He that perverts truth shall soon be incapable of knowing the true from the false. If you persist in wearing glasses that distort, everything will be distorted to you (Charles H. Spurgeon).
Many nonbelievers and believers do not realize that they have personal biases, presuppositions, rational precommitments, and ethical assumptions that guide and often distort their view of reality. They are unaware that their worldview (WV) may misrepresent and warp all aspects of human experience. Many spend the majority of their adult life carefully safeguarding their thoughts, shielding their WV and ultimate precommitments from critical analysis. Many atheists base their philosophy on wishful thinking as they seek to put away theism’s moral directives. Since some atheists do not want to be restrained from their profligacy, they vociferously declare that God does not exist. That type of thinking is nonsense. The apostle Paul reveals:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools… They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen (Romans 1:18-25).
Jonathan Edwards offers this explanation: “There is no one thing whatsoever more plain and manifest, and more demonstrable, than the being of God. It is manifest in ourselves, in our bodies and souls, and in everything about us wherever we turn our eye, whether to heaven, or to the earth, the air, or the seas. And yet how prone is the heart of man to call this into question! So inclined is the heart of man to blindness and delusion, that it is prone to even atheism itself.” Spurgeon adds, “He who hates truth soon hates its advocate.” Their abhorrence of the Almighty is one reason that atheists deny God’s existence. (more exposition on presuppositions: article Here).
It’s a little peculiar that professional new atheists and e-atheists not only are devoid of an absolute epistemic ground (they cannot supply a changeless ground for unchanging universals such as the laws of logic: LNC and LOI), but they maintain a public presence and make a lot of dough promoting illogicality and error inasmuch as copious features of their anti-theistic goals are incongruous.
Of all the offspring of time, Error is the most ancient, and is so old and familiar an acquaintance, that Truth, when discovered, comes upon most of us like an intruder, and meets the intruder’s welcome (Charles Mackay).
A worldview based on Christian Theism (CT) furnishes the epistemic wellspring and absolute ethical ground for truth. The Christian Worldview (CWV) provides immutable universal absolutes (moral laws and laws of logic) necessary to account for reason, intellectual advancement, and knowledge as it offers an immovable epistemic base for “true truth.”
James Anderson argues that “if naturalism were true, there could be no knowledge” (James Anderson: Speaking the Truth in Love).
Knowledge is necessary for intelligibility and theism is required for knowledge. The truth of God’s existence is not merely feasible, it is impossible for Him not to exist. Non-Christian systems of thought cannot furnish an unchanging foundation for the law of non-contradiction (LNC: A~~A) which is necessarily involved in all knowledge activities, thus atheistic paradigms can only offer worldviews that fail to provide the continuous and immutable truth environment for the immutable laws of logic required for knowledge. Unless one epistemically depends on the true God, one cannot account for knowledge.
So, the Christian apologist may begin with any fact because, no matter what the facts he wishes to discuss, the stakes are ultimately the same. In every case, Christian Theism is in question. Do the facts belong to God or do they not? The challenge for the apologist is to treat the facts in a way that calls the God of Scripture—including the Christian system—into view (Van Til).
Van Til rightly taught that you do not have to learn to marshal volumes of evidence. One should learn to demonstrate that without having the true God as the ontological precommitment, ultimately the atheist cannot make sense out of anything. He cannot account for the universe, mankind, history, or science.
Likewise, Van Til stresses that whether “we are able to bring Christian Theism to a more full expression or only to a partial one, the goal is to express the biblical system through the facts. … Facts should serve as manifestations of the Christian system.” Additionally he maintains that the evidences “call all men to acknowledge the triune God, the final reference point for all meaning and truth.” And Van Til adds: “Men have not done justice by the facts, by the evidence of God’s presence before their eyes, unless they burst out into praise of Him who has made all things.”
The True and Living God
“You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:10-11).
The true God is the only God who lives and the only God who is necessary. It is comforting to know, not only is there incredible evidence for Christianity, but everything in existence is evidence for God. As God’s word teaches, every flower is evidence for God’s existence. It is not so much that we have to prove theism, but we are called to realize all proof presupposes the God of the Bible.
Atheism is impossible because it falls into absurdity inasmuch as it lacks an ontic base to depend on for its epistemic rights. It is self-stultifying. Non-theistic WVs lead to conclusions that are incongruous with their knowledge claims. A vital question is: What will supply the a priori truth conditions that make reality intelligible? The logical actuality is, without the CWV, nothing can make formal sense. The true and living God is the truth condition for the intelligibility of reality and the understanding of all human experiences; He must be presupposed for one to have adequate explanatory power required for knowledge.
And the Innovative Presuppositional Apologetic volume that utilizes new philosophical and apologetic research:
Truth, Knowledge and the Reason for God: The Defense of the Rational Assurance of Christianity HERE
or see my New apologetic E-Book: The Sure Existence of God: Assured Proof for Christianity Here
or the Apologetic eBook God and Logic: Proof, Rationality and Theism here
Very good post Mike. Your articulation of technical ideas, often expressed by others along the lines of analytic philosophy’s (I think impoverished) approach to consider all (or most) arguments in terms of ‘Formalism’, is a breathe of fresh air. Keep up the good work bro.
I think you’ve misunderstood atheism here. Rather than seeking “to put away theism’s moral directives” or not wanting “to be restrained from their profligacy”, most atheists are atheist because it looks exactly as if gods do not exist. Atheism is in this way a position based on honesty that is taken by people who do not want to pretend the universe is other than it appears. Despite Jonathon Edwards assertion.
As I’ve said before atheists take as their epistemic foundation reality itself, the reality that even gods must be contingent upon.
I think you need to get Mike’s book. I think this is the exact point of contention: “most atheists are atheist because it looks exactly as if gods do not exist.”