Monday, August 5, 2024

It is the 5th of August 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A happy Monday- perhaps it’s Monday where you are- I am preparing for extended speaking trips in both Minnesota and Germany and loading up on shows in a way I’ve not since this show began. So- it’s Monday when this show drops and so we head to the mailbag- Rachel in Merced wrote in- Merced, a beautiful little town on your way to Yosemite up through the Central Valley of God’s favorite state… the “gateway to Yosemite” and home to the newest University of California campus… also birthplace of Janet Leigh- of “Psycho” fame and the mother of another actress who had her break in a horror film: Jamie lee Curtis.

Rachel wrote about the Tim Keller episode- as did a number of you, I’m glad that the show was well received by those of you who wrote in. Rachel asked “what would you call Tim Keller’s apologetic?” And this after she explained she understood he was “presuppositional” and that this was surprising to her.

Ok, Rachel- good eye, depending on where you saw it. Tim Keller ended up a Presbyterian after seminary- and he gathered his influences liberally (as I hope got across on the weekend show). When it came to the “reformed” or Calvinistic, we saw R.C. Sproul and Edmund Clowney, as well as some Puritans and Dutch Reformed Christians.

It is from those “Dutch Reformed,” namely Cornelius van Til and his so-called “pre-suppositional” apologetic. This was in contrast to the prevailing “evidentialist” position, and these two parties used to roam the streets like the Jets and the Sharks, looking for a brawl.

Let me explain- ‘apologist’ is a title that goes back those early church fathers who defended the faith. They did so by presenting it and then responding to objections- much the way we see the Apostle Paul do it in the book of Acts.

Schools developed in the post Enlightenment philosophical world that sought to categorize the different attempts to do Christian apologetics.

First thing first, any of them worth their salt would say “present the Gospel in a clear and winsome way”  and only then begin to engage whatever doubts there might be. The “Evidentialist” is one who will lean towards a belief in the objectivity of facts. That is, one can be argued to see truth from falsehood.  

The presuppositionalist and this would technically be Keller’s camp, say, “Not so fast: the human heart is so darkened by sin that the other faculties are damaged as well- including the ability to reason from brute fact.

Ok- luckily, these are not two watertight camps anymore- but this once divided seminary faculty (that and whether there should be apologetics at all, but that’s another story…).

Keller’s apologetic developed from the time of his book, 2008’s Reason To Believe and his 2018 “Making Sense of God” but they both start with questions and premises other than “God is the Creator of the Universe” or “His Son was incarnate, crucified, buried and resurrected for us”….

That is, he start us midstream- something certainly inherited from his time in hi Manhattan ministry where people likely already thought they knew what they believed, and more importantly, didn’t believe.

And so he leans “presuppositional” in that he thinks- “unless we get down to the root of our disagreement, or you agree to look at the world as I do, through my own assumptions,” we might as well be whistling in the dark.

But he does employ the “traditional” or “evidence” based apologetic, just sparingly- at least in his context and for his assumed audience. One of his geniuses was to “contextualize,” and his books reflect that there is no “one size fits all” for ministry and preaching. One of the things that stuck with me and his story is how he saw things chaining in front of him and was willing to scrap whatever didn’t work, in his estimation.

So- his influences were of the Dutch and “presuppositionalism” kind, but he was broader in his own application of the gospel via apologetics. Comparatively, he was not an ideologue and would want to preach Jesus crucified and resurrected, and were you to object- saying it's not true or it doesn’t work he would be happy- the happiest- to have a conversation about it.  

Thanks, Rachel from Merced- you can send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary- from Psalm 107:

He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,

a fruitful land into a salty waste,

    because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

He turns a desert into pools of water,

    a parched land into springs of water.

And there he lets the hungry live,

    and they establish a town to live in;

they sow fields and plant vineyards

    and get a fruitful yield.

By his blessing they multiply greatly,

    and he does not let their cattle decrease.

When they are diminished and brought low

    through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,

he pours contempt on princes

    and makes them wander in trackless wastes,

but he raises up the needy out of distress

    and makes their families like flocks.

The upright see it and are glad,

    and all wickedness stops its mouth.

Let those who are wise pay attention to these things

    and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 5th of August 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who is the swing-ingest thing- little boy, you’re a man, little man, you’re a king- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by the top cat in town, the gold medal kid with the heavyweight crown  … I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.