Van Til Group #6 — The Christian Philosophy of Reality

Carlton Wynne, Lane Tipton, and Camden Bucey open Cornelius Van Til’s book, The Defense of the Faith to pages 40–43, in which Van Til describes the Christian philosophy of reality. While to some degree it is necessary to use categories of God, man, and universe common to unbelievers in order to engage them apologetically and to evangelize, Christians must clearly set forth the distinctly Christian philosophy of reality. Van Til commences that work in chapter two and promptly addresses eternal unity and plurality with regard to the problem of the one and many. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction00:03:39 The Christian Philosophy of Reality00:09:36 The Infection and Rejection Theses00:14:49 The Belief that God Is Identical with Reality00:28:25 The Reality of God as Self-Sufficient00:31:42 Applying the Philosophy00:34:01 The Problem of the One and the Many00:40:19 Practical Considerations of Particularity00:45:15 The Self-Contained God and the One and Many Problem00:52:32 Equal Ultimacy Precludes an Abstract Essence00:59:41 Bavinck on Diversity and Unity01:02:20 Perichoresis01:05:50 Conclusion Participants: Camden Bucey, Carlton Wynne, Lane G. Tipton