What do you think?
Rate this book
Christianity and Barthianism
Cornelius Van Til's Christianity and Barthianism continues in the tradition of Machen's Christianity and Liberalism. As the title indicates, Van Til is convinced that Barth's mature theology is as destructive of orthodoxy as early nineteenth and twentieth century Liberalism (or Modernism). In this volume, Van Til analyzes and evaluates Barth's trinitarian theology, christology, notion of time and eternity, his formulation of Geshichte, as well as philosophical influences on Barth's thinking. Offering a critique that was years ahead of its time, Van Til's analysis of Barthianism as fundamentally opposed to historic Reformed theology remains as sound today as it was almost fifty years ago. This text is required reading for those interested in a critical analysis of Barth's theology.
- GenresTheologyChristianity
512 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Cornelius Van Til
149 books122 followersCornelius Van Til, was a Christian philosopher, Reformed theologian, and presuppositional apologist.
Biographical sketch
Born on May 3, 1895, in Grootegast, The Netherlands he was the sixth son of Ite and Klazina Van Til, who emigrated to the United States when "Kees," as he was known to friends, was 10. He grew up helping on the family farm in Highland, Indiana.
Van Til graduated from Calvin College in 1922, receiving a ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1925 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1927. He began teaching at Princeton, but shortly went with the conservative group who founded Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for forty-three years of his life as a professor of apologetics.
He was also a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from the 1930s until his death in 1987, and in that denomination, he was embroiled in a bitter dispute with Gordon Clark over God's incomprehensibility known as the Clark-Van Til Controversy in which, according to John Frame, neither man was at his best and neither quite understood the other's position.
Van Til's thought
Van Til is perhaps best known for the development of a fresh approach to the task of defending the Christian faith. Although trained in traditional methods he drew on the insights of fellow Calvinistic philosophers Vollenhoven and Herman Dooyeweerd to formulate what he viewed as a more consistently Christian methodology. His apologetic focused on the role of presuppositions, the point of contact between believers and unbelievers, and the antithesis between Christian and non-Christian worldviews.
Source: Theopedia
Biographical sketch
Born on May 3, 1895, in Grootegast, The Netherlands he was the sixth son of Ite and Klazina Van Til, who emigrated to the United States when "Kees," as he was known to friends, was 10. He grew up helping on the family farm in Highland, Indiana.
Van Til graduated from Calvin College in 1922, receiving a ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1925 and his PhD from Princeton University in 1927. He began teaching at Princeton, but shortly went with the conservative group who founded Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for forty-three years of his life as a professor of apologetics.
He was also a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from the 1930s until his death in 1987, and in that denomination, he was embroiled in a bitter dispute with Gordon Clark over God's incomprehensibility known as the Clark-Van Til Controversy in which, according to John Frame, neither man was at his best and neither quite understood the other's position.
Van Til's thought
Van Til is perhaps best known for the development of a fresh approach to the task of defending the Christian faith. Although trained in traditional methods he drew on the insights of fellow Calvinistic philosophers Vollenhoven and Herman Dooyeweerd to formulate what he viewed as a more consistently Christian methodology. His apologetic focused on the role of presuppositions, the point of contact between believers and unbelievers, and the antithesis between Christian and non-Christian worldviews.
Source: Theopedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 17, 2015
I read this book because Barth is making a sizeable impression on a whole new generation of churched youth. This is due in large part to the likes of Rob Bell, Ann Voskamp, and others (including the wildly popular Gospel Coalition) who are popular with the young adult crowd. I have read quite a bit of Barth including his Dogmatics while in college (not as a class assignment but because I was attracted to his theology). Barth is profound in many ways and has a way of speaking to the soul in ways that very few have accomplished. This is precisely what makes him so dangerous. Van Til recognized the danger well before anyone else and wrote this incredible book in response to his theology.
While Barth claimed to be a reformed thinker, he denied many tenants of the reformed faith including an interesting twist on the doctrine of election. According to Barth, election is not an absolute decree because to make it absolute is to raise it above God's saving act in Christ. Election is then redefined as God's "yes" in the person of Christ to reconcile all men to himself. Christ then becomes the elect God and the elect man. As the elect God, Barth says he elects all humanity in himself. As the elect man, Barth says that Christ elects all who are in him. Non believers then are also elect in Christ, but not yet aware of their election. This has led to the charge that he is a universalist, something which Barth denied. To Barth it is equally as wrong to affirm universalism as it is to deny it because the question is beyond the duty of the church to speculate.
Van Til was rightly critical of Barth, not only in referring to himself as Reformed, but in his use of Scripture and understanding of the word of God (another long topic).
This book is great for those desiring to understand the presuppositions of many of today's churched youth. While many have not heard of Barth (though this is changing) many have already been influenced by his ideas, which are taught in most major seminaries and bible colleges today.
While Barth claimed to be a reformed thinker, he denied many tenants of the reformed faith including an interesting twist on the doctrine of election. According to Barth, election is not an absolute decree because to make it absolute is to raise it above God's saving act in Christ. Election is then redefined as God's "yes" in the person of Christ to reconcile all men to himself. Christ then becomes the elect God and the elect man. As the elect God, Barth says he elects all humanity in himself. As the elect man, Barth says that Christ elects all who are in him. Non believers then are also elect in Christ, but not yet aware of their election. This has led to the charge that he is a universalist, something which Barth denied. To Barth it is equally as wrong to affirm universalism as it is to deny it because the question is beyond the duty of the church to speculate.
Van Til was rightly critical of Barth, not only in referring to himself as Reformed, but in his use of Scripture and understanding of the word of God (another long topic).
This book is great for those desiring to understand the presuppositions of many of today's churched youth. While many have not heard of Barth (though this is changing) many have already been influenced by his ideas, which are taught in most major seminaries and bible colleges today.
Displaying 1 of 1 review