Is Cornelius Van Til’s Apologetic Method Christian, or Merely Theistic?

2003 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-268
Author(s):  
John J. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Objective Evidence ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Christian Apologetics ◽  
Van Til

This paper compares J. W. Montgomery’s evidentialist approach to apologetics to Cornelius Van Til’s presuppositional approach. My position is that Van Til’s system is only theistic; it may support the existence of ‘God,’ but it does not prove the existence of the Christian God. In fact, Van Til’s method could just as easily be used by a Muslim apologist to assert the validity of Islam. This is because Van Til refuses to allow objective evidence to have any place in Christian apologetics. Because of this, he offers the non-theist no way of judging between the truth claims of Christianity and other religions. In fact, the most powerful weapon in the Christian apologist’s arsenal, the resurrection of Christ, cannot be used in an effective manner. This is in direct contradiction to the New Testament itself, where the resurrection is often used evidentially to validate the Christian faith.

The Doctrine of the Christian Faith

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-179
Author(s):  
Frederick C. Beiser
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Main Work ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Historical Reliability ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Christian Beliefs

Chapter 11 provides an account of Strauß’s main work on Christian theology, his 1840 Die christliche Glaubenslehre. This work was Strauß’s critique of Christian dogma and therefore concerned more than the historical reliability of the New Testament. But the work was marred by a deep ambivalence: Strauβ‎’s work was meant as a compendium and therefore needed to provide the student with an introduction to Christian dogma; but Strauß also had deep personal reservations about Christianity which resurface in the text. The work contains a severe critique of the Christian beliefs in miracles, immortality, the trinity, and incarnation; but it also provides a demonstration of the existence of God. Though Strauß now distances himself from Hegel, he still does not completely disavow him.

scholarly journals Faith and the Fourth Gospel: A Conversation with Teresa Morgan

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-298
Author(s):  
Judith M. Lieu
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
The New Testament

In Roman Faith and Christian Faith Teresa Morgan brings a classicist’s sensitivities to a subject that lies at the heart of the New Testament but that is often taken as self-evident. This article engages in a conversation with its insights, with particular reference to the Johannine literature. It suggests that more nuancing might be needed, not least from a recognition of the demands of the genre of the gospel, but also finds much to provoke further reflection.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Theological Reflection

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-298
Author(s):  
Joel Marcus
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
First Century ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Pride And Prejudice ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament

“While Pride and Prejudice is certainly not a primary source for reconstructing the world of the New Testament, the vivid way in which it takes us into one person's crisis of perception can, I believe, allow us to enter imaginatively into the crisis of first-century people on their way to Christian faith.”

“Distinct but Not Separate”: Historical Research in the Study of Jesus and Christian Faith

Horizons ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-141
Author(s):  
William M. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The One ◽  
Human Family ◽  
The Way

“Distinct but not separate” is a venerable formula whose origins go back to the Council of Chalcedon's confession of 451 that Jesus' humanity and divinity are each distinct realities, yet at the same time united in the one person of the Savior himself. Jesus' singular personhood (= “not separate”) protected the New Testament insight that God really united himself with all humans in their historical and earthly condition through the deeds and words of Jesus himself. God's utterly personal oneness with Jesus was the way in which God became adoptively one with the whole human family and world. But this could only be a true union between God and humans if neither was swallowed up in the other, or reduced to the other. Union (we might say communion as well) presupposes oneness and difference. And so Chalcedon speaks of Jesus' divinity and humanity as remaining distinct. By our adoption in grace through Jesus (Rm 8:14–17) we ourselves are not pantheistically swallowed up in God, but retain our distinctiveness as humans as well.

scholarly journals Problem ciągłości istnienia Boga

2014 ◽  
pp. 109-135
Author(s):  
Mieszko Ciesielski
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
The New Testament

The article discusses the issue of eternal existence of God. The author offers an interpretation of selected excerpts from the New Testament, which show God as pre- or ante-eternal but not post-eternal, which means that He is an entity existing without a beginning but having an ultimate end. In order to support the suggested interpretation, the author formulates a philosophical “mercy-based proof for the current non-existence of God”. 

scholarly journals „Ein Backofen voller Liebe“ – Luthers Rede von Gott im Kontext (früh)kapitalistischer Zivilisation

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gottfried Orth
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Alternative Version ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Economic Analyses ◽  
Economic Considerations ◽  
Critical Perspectives

Martin Luther’s writings contain a waelth of economic analyses and perspectives on the beginning capitalist changes in the economy and society of his time. In this case, his economic considerations did not pertain to areas of ethics or ethics in the area of economics, but explitely theological analyses and perspectives, ones that originated from the First Commandment: they are about god or false gods, the god of the Christian faith or the mammon of the emerging „for profit“ economy. With this, Luther takes up the Jesuanic alternative version of god or mammon emphasized in the New Testament. The author outlines Luther’s deliberations and, in the context of the „Radicalizing Reformation“ project, further calls for contemporary critical perspectives on capitalism as well as conceptions of god in the vein of and in line with Luther’s theology, which can support current faith orientations in the engagement with economic and social developments.

scholarly journals Pemahaman Umat Islam Tentang Kata Kalimah Dalam Hubungan Dengan Isa Almasih

