Tag Archives: cornelius van til

Old Van Til reviews

Posted on September 3, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

I know this is going to be a long post, but it is mainly for research purposes.  I am not a Van Tillian. I am closer to Klaas Schilder, so I sort of transcend these debates. Introduction to Systematic Theology … Continue reading →

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Covenantal Relations in the Trinity

Posted on March 16, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

One of the Reformed Thomist criticisms of Kuyper, Vos, etc., is that they posited covenantal relations in the Trinity.  And this is bad because of Hegel or something.  I want to do two things: actually see what they say and … Continue reading →

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Review: Cornelius Van Til, an Analysis of his Thought

Posted on October 8, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

by John Frame. Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1995. This is my second time to read through this book.  The question obviously arises:  should you read this book or Bahnsen’s book on Van Til?  They are two different books dealing with two … Continue reading →

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FV, Shepherd, and where the bodies are buried

Posted on July 16, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

I’ve put off doing an autobiographical post on my relationship to the Federal Vision for quite a while.  Maybe for several reasons.  Too much blood still on the floor. RTS never distinguished between those who were mentally Baptists (e.g., RTS) … Continue reading →

Posted in American Evangelicalism, Autobiography, church | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Common Grace and the Gospel (review)

Posted on July 6, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

The Christian Philosophy of History Metaphysically, we have all things in common with the unregenerate.  Epistemologically, we do not. Universals of non-Christian thought are ultimately non-personalist. For the Reformed Christian God’s counsel is the principle of individuation. Paradox God’s being … Continue reading →

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Chain of Being (Review)

Posted on October 20, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Arthur Lovejoy analyzes a powerful if flawed concept’s “control” over Western mind since Plato. The chain of being is the continuum of “substance/essence/stuff” beginning with God (or Plato’s Good) and ending with either inorganic life or nothingness itself. The chain … Continue reading →

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Review of Dennison on Van Til

Posted on September 28, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Dennison, William.  In Defense of the Eschaton.  Wipf and Stock, 2015. This is a collection of essays dealing with Van Til and Education, with a few other themes thrown in.   Some essays are quite good, particularly the one on … Continue reading →

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Van til and analytic philosophy

Posted on September 26, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

This is from the first chapter of William Dennison’s In Defense of the Eschaton. Dennison’s first chapter places Van Til (hereafter CVT) within the context of Continental vs. Analytic philosophy and it begins on a promising note.  Few of CVT’s disciples … Continue reading →

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The recons flee defeated on Christology

Posted on July 5, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Here’s the context behind my recent post on Rushdoony.  I participated on a facebook thread where several kinist-reconstructionists were attacking Eastern Orthodoxy.  That put me in an odd decision, for I, too, have criticized EO.  But their arguments were just … Continue reading →

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Van Til and a “thrown” world

Posted on May 1, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Van Tillians love to say there are no “uninterpreted facts.”  All facts are already “pre-interpreted by God.” Now, when you get them to explain just what a “pre-interpreted fact” looks like, that ends much of the discussion.  But I think … Continue reading →

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