jubalsqaud
Puritan Board Freshman
Hanniah the profit renders van tillian apologetics useless.
The reason this is the case is because van tillian presuppositionalism is supposed to show the necessity of the Christian worldview.
The problem is the format of these arguments attempt to show that the triune God of scripture is true my necessity.
This is where Hanniah the prophet becomes a problem
Hanniah is a false prophet who speaks in the name of the real guy who is mentioned in Jeremiah 28 verses 15 to 17.
Jeremiah accuses him of lying about what God told him and God subsequently executes Hanniah.
The problem here is this proves that you can actually reference and talk about the real God and also tell a false story about the real God.
Against this vantillianism is basically helpless.
For there is nothing in all the world that a Vantillian can do to stop someone from saying
"look I get that there needs to be a solution for the one in the many found in God and it can be a trinity. However I think Jesus predicted a false prophecy and therefore can't be God incarnate"
The vantillion can attempt to do several things from here but all of them fail some examples are:
1. Argue for a necessity of a messiah.
This doesn't work however because if you prove the necessity of a messiah all you've done is prove the basic format of the Jesus story you haven't actually proven that Jesus is the character that actually fulfilled the story.
2. Try to argue from the some kind of timing mechanism from the Bible like Daniel 9.
This might perhaps work against a Jew but it will not work against someone who can be more aggressive against the text.
For example a generic philosophical theist could be absolutely persuaded by a vantillion style argument regarding the one in the many while also believing that the Christian God is real .
However there's no reason to accept that because God solves the one in the many problem that nobody is lying about Moses making a bunch of laws, or that Hezekiah defeated armies, or pretty much all the bible specific content.
This generic theist can just assert he believes in
Pre-biblical revelation, which would be defined as the prerequisite knowledge for being able to read the Bible.
If you did not know how to read or speak you couldn't gain the knowledge of Moses.
Such a man would basically have a minimal theism devoid of third party prophets and angelic messengers.
3. The last recourse of a Vantillian would be to assert somehow I need for these third party profits in order to know these things.
If one were to say you needed these profits in order to know these things because God hadn't revealed to you these things except for the Bible then the argument becomes self refuting.
There are lots of characters in the Bible who predate the Bible who also know things such as Noah from Genesis 9:24, who knew his son saw him naked.
Conclusion:
I'm forced to conclude because of the above that the van till followers really don't have an proof for Christianity.
For Christianity is a claim about what God has done, one of many others which cannot be excluded just because you have belief in the same God.
The reason this is the case is because van tillian presuppositionalism is supposed to show the necessity of the Christian worldview.
The problem is the format of these arguments attempt to show that the triune God of scripture is true my necessity.
This is where Hanniah the prophet becomes a problem
Hanniah is a false prophet who speaks in the name of the real guy who is mentioned in Jeremiah 28 verses 15 to 17.
Jeremiah accuses him of lying about what God told him and God subsequently executes Hanniah.
The problem here is this proves that you can actually reference and talk about the real God and also tell a false story about the real God.
Against this vantillianism is basically helpless.
For there is nothing in all the world that a Vantillian can do to stop someone from saying
"look I get that there needs to be a solution for the one in the many found in God and it can be a trinity. However I think Jesus predicted a false prophecy and therefore can't be God incarnate"
The vantillion can attempt to do several things from here but all of them fail some examples are:
1. Argue for a necessity of a messiah.
This doesn't work however because if you prove the necessity of a messiah all you've done is prove the basic format of the Jesus story you haven't actually proven that Jesus is the character that actually fulfilled the story.
2. Try to argue from the some kind of timing mechanism from the Bible like Daniel 9.
This might perhaps work against a Jew but it will not work against someone who can be more aggressive against the text.
For example a generic philosophical theist could be absolutely persuaded by a vantillion style argument regarding the one in the many while also believing that the Christian God is real .
However there's no reason to accept that because God solves the one in the many problem that nobody is lying about Moses making a bunch of laws, or that Hezekiah defeated armies, or pretty much all the bible specific content.
This generic theist can just assert he believes in
Pre-biblical revelation, which would be defined as the prerequisite knowledge for being able to read the Bible.
If you did not know how to read or speak you couldn't gain the knowledge of Moses.
Such a man would basically have a minimal theism devoid of third party prophets and angelic messengers.
3. The last recourse of a Vantillian would be to assert somehow I need for these third party profits in order to know these things.
If one were to say you needed these profits in order to know these things because God hadn't revealed to you these things except for the Bible then the argument becomes self refuting.
There are lots of characters in the Bible who predate the Bible who also know things such as Noah from Genesis 9:24, who knew his son saw him naked.
Conclusion:
I'm forced to conclude because of the above that the van till followers really don't have an proof for Christianity.
For Christianity is a claim about what God has done, one of many others which cannot be excluded just because you have belief in the same God.