By What Standard? An Analysis of the Philosophy of Cornelius Van Til
Overview
R.J. Rushdoony’s first book, published originally in 1959, gives an analysis of the philosophy of Cornelius Van Til.
Central to this study is the belief that the presuppositions of human thought in every field must be basically one in order to arrive at any concept which both validates biblical faith and human knowledge. The sovereignty of the self-contained God is the key to every field, in that only the God of Scripture makes all things possible and explicable—and is thus the basic premise not only of theology, but also of philosophy, science and all knowledge. As God is the creator of all things, he is their only valid principle of interpretation—all things derive both their existence and meaning from his creative act. Rushdoony supports and expands on Van Til’s philosophy.
For the entire set, see R.J. Rushdoony Culture and Ethics Collection (7 vols.).
Key Features
- Examines the philosophy and teachings of Cornelius Van Til
- Analyzes topics such as philosophy, science, and theology
- Discusses the sovereignty of God
Top Highlights
“True Calvinism, as it comes to maturity in Van Til, insists only on the surrender of reason as God and the restoration of reason as reason in Christ. Autonomous man has given to reason a finality and authority it does not possess. We have given it the right to sit in judgment on God Himself and to arraign the Trinity before the bar of reason. The true Calvinist answer to this is that reason is not God and possesses no such authority. Its judgments are based on the tenuous, sinful, and subjective pre-suppositions of a creature and are neither grounded in being or in truth. Reason can only establish a connection with being and truth insofar as it rests, not on its own mythical authority, but on God and His Word.” (Page 14)
“The tragedy that ensued, however, was that early Christian thought wedded itself to the Leah of Greek philosophy in the hopes of producing a Christian world-view. But a philosophy which begins with matter, structure or change as its ultimate and starting point can never result in a delineation of the ways of the self-contained Creator of nature. Christian thought has consistently gone astray, throughout most of its history, by seeking to answer the world in terms of the world’s own categories. It has assumed that it must marry Leah to speak either to Leah or Laban and has ended only in sad bondage to both.” (Page 3)
“Autonomous man is a myth, and reason as created reason is part of man’s relationship as creature to God, His world, and to other men.” (Page 15)
“The universe is never the presupposition or basic reality for him; it is a creation of the absolute God. Accordingly, Augustine did not attempt to interpret reality in terms of Ideas but in terms of the ontological trinity, which ‘Furnished the basis of the principles of unity and diversity in human knowledge.’ Without the trinity, knowledge is impossible; here is plurality in unity, and the only means of escaping the dilemma of human knowledge, which resolves itself, on anti-theistic grounds, into either an ultimate plurality without unity or the possibility of knowledge, or an ultimate unity, without differentiation or meaning.” (Page 33)
- Title: By What Standard? An Analysis of the Philosophy of Cornelius Van Til
- Author: Rousas John Rushdoony
- Publisher: Ross House Books
- Print Publication Date: 1995
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 212
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Van Til, Cornelius, 1895-1987 › Philosophy
- ISBN: 187999805
- Resource ID: LLS:BYWHATSTANDARD
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:24:16Z
Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was was a well-known American scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He earned degrees from the University of California, received theological training at the Pacific School of Religion, and received an honorary Doctorate from Valley Christian University for his book The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.
Rushdoony was an ordained minister and served as pastor at two California churches. He served for almost nine years as a missionary to the Shoshone and Paiute Indians in a remote area of Nevada. It was during this time as a missionary that Rushdoony began writing. The Institutes of Biblical Law and Commentary on the Pentateuch are just a few of the titles that Rushdoony has penned.
The Chalcedon Foundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at large, was founded by Rushdoony in 1965. He served as the editor of The Chalcedon Report, the monthly magazine of the Chalcedon Foundation.
Rushdoony also published the Journal of Christian Reconstruction and was an early board member of the Rutherford Institute which was founded by John W. Whitehead.
