Gary Spencer & Cornelius Van Til: A Tribute to Two Men Who Shaped My Worldview

My father was never a wealthy man, monetarily speaking, but among the few valuable physical possessions he left were his books.  Back in the Spring I decided to read Van Til's Apologetic by Greg Bahnsen after discussing it with a friend.  I went on Amazon to buy a copy, but, after seeing the price, I remembered that my father had a copy, so I claimed it and dug in.  I'm glad I did.

Reading this book, this copy of this book, was one of the most surreal experiences of my life, primarily for two reasons.  Firstly, my father conveniently marked in this book (see pics below) with various colors of highlighters, which allowed me to underline in black pen without disrupting his markings.  I typically prefer to buy fresh, unmarked copies of books so that I can mark them up myself, but there was definitely something cool about reading and marking up a copy of a book that my father had so heavily marked himself.  It was as if I were following a path trodden by my father decades before.  I find it difficult to express just how it felt.  To put it simply, it was pretty special.  

Secondly, I was utterly amazed to see how thoroughly the contents of this book had shaped my worldview.  I wanted to read this book because, while I grew up hearing Van Til's name and ideas, I had never actually read a lick of Van Til himself.  This particular book offered extensive readings from his works, organized and analyzed as a helpful introduction.  What I found is that the core ideas drawn from across Van Til's literary corpus were precisely the concepts that shaped the worldview my father sought to impart to his children.  Despite having never read any of his writings, I found myself familiar with most of the ideas, and even much of the language, of Van Til.  It was like that unshakeable feeling when you arrive to a place you know you've never been, but can't help but to feel that you recognize.

Cornelius Van Til was not perfect, to be sure, but he did offer several emphases that I believe are important for the Christian Church in the 21st Century.  We would do well to heed his insistence that all facts are God's facts and that Christianity provides the only coherent foundation for reason.  Social media would seem to provide proof positive that Van Til was correct when he said that all men wear glasses that color how we see the world, that is, that we all approach debate with presuppositions that determine how we interpret the facts.  Perhaps his most important emphasis was that there is no neutrality--all men are covenant breakers or covenant keepers--and that honoring God with our minds requires us to acknowledge Him (His existence, His plan, and His Word) at the outset of every intellectual endeavor.  These are the principles that motivated my father as a Christian educator for 40+ years and that he sought to impart to his students, parishioners, and children.

Over the Fourth of July Weekend five of us siblings waded through Dad's books.  We all found something worth keeping and most of us left with multiple handfuls.  My brother and I split the Van Til works, so, having read Bahnsen's analysis of Van Til, I now feel prepared to read the man himself.