“Evidential apologists for the Christian faith want arguments for Christianity; they do not want proofs. Like the Israelites outside Canaan, they don’t want to launch a campaign of total conquest.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 81
And Why the Last Judgment Is Just
“Evidentialism, in contrast, is concerned to present the Christian faith as probably true, as a reasonable option for reasonable men. In contrast, the presuppositional apologist says that Christianity is inescapably true.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 80
Two Ways
“The evidential apologist believes that there is a neutral place where a Christian may encounter an unbeliever, agree on some common ground rules, and reason from that neutral place to a faith in the God of the Bible. The presuppositional apologist, on the other hand, argues that there is no such neutral place, and that all reasoning presupposes, of necessity, the triune God of Scripture.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 78
Absolute Reason
“Unless reason is an absolute, all is in ruins. Moreover, we cannot say that reason is absolute without acknowledging that such a claim has preconditions. If reason is not absolute, we can know nothing, which would include the fact that we know nothing. But if reason is absolute, how is that possible? If reason is absolute, what is it resting on? What do we mean by it? None of this is possible unless the Word was with God and the Word was God. This is the light from behind the sun. He is the light from behind the sun.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 74
Cogito Ergo Deus Est
“They cannot be brought to understand that they think something that would make anything like thinking impossible.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 66
And There You Have It
“In short, if thought is subjective there is no reason to trust my thought that thought is subjective.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 56
The Axe at the Root of the Tree
“A blind, purposeless and material process does not and cannot know that it is blind, or purposeless, or material. It cannot know anything. If thought is simply the froth on the waves of our brain activity, then one of the first things that thought loses is the ability to know that there is even such a thing as brain activity, or froth for that matter. If human argumentation is simply the epiphenomena that our brain chemistry produces, then there is absolutely no reason to trust human argumentation—including the arguments that urge us to believe that argumentation is simply the epiphenomena that our brain chemistry produces. If reason is simply what these chemicals do under these conditions and at this temperature, then we cannot know that such things as ‘chemicals’ exist, and we certainly cannot know about ‘conditions’ and ‘temperatures.’”
The Light From Behind the Sun, pp. 54-55
Which Is To Say, A Decisive Argument
“In my view, whatever form the argument takes—although this may be just me—it is a slam-dunk, knock-down, set-the-tattered-remains-on-fire argument.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 53
Far Worse Actually
“In haste I ordered a copy of The Defense of the Faith . . . and breathed a sign of relief after I read it. I guess I was Van Tillian. There are worse things, I suppose.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 52
A Designated Place
“When Jesus cleanses the Temple, He drives out the merchants and moneychangers from the Court of the Gentiles. The Gentiles had a court at the Temple, designated for them to worship the true God, and without becoming Jews first.”
The Light From Behind the Sun, p. 46