Cornelius Van Til has been regarded as one of the most influential Christian philosophers in apologetics. He is well known for revitalizing the traditional method of apologetics to a presuppositional method for defending the faith. Although he was born in the Netherlands, he grew up on a farm in Indian. In 1922 he graduated from Calvin College, in 1925 he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a ThM, and in 1927 he received his PhD from Princeton University. He later taught at Westminster Theological Seminary for forty-three years and became a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church from the 1930s to his death in 1987. Van Til was instrumental in showing the Christian how not to give up ground to the unbeliever in apologetics. …show more content…
Van Til elaborates on what the correct method is by also implementing the authority of scripture. In fact, he devotes several pages in chapter four on the importance of scripture being the highest authority. Chapter five is majority devoted to showing the errors of Romanism lack of emphasis on scripture alone. He gets his point across but hung out too long in his criticisms. It is important to not that his main point in these final chapters is consistent with his main premise. He states, “The Reformed preacher does not tone down his message in order that it may find acceptance with the natural man. He does not say that his message is less certainly true because of its non-acceptance by the natural man. The natural man is, by virtue of his creation in the image of God, always accessible to the truth, accessible to the penetration of the truth by the Spirit of God.” His presuppositional message was clear throughout the book and it is indicative in this late quote. Overall, this was masterpiece on the importance of a presuppositional view in apologetics but I would not recommend for a layperson due to the difficult style of reading. However, if you are someone who enjoys a slow reading of deep theological notions, then this book is