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-38
Author(s):  
Daniel Horatius Herman
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Objective View ◽  
Christian Witness ◽  
Islamic View ◽  
Different Parts

Christian witness in Indonesia, in an encounter with Islam, experienced rejection. The message about Jesus Christ (or Isa Al Masih) is acknowledged exist in Islam’s scripture, Al Qur'an, but has several different parts and even contrary to the New Testament. Some teachings about Jesus in the Qur'an are interpreted differently: 'Isa is the Kalimatullah (a word from God),' Isa is mercy, 'Isa will come again,' Isa is a justice Judge at the end of time and others, all that is different from the New Testament’s teachings. Christians, in their testimonies, tried to interpret and used the same terms. This gives rise to debate and is of course contrary to the ethics of faith, where religious teachings cannot be explained by the perspective of other religions. This study aims to obtain an objective view of Jesus Christ from the Islamic view to form an initial understanding for the preaching of the Christian faith, but this study is not intended to seek justification (or verification) of the Christian faith. This study only seeks an explanation of the Islamic version of Jesus Christ.Kesaksian Kristen di Indonesia, dalam perjumpaan dengan Islam, mengalami penolakan-penolakan.  Berita tentang Yesus Kristus (atau Isa Almasih) diakui ada dalam kitab suci Islam, Al Qur’an, tetapi pada beberapa bagian berbeda dan bahkan bertolak belakang dengan Perjanjian Baru. Beberapa ajaran tentang Yesus dalam Al Qur’an dimaknai secara berbeda: Isa adalah Kalimatullah (firman Allah), Isa adalah rahmat, Isa akan datang kembali, Isa adalah hakim yang adil di akhir zaman dan lain-lain, semua berbeda dengan ajaran Perjanjian Baru.  Orang Kristen, dalam kesaksian, mencoba menafsirkan dan menggunakan kesamaan terminologi-terminologi tersebut.  Hal ini menimbulkan perdebatan dan tentu saja bertentangan dengan etika iman, dimana ajaran sebuah agama tidak dapat dijelaskan dari perspektif agama lain. Penelitian ini bertujuan memperoleh pandangan obyektif tentang Yesus Kristus dari pandangan Islam untuk pembentukan pemahaman awal untuk pemberitaan iman Kristen, tetapi penelitian tidak dimaksudkan untuk mencari pembenaran (verifikasi) terhadap iman Kristen. Penelitian ini hanya mencari penjelasan dari versi Islam tentang Yesus Kristus.

scholarly journals Utilitas rei publicae contra misericordiam. Justinian’s Criminal Legislation in Borys Łapicki’s View

2019 ◽  
pp. 57-73
Author(s):  
Bożena Czech-Jezierska
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Law And Ethics ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Criminal Legislation

Borys Łapicki (1889–1974) was a Roman law scholar whose works contained many references to the correlations between Roman law and ethics. The article provides an overview of B. Łapicki’s writings and discusses his views on the concept of misericordia and on the influence of that concept on Emperor Justinian’s criminal legislation. A definite and clear-cut thesis emerges from this analysis. Borys Łapicki declares that although Justinian was an emperor who considered himself and was considered to be the great defender of the Christian faith, his legislation was influenced by the principle of utilitas rei publicae, rather than by Christian misericordia and by the humanitarian principles of the New Testament ethics. This is particularly evident in his criminal legislation. This leads B. Łapicki to conclude that it was “not Christianity that influenced Justinian, but on the contrary, he exercised his influence on Christianity so that it could serve his political purposes.”

scholarly journals The Early Church’s Position on Law and the State.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-63
Author(s):  
Matija Stojanović
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Legal System ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament

This article will try to uncover the stance which the early Christian Church held on the legal system of the Roman Empire, in an attempt to reconstruct a stance which could apply to legal systems in general. The sources which we drew upon while writing this paper were primarily those from the New Testament, beginning with the Four Gospels and continuing with the Acts of the Apostoles and the Epistoles, and, secondarily, the works of the Holy Fathers and different Martyrologies through which we reconstructed the manner in which the Christian faith was demonstrated during the ages of persecutions. The article tries to highlight a common stance which can be identified in all these sources and goes on to elaborate how it relates to legal order in general.

Jesus Christ and the New Testament

2021 ◽  
pp. 102-138
Author(s):  
Donald Senior
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
First Century ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Unique Identity

A unifying motif of the New Testament and one that renders it sacred in the eyes of Christian faith is its assertion of the unique identity of Jesus Christ. While much of modern biblical scholarship has attempted to reconstruct the actual historical circumstances of Jesus in his first-century Jewish context, the New Testament writings themselves find their sacred character in their affirmation of the unique character of the Jesus of faith as both human and divine. This is affirmed in a variety of ways in the Four Gospels as they consider in diverse ways the ultimate origin of Jesus, the “theophanies” that occur during Jesus’s ministry, various titles assigned to him, and the nature of his death and resurrection. While biblical scholarship legitimately explores the historical context of Jesus’s life and teaching, Christians strive to see the intrinsic connection between the historical circumstances of Jesus’s life and the faith affirmations of early Christianity about his unique identity.

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