Sublime

To put this in more familiar terms, classical apologetics operates with a very modern notion of reason; “presuppositional” apologetics, on the other hand, is postmodern (and Augustinian!) insofar as it recognizes the role of presuppositions in both what counts as truth and what is recognized as true.

Behind all this is the question of authority: is it from God, or from man? If God is the sovereign authority over all things, then His law-word alone can govern all things. Religion, politics, economics, science, education, law, and all things else must be under God, or they are in revolt. If the ultimate authority is man, then all things must serv

we must bear in mind that although John frequently foregrounds mental affirmation, giving pistis unto Jesus is more than belief (mental assent), for in the final analysis giving pistis is bound up with obedience—enacted loyalty.

Kierkegaard’s rejection of apologetics (and its use of reason) is to be seen as part and parcel of his rejection of the modern conception of reason—not of reason altogether. This signals a Kierkegaardian way forward that does not entail going back to Aristotle.

Van Til argues that in Genesis 3, Satan tempts Eve to be a rationalist, but in so doing he puts her in an ultimately irrational position

Psalm 14 shows up in Paul’s letter to the Romans. David and Paul both say humans aren’t good people; we have nothing to offer God.

Overemphasis on issues of God’s existence rather than on the case for incarnation.

For our purposes, two things are important about the narrative. First, Jesus revealed His intellectual skills in debate by: (1) showing His familiarity with His opponents’ point of view; (2) appealing to common ground (a text all the disputants accepted) instead of expressing a biblical text He accepted but they rejected (Daniel 12:2); and (3) deft