Dr. Greg Bahnsen
10 articles · 2 topics
Greg Bahnsen (1948–1995) was a Reformed philosopher and apologist who studied under Cornelius Van Til and became the foremost exponent of presuppositional apologetics. His work Always Ready and his famous debate with atheist Gordon Stein helped popularize Van Tillian apologetics for a new generation.
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Beware of Philosophy!
Newport Christian High School has something virtually unique among the various private, Christian schools around the country. It is an extraordinary feature of its required curriculum—a prerequisite for high school graduation which few other schools enforce. NCHS is unique in that it offers a…
Evangelism and Apologetics
The very reason why Christians are put in the position of giving a reasoned account of the hope that is in them is that not all men have faith. Because there is a world to be evangelized (men who are unconverted), there is the need for the believer to defend his faith: Evangelism naturally brings…
Evidential Apologetics: The Right Way
In popular misconception today, the choice of an apologetical method facing a Bible-believing Christian is between arguing presuppositionally or appealing to evidences from history and nature in support of Christianity. But that is entirely wrong. Presuppositional apologetics endorses and indeed…
Presuppositional Procedure
Here then is how the presuppositional (transcendental) method of defending the faith would proceed once the preliminary discussions and clarifications have taken place with the unbeliever-and the two outlooks now come head to head.1 The unbeliever says that he knows that miracles are impossible,…
Presuppositional Reasoning with False Faiths
Presuppositional apologetics as taught by Cornelius Van Til urges the Christian to argue with unbelievers in an “indirect” fashion, doing an internal analysis of the unbeliever’s worldview (his fundamental assumptions about reality, knowledge, and ethics) and comparing it to the worldview revealed…
Ready To Reason
Is it Necessary? A surge of pious agreement overcame me the first time I heard someone confidently assert that “The Word of God no more needs defense than does a lion in a cage. Just let the lion loose, and it will take care of itself!” There seemed something very right about that sentiment. It…
Revelation, Speculation, and Science
It is one of those embarrassing historical ironies that modern science could not have arisen except in the atmosphere of a Christian world-and-life view. Nevertheless, the scientific community today persists in playing the prodigal by assuming an antagonistic stance against the Christianity of…
The Impropriety of Evidentially Arguing for the Resurrection
It is indubitable that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has paramount significance for the history of redemption and for Christian theology (cf. Romans 4:25; 1 Peter 1:3). It is also clear that this resurrection must be held by the biblical Christian as one which took place in calendar time and…
Where the Rubber Hits the Road
Christians in the ancient world knew what it was to have accusations and ridicule directed at them for their religious convictions and practices. The report of Jesus’s resurrection was taken as an idle tale (Luke 24:11), a lie (Matthew 28:13–15), an impossibility (Acts 26:8). For preaching it,…