A trinitarian modal–spherical method of apologetics : an attempt to combine the vantilian method of apologetics with reformational philosophy

Abstract

The task of a reformed apologetics is the application of both theology and philosophy in the confrontation with unbelievers, bridging the gap between the natural man and the Gospel of Christ and trying to do justice to the multi-aspectual, existential and constitutive sides of created reality. In the Festschrift of Cornelius Van Til, two well-known reformational philosophers, Herman Dooyeweerd of the Netherlands and Hendrik Stoker of South Africa, among others, discussed with Van Til the methodology of Christian apologetics (Jerusalem and Athens 1971: viii). The investigation focus on the reflections of Dooyeweerd and Stoker on Van Til’s method, which attempted to break away from classical methods and to reform apologetics biblically. Thence, constructive criticisms, methodological integration of reformational insights and the opening up of new avenues of apologetic discourse follows after a structural evaluation of the dialogue between the three thinkers, leading to a Trinitarian, Modal-spherical method (TMSA) of apologetics, while still presupposing the biblical and triune essence of Van Til’s pressuppositional apologetics. After absorbing and integrating inter-related elements in its Trinitarian framework, the new method of apologetics will be introduced to broader Christianity via two integralist accounts of traditional Christian philosophy, both inspired by an interpretation Neo-Thomism, which in many respects correspond to the Neo-Calvinist vision. So that after non-dualistically expanding TMSA’s methodological foundation and scope of interaction non-, it can be briefly introduced to other nuances of apologetics at the final step of the thesis, in the hope of contributing for the ongoing reformation of the Church and its apologetic endevour.