendental argumentation from Aristotle to Kant.

12 A Tale of Two Theories: Natural Law in Classical Theism and Presuppositionalism Bernard
James Mauser.


13 The Hand in the Glove: How Classical Theism Reconciles Itself to the Trinity Travis James Campbell
This final piece, explores Van Til's aberrations on the doctrine of the Trinity: One Person, Three Persons etc. The roots of an irrationalism become evident, that jeoperdises human reason and therefore thought.

[Michaël St-Amour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between a critics of the presuppositionnalism and a defense of the Classical/Thomist philosophy; this book offert a variety of different topics gleaning both positions in the scriptural, historical and phylosophic aspects.
My personnal best chapters are:
1. Nathan Greely - the structure of knowledge in Classical Reformed Theology: Turretin and Hodge (which I personally appreciated the part on Hodge, mainly expressed through his systematic)
2. M. Dan Kemp - The Bible, Verification, and first principles of Reason. Specially the defense of autonomous reasoning, digging into a short exegesis of passages of the Scripture.
What I also do like about this book is the variety of the sources, smartly explained on both side, giving an overall view of the subject that gave life to this book.

[Yobber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una crítica a la apologética presuposicional de Van Til. Está escrito a modo de ensayos, cada capítulo escrito por un autor distinto. Hay un examen del legado de Van Til en autores como John Frame y Scot Oliphint, también un contraste con la apologética clásica y una defensa de la teología natural en el pensamiento de Tomás de Aquino. El libro usa conceptos de la lógica y la filosofía, así como terminología de la escolástica reformada. Por lo anterior, es un libro de tono académico y de gran relevancia para la discusión actual acerca del uso que podemos darle a la teología natural y de cuál debe ser nuestro punto de contacto con los no creyentes cuando avanzamos en la tarea de la apologética y evangelización.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously a mixed bag. The essays on the verification principle and the transcendental argument were probably my favorite. I think the chapter on Van Tilian Trinitarianism could have used engagement with Bosserman and Smith. The essays didn't cohere all that well together, and I didn't feel that I came away with a really comprehensive critique of presuppositionalism.

[Andy Dollahite · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. A smattering of engaging material, but even as sympathetic to "Reformed Thomism", large parts seemed inadequate or sloppy. Everyone would benefit from closer engagement with James Anderson as interlocutor too.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book responding to Presuppositoonal apologetics. As is the case with books of essays, some are better than others but it was well done overall.

[Seth Kasten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great treatment of presuppositionalism