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The Justification of Knowledge THE JUSTIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY IN CHRISTIAN APOLOGETIC METHODOLOGY by Dr. Robert L. Reymond Associate Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Covenant Theological Seminary St. Louis, Missouri ©1976 Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company With permission of the original publisher, reprinted in 1998 with annotations, by Pacific Institute for Religious Studies Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Silicon Valley 6557 Snell Avenue #238 San Jose, California 95123 Annotated edition ©1998 Pacific Institute of Religious Studies. Reprints of this edition are available at a nominal fee; contact us at the above address or through our World Wide Web site: http://www.sgbcsv.org ii He who is not with me is against me.”—Jesus Christ “Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”— Paul “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”—Peter * * * * * “The apologetic strategy that would attract converts by the flattery of accommodating the gospel to the ‘wisdom’ of sinful man was condemned by Paul nineteen centuries ago, and the past hundred years have provided a fresh demonstration of its bankruptcy.”—J. I. Packer About the Author Dr. Reymond was associate professor of theology and apologetics at Covenant Theological Seminary, Saint Louis, Missouri. His other published works include Introductory Studies in Contemporary Theology and several monographs in the Biblical and Theological Studies series which he edits for the International Library of Philosophy and Theology, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company. He is an ordained minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, and has pastored churches in Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri. iii Table of Contents THE JUSTIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................. i About the Author................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................v Preface.....................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Just What is Christian Apologetics?.....................................................................1 Etymologically:...........................................................................................................................................1 Scripturally: ................................................................................................................................................1 Not Mere Excellence of Reasoning ............................................................................................................2 Aspects of the Apologetic Task .....................................................................................................2 Should Apologetics Precede Systematic Theology….................................................................................3 …Or Are The Two Interdependent?...........................................................................................................3 Systematic Theology First; Then Apologetics............................................................................................3 The Tasks of Apologetics ...........................................................................................................................3 1. To Answer Particular Objections ...........................................................................................................3 2. To Give an Account of the Foundations of the Christian Faith..............................................................4 3. To Challenge Non–Christian Systems ....................................................................................................4 4. To Persuade Men of the Truth ................................................................................................................5 The Major Problem Confronting Christian Apologetics............................................................5 Major Apologetic Systems.............................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 The Faith we Defend .............................................................................................8 The Doctrine of God ......................................................................................................................9 The Doctrine of Man....................................................................................................................11 The Doctrine of Christ.................................................................................................................21 The Doctrine of Salvation............................................................................................................24 The Doctrines of the Church and last Things............................................................................24 Apologetic Activity in Acts ..........................................................................................................25 A Christian Theory of Being .......................................................................................................27 A Christian Theory of Knowing .................................................................................................28 Chapter 3 Warfield: A Case Study In Traditional Apologetic Methodology......................31 Warfield’s Argument for Inspiration.........................................................................................31 Warfield’s Larger View of Apologetics......................................................................................34 Warfield on Christian Certainty.................................................................................................37 “Old Princeton” and Earlier Reformers....................................................................................39 Probability versus Presupposition..............................................................................................43 Chapter 4 Presuppositional Apologetics ..............................................................................45 FURTHER ELUCIDATION OF A BIBLICAL METHODOLOGY......................................45 Epistemology: The Crucial Issue ................................................................................................45 1. The Learning Apparatus .......................................................................................................................48 v The Noetic Effects of Sin ............................................................................................................. 54 The Noetic Effects of Palingenesis (Regeneration) ................................................................... 58 Approaching Men........................................................................................................................ 59 Van Til and Man’s Analogical Knowledge................................................................................ 62 Clark and “Dogmatic” Apologetics............................................................................................ 66 Chapter 5 Empirical Apologetics..........................................................................................74 Thomas Aquinas .......................................................................................................................... 74 Buswell’s Inductivistic Reformulation of the Theistic Proofs.................................................. 79 Carnell’s Systematic Consistency............................................................................................... 82 Schaeffer’s Evangelistic “Apologetic” ....................................................................................... 85 Montgomery’s Historical Apologetic for Christ’s Claims ....................................................... 93 Pinnock’s Evidential Methodology ............................................................................................ 98 McDowell’s Evidential Methodology ......................................................................................... 99 vi Preface This book was originally written as a syllabus for an introductory course in Christian apologetics for students at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis. As I wrote, it was my awareness that it was to perform a classroom function that lay behind my decision to provide a good many quotations from the writings of Benjamin B. Warfield, Cornelius Van Til, Gordon H. Clark, Edward John Carnell, Francis Schaeffer, and others. I felt then it was the quickest way to introduce ministerial students to the apologetic systems of these important thinkers. As this work goes forth to a wider audience, I am still convinced that there is value in permitting an apologist to speak for himself. The reader is assured that the apologist is not being misrepresented, and in turn he gains an immediate firsthand acquaintance with the apologist. Therefore, while I have eliminated some quotations (and comments upon them) from the material which was used in the classroom, I have decided to let other original material remain. No apologies are offered for the references to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms. I
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