Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought
Save on Publisher Spotlight through April 30!$14.69
Overview
The insights of Cornelius Van Til have generated intense discussion among friends and foes alike. Until now nearly everything written about Van Til has come from either uncritical followers or unsympathetic critics.
This volume, marking the one hundredth anniversary of Van Til’s birth, combines deep appreciation with incisive critical analysis of the renowned Westminster apologist's ideas. John M. Frame offers warm personal reflections on Van Til’s life and a close examination of his thought, including his interaction with prominent figures in the Reformed, evangelical, and secular communities. In terms of its spirit, scope, clarity, and profundity, this volume is must reading for serious students of apologetics and theology.
Contents
- Part One: Introductory Considerations
- Part Two: The Metaphysics of Knowledge
- Part Three: The Ethics of Knowledge
- Part Four: The Argument for Christianity
- Part Five: Van Til as Critic
- Part Six: Conclusions
Top Highlights
“These are forms of the one-and-many problem that we explored in chapter 5. In a universe of chance, there is no logical order, except one that man creates out of his own mind. If man creates it, then in principle he must know it omnisciently. But there is no reason to suppose that that humanly imposed order has any relation to actual facts. Nor can the facts themselves be intelligible in such a worldview. Hence, man is left with absolute ignorance.” (Page 154)
“Jesus.’12 Contrary to Hodge, who speaks of ‘reason’ as ‘something that seems to operate” (Page 190)
“To reject the personal, biblical God leaves no alternative except a world governed by impersonal fate.” (Page 60)
“But actually, to say that Fido is a ‘being’ is to say almost nothing about him.” (Page 72)
“Correlativism asserts that God and the world are dependent upon each other, contrary to the doctrine of God’s self-contained fullness. Both of these heresies see God as a kind of bare unity, which cannot function without the supplementation supplied by the plurality of the world.” (Page 64)
Praise for the Print Edition
Superb. . . . Frame solves a number of enigmas which have puzzled students for decades. He also shows the way for future work and sets an agenda for apologetics which really needs to be heeded.
—William Edgar, professor of apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA
Frame has given us a particularly searching and comprehensive analysis of Cornelius Van Til’s theology and apologetics. He is especially qualified to do so.
—Roger Nicole, visiting professor of theology, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando campus
Brings much-needed clarity to nearly all aspects of Van Til’s thought. . . . Readers interested in apologetics in general will benefit immensely from this work. Students of theology also would do well to make this priority reading.
—Stephen R. Spencer, Bibliotheca Sacra
An outstanding contribution. . . . incisive, cogent, appropriately witty, refreshingly charitable. . . . Frame’s work is agenda-setting in its suggestions, and deserves the widest possible reading.
—M.P. Ryan, The Reformed Theological Review
Product Details
- Title: Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought
- Author: John Frame
- Publisher: P&R
- Publication Date: 1995
- Pages: 480
- Christian Group: Reformed
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Theology
John M. Frame (b. 1939) is an American philosopher and a Calvinist theologian especially noted for his work in epistemology, presuppositional apologetics, systematic theology, and ethics. He is one of the foremost interpreters and critics of the thought of Cornelius Van Til. Dr. Frame formerly taught at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, and Westminster Theological Seminary.
Sample Pages from the Print Edition
Save on Publisher Spotlight through April 30!