Happy Thanksgiving!

"I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving."

Psalm 69:30

Quote of the Day

When we turn to the relationship between apologetics and evangelism (or "witnessing," as Kuyper termed it), we must again disagree with those who suppose that the unbeliever can intelligibly study and interpret experience while at the same time denying the truth of the Christian worldview. Francis Schaeffer does this by isolating apologetics from evangelism, making apologetics a preliminary or preparatory vestibule for faith—what he calls "pre-evangelism." Schaeffer does not contend that the non-Christian's worldview is philosophically unintelligible, but simply that it is incomplete. It is all right as far as it goes (it has "half the orange"), but it leaves out the supernatural (the "other half of the orange"). In light of this dichotomy between an area of natural understanding (which does not need Christian presuppositions) and an area of supernatural understanding (which calls for the Christian worldview), we can understand how apologetics becomes a first step, with evangelism following as a second. Schaeffer says: "The truth that we let in first is not a dogmatic statement of the truth of Scripture but the truth of the external world and the truth of what man himself is. This is what shows him his need. The Scriptures then show him the nature of his lostness and the answer to it. This, I am convinced, is the true order for our apologetics in the second half of the twentieth century."

This understanding of our procedure assumes that the unbeliever's philosophy can readily interpret both the external world and himself in an intelligible fashion on the basis of its autonomous presuppositions and rejection of biblical authority—understanding them well enough to see his spiritual "need." After this preparatory work of reason has been done, the evangelist can appeal to the unbeliever to repudiate his autonomy and accept the dogmatic truth of the Scriptures, which "answers" his spiritual need. Thus, Schaeffer's outlook suggests that apologetics and evangelism operate intellectually with different standards, goals, and methods—a twofold approach that is true to the traditional Thomistic method.

Greg Bahnsen in Van Til's Apologetic, 52-53.

WesWhite.net

A quick note to point out that TE Wes White, defender of orthodoxy in the PCA, has changed the URL of his blog. You can now find him at WesWhite.net. Make sure to update your bookmarks/newsreaders. The new site looks great, Wes!

New PCA Presbytery Map: 17-16 in Favor of Amendments

Here is the latest map, showing the results of weekend Presbytery voting. The vote count is now 17 Presbyteries approving the amendments, 16 Presbyteries rejecting them.

PCA Vote now 15-14 Against Amendments

Two more PCA Presbyteries have voted to approve the BCO amendments, bringing the total to 14 approving and 15 rejecting the amendments. Remember, two-thirds of all Presbyteries must APPROVE the amendments in order for them to pass. The latest map is linked below. You won't notice a change on the map, because the two presbyteries were Korean presbyteries, and in the PCA the Korean presbyteries overlap other presbyteries geographically, making it difficult to map their results (I mean no offense to the Korean brothers!). There are four more Presbyteries meeting Saturday, so the map may change drastically after this weekend. Stay tuned!

Another 2 PCA Presbyteries Vote...

...bringing the total to 15 against the BCO Amendments and 12 for the BCO Amendments. Latest map can be seen by clicking on the thumbnail below.

ARPTalk Issue 37

A new issue of ARPTalk is out. It contains three articles:

1. Ebenezer and Ralph's Story
2. Why I Really, Really, Really want to Attend Erskine Seminary
3. Things You Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask

All three are excellent (as usual), but here are some quick thoughts on each.

Ebenezer and Ralph's Story: If you ever had a high opinion of the ARP, this article will cure you of it. I believe Rev. Wilson puts things into perspective with his apt illustration of the fight over Erskine as two dung beetles fighting over a huge pile of elephant feces. I still hold out hope that Erskine can be transformed into something more than a steamy pile of droppings, but do we in the ARP have the resolve to see those difficult changes through? It is unclear at this time if we do.

Why I Really, Really, Really Want to Attend Erskine Seminary: This article distinguishes between why a potential seminarian wants to attend Erskine, and why a potential seminarian ought to want to attend Erskine.

Things You Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask: I can sum up my response to this article by saying "Thank God for our Canadian ARPers!" Those brothers have their house in order! Would that the rest of the denomination were more like them.