Reply To: Presuppositional Apologetics

#19131
dlspence_58
Participant

Thank you Dr. Casey. I listened to a debate that Dr. Bahnsen had with Dr. Gordon Stein entitled, “Does God Exist?” (link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AvjUZ289L4) Bahnsen argues that the atheist’s presuppositions are not logically coherent and are lacking empirical evidence. Bahnsen admits that the theist can also beg the question in this regard, but states the atheist omits the transcendental and supernatural. In an article, The Crucial Concept of Self-Deception in Presuppositional Apologetics, Bahnse writes, ‘We at times hear people declare “I cannot believe that” (e.g., a close relative has been convicted of a heinous crime), but we all realize that the “cannot” here should be interpreted as “will not”—because one does not want it to be true, cannot emotionally afford to admit it, thinks it is his duty to resist it, or lacks the intellectual energy to rise to the occasion.’
I’d like to hear again from JohnD who says he has studied van Til and Bahnsen.