Southern Seminary Magazine (Vol 90.1) The Light of Truth: Apologetics in the 21st Century

pillars and bridges
criterions that are foundational
to and which ground one’s overall
worldview. Although some
deny that they have a worldview,
this is not the case: everyone has
a worldview whether they acknowledge
it or not.
Despite differences between
worldviews, every view is grounded
in some ultimate criterion(s)
or presuppositions that directs
their reasoning and allows them
to interpret their experience of
the world, especially on ultimate
matters. Given this fact, this is
why what is most significant in
worldview analysis is comparing
and contrasting a worldview’s
presuppositional commitments.
Furthermore, it is important to
note that it is not enough merely
to assert one’s presuppositions;
one must also argue for them, at
least if one wants to argue for the
truth of one’s view over against other worldviews. For
this reason, a presuppositional approach to apologetics
does not merely assert the truth of the gospel, it also argues
for the objective truth of the Christian worldview
over against non-Christian views.
Additionally, to clarify what presuppositionalism is as
an apologetic method, it is crucial to note that it is not
against the use of evidences in the defense of Christianity.
Unfortunately, the term may convey such a misunderstanding,
as if presuppositionalism is only concerned
about arguing for one’s ultimate criterions and not concerned
about giving specific proofs and evidences for
the truth of the gospel. On the contrary, presuppositionalism
affirms the necessary role that evidences serve
in the defense of the gospel, especially given the nature
of Christianity.
Unlike other religious and philosophical views, the
truthfulness of Christianity depends on the claim that
our triune God is not only the Creator of the world but
also the God who acts in history as the sovereign and
providential Lord.
Creation and history are the stage and theater on which
God displays his glory, and ultimately in the incarnation,
life, death, and resurrection of God the Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ—the one who has assumed our human nature
to accomplish our redemption. For this reason, Christianity
stands or falls on the objective truth of particular
events in history. Thus, for example, if the flood, exodus,
“Creation and history are the
stage and theater on which God
displays his glory, and ultimately
in the incarnation, life, death, and
resurrection of God the Son, our
Lord Jesus Christ—the one who
has assumed our human nature to
accomplish our redemption.”
and Old Testament events did not occur as Scripture describes—or
in the case of our Lord Jesus, there was no
virgin conception, miraculous life, bodily resurrection,
glorious ascension, and Pentecost—Christianity crumbles.
If these events did not occur in history, the truth of
Scripture and the claims of the gospel are false.
However, presuppositionalism rightly reminds us that
evidences never stand alone apart from being presented
in an overall theology. Why? Because there are no such
things as “brute facts,” namely un-interpreted or self-interpreting
“facts.” Instead, “facts” are part of an overall
context—an interpretive system or worldview—by which
they are understood. This is why in our presentation of
the “facts” for Christianity, facts must be presented within
the entire worldview they are embedded, otherwise
they signify nothing.
For example, think of Christ’s bodily resurrection.
Apart from the worldview of Scripture, the resurrection
would not signify what it actually does in Scripture. After
all, Jesus’ resurrection is more than a mere historical
event: it is evidence that Jesus alone is the Savior, Lord,
Judge, the one who has ratified a new covenant, and inaugurated
a new creation (Acts 2:32-36; 4:12; 13:32-38;
17:30-31; 1 Cor. 15:1-3; Heb. 9:15-28). Apart from a
specific view of God, history as the unfolding of God’s
eternal plan, and a specific conception of the Redeemer,
Christ’s bodily resurrection in history would signify
none of these truths.
20 the southern baptist theological seminary