Saturday, November 23, 2019

Phil Porvaznik vs. Presuppositionalist Apologetics


Catholic apologist Phil Porvaznik, in his review of Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley’s The Godless Delusion (2010), has a very cogent critique of presuppositionalist apologetics:

In chapter two ("A Solution to the Delusion"), we find a version of "presuppositional" apologetics used, what you normally see in the hardcore anti-Catholic Reformed writers (e.g. Greg Bahnsen):

"This book is an exercise in what is called the presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics...When Christian apologists argue 'presuppositionally,' we seek to compare and contrast the theistic and naturalist worldviews, in order to show our atheist friend that while our worldview makes sense of human experience, his does not." (p. 38-39).

Unfortunately, this is basically the only argument in the book, and presuppositionalism itself has been very well critiqued (by even fellow Christian apologists) as being circular and invalid (the logical fallacy of petitio principii, "assuming the initial point" or "begging the question"). Presuppositional apologists themselves admit their brand of "apologetics" is indeed "circular" (but still valid?, see Van Til quotes below). Although I don't want to misrepresent the book. The authors don't quote or seem to rely on Cornelius van Til (the "father" of presuppositionalism) or Greg Bahnsen (the best modern defender of presuppositionalism) or Reformed writers at all. The Godless Delusion is mainly a "comparison of worldviews" (naturalism vs. Christian theism) with a reductio ad absurdum (or "reduction to the absurd") tossed in against the atheist. That is just part of the presuppositional case they are using in their arguments against atheism, and those parts need not be circular.

While they do call their main argument "presuppositional" apologetics, they don't go as far as Van Til or the following statements from The Portable Presuppositionalist. For example, their moral argument basically comes from C.S. Lewis, not van Til. They also do a good job showing how a purely "evolutionary" or "naturalistic" origin of humanity (or a "naturalistic worldview") makes it difficult to explain free will, love, the mind/soul, consciousness, truth, knowledge, ethics, etc while a "theistic Christian worldview" makes better sense of these phenomena. It doesn't "prove" Christian theism in my opinion, but does make atheism implausible (or much less plausible).

What exactly is presuppositionalism, according to the presuppositionalists themselves? Here are some choice quotes from The Portable Presuppositionalist, which summarizes leading presuppositional apologists as Cornelius van Til, Greg Bahnsen, John Frame, and others:

"...Van Til said that the Christian God and the truth of Scripture is the only possible explanation for anything at all...in order to argue against Christianity, you have to first assume that it is true....the Christian must...assume Christianity is true before and while arguing that it is true...." (The Portable Presuppositionalist, page 32, 33); "If Jesus Christ is really Lord over all, Van Til argued, then the human mind (or consciousness) is not the ultimate and permanent starting point in reasoning; God is....Notice the sheer weight of Van Til's thought at this point. If his philosophy...is correct, then the entire method of Thomas Aquinas, the evidentialism of Warfield, and the majority of their modern day followers...are defective. They are fundamentally flawed." (TPP, page 37-38); "....the transcendental argument is in fact, the most powerful argument ever known -- for it reveals the necessary basis for any and all arguments, human predication, and intelligible human experience....Van Til's argument is not irrational or contrary to logic -- it is the very foundation for rationality, logic, and in fact, everything else that can be interpreted and experienced by the human being." (TPP, page 64, 65); "God as the Creator is Himself and His Word the ultimate starting point." (TPP, page 68); "...the presuppositionalist insists that God first be called the 'universal presupposition necessary for life and for the ordering of knowledge,' and that God be called 'the foundation upon which all rationality is established,' and the 'necessary precondition for any and all science.' Why? Because logic is not the self-existent Creator of all things, God is!" (TPP, page 77, emphasis in original); "The traditionalist wants to assert that the laws of logic are the superior starting point for knowledge, science, and apologetic discourse...We cannot have knowledge of God without logic. However, we can have God without the laws of logic, or at least our formal understanding of those laws....God is inherently more ultimate than logic." (TPP, page 77, emphasis in original); "The presuppositionalist maintains that we should presuppose the authority and divinity of Christ and His Word just like Paul does in Colossians 2. God is self-existent and self-validating because of who He is (his nature). God's Word is self-attesting and self-verifying because of what It is (the nature of God's Word); there is no higher standard by which to make truth claims. That is what is meant by a presuppositionalist, 'circular argument.' The beginning and end of the presuppositionalist argument is the same. It starts where it ends." (TPP, page 85-86); "To simply believe in God's Word because it is God's Word is to reason presuppositionally....The presupposition that the Bible is the Word of God is not arbitrary; it is A.) morally demanded by God, and B.) the only assumption that is philosophically sufficient to provide a worldview that can explain logic, ethics, science, human predication and the possibility of any and all knowledge." (TPP, page 94, 95)

Let's summarize the supposed "case for God" based on the "presuppositional" method outlined above:

o   God is assumed or presupposed to exist; the Christian God and the truth of Scripture is the "only possible explanation for anything at all";
o   To argue FOR or AGAINST "Christianity" you must assume it is true;
o   We don't start with the self, the mind, logic or reason; we start with God as the "ultimate and permanent starting point";
o   All evidential and classical argumentation, the entire method of Thomas Aquinas, the majority of modern proponents and their reasoning is defective, it is fundamentally flawed;
o   The "transcendental argument for God" (TAG) is the most powerful argument ever known; it is the basis for any and all arguments and intelligible human experience;
o   We can't begin with logic since logic is not the Creator of all things, God is; in fact, we can have God without any laws of logic;
o   We should presuppose the authority and divinity of Christ and His Word; God and God's Word (the Bible) is self-validating, self-attesting, self-verifying;
o   The presuppositional argument is indeed a "circular argument" since the beginning and end of the argument is the same;
o   Believe in God's Word because it is God's Word is to "reason presuppositionally";
o   this is not arbitrary since this is "morally demanded by God" (where? in the Bible, of course);
o   the presuppositional approach is philosophically sufficient to provide a worldview that explains logic, ethics, science, human predication, and all knowledge;

I maintain there cannot be such a "Catholic presuppositionalist" given the statements above. It is inherently a Reformed and anti-Catholic method (Van Til spoke often of the "Romanists" and Arminians) of "Christian apologetics." It is subjective; it is circular; it is based on mere assertions; it is not an argument; it denigrates and confuses logic and reason with God; it rejects Thomas Aquinas; and it rejects the First Vatican Council which says that "God, the source and end of all things, can be known with certainty from the consideration of created things, by the natural power of human reason." The traditional Catholic approach is to start with logic, common sense, and reason, and end with God. These are linear arguments (not circular). God has indeed given us our reason since God is the God of truth and reason (Isaiah 1:18; 65:16), but we don't start with "God" as that would be circular and invalidate any argument for God.