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Van Til's Apologetic, Readings and Analysis

Van Til's Apologetic, Readings and Analysis
By Greg L. Bahnsen
Presbyterian and Reformed. 733 pages. (Available through Evangelical Press)
ISBN 0 87552 098 7

The size of this book may make it a little off-putting to the average reader (if such a mythical animal actually exists). It comprises one half of a two-part legacy left to the committee that oversees the literary estate of Van Til. Their task was to (a) produce a bibliography of his written corpus, and (b) to produce a 'reader' of substance covering the major topics of Van Til's apologetics.
The first of these tasks has been carried out, the second is the fruit of the present volume. Unfortunately, the author, Greg Bahnsen, died shortly after completing this book, which stands as a testimony to his tenacity, devotion and care as an exegete of Van Til's thinking. And this is largely a work of devotion. Not in the sense that it is a devotional book; the title alone should put paid to any false pretences on that score. Rather, it is devotional in the sense that Bahnsen has conceived his task as the faithful systematiser of the work of his mentor.
The book is laid out in an easy-to-read fashion, with an analytical outline of the chapters, which gives a sense of the whole before one dips in. And the author has divided the sections into his own analysis, written in a seraph typeface, where he engages with Van Til's thought on a particular issue, and a sans-seraph typeface to distinguish the succeeding sections which are a digest of Van Til's writing in the particular area.
The task of apologetics, as Van Til conceived it, is laid out in a sympathetic fashion, dealing with the task of apologetics and the epistemological thrust of Van Til's presuppositionalism (roughly, the idea that a worldview is contained in its presuppositions and on that basis shown to be faulty). It is of use having some of the more difficult areas of Van Til's thought introduced before ploughing in (particularly in terms of his penchant for vaguely worded principles that make reference to the more obscure parts of western philosophy), and having the breadth of Van Til in one volume. The book is, in short, a worthy one, and readable despite its size.
However, a word of comment. It was a little frustrating that Bahnsen was not more critical in his appraisal of Van Til. One is left with the distinct impression that at times the author feels that areas of Van Til's thinking are too sacrosanct. Moreover, since this is not a critical appraisal of Van Til's contribution, nor simply Van Til by himself, there are points at which it becomes a frustrating via media. But this is quibbling on the part of the reviewer. Bahnsen clearly sets out to expound Van Til's apologetic, and that is what he does. So, on these terms, what he writes achieves what he sets out to do. The discerning reader will make up their own mind upon those more dogmatic and contentious issues that are contained within the covers of this book in light of Scripture. But I am sure that both Van Til and Greg Bahnsen would expect nothing less.

Oliver D. Crisp