Common Ground, Part 6

How then should we reconcile the differences between presuppositionalism and traditionalism? First, it seems that in some ways they are saying very similar things without realizing that they are simply defining terms differently. A plain clarification such as has been outlined in this blog can be of use. Also, perhaps, as is argued by Gary Habermas in the book, Five Views on Apologetics, presuppositionalism is merely an incomplete apologetic (241). Better yet, it seems to be more of an epistemology which should overarch all of apologetic practice. Every apologist is a presuppositionalist, whether consciously or not. God is assumed in every argument because no statement, whether premise or conclusion, can be made intelligibly without the assumption of God.

With presuppositionalism as an epistemology, all apologetic methods are valuable. If someone is looking for reasons to believe in God, there is classical apologetics. If someone else wants proof of the deity of Christ, there is evidential apologetics. If a believing brother is having doubts about his faith and wants to see the probability of the truth Christianity, there is the cumulative case method. In fact, it appears that John Frame has almost endorsed this idea in his section of the book, Five Views on Apologetics: “I see considerable common ground between presuppositional apologetics and the other schools of thought…. I gladly join with Habermas in testing Scripture by scriptural criteria, and I do not automatically reject theistic proofs and Christian evidences as nontranscendental” (357).

So, can an apologist faithfully commend and defend Christianity to an unbeliever while granting a level of common ground in the areas of evidence and reason? It appears that we can indeed. And is it possible to reconcile presuppositional apologetics to traditional apologetics? Not only is it possible, but in the end we see that there is significant overlap in the apologetic methods. Moreover, it might even be possible for them to be complimentary to one another. With the solid epistemological foundation that God is revealed even in our laws of thought and order, we are sure to glorify Him as we defend the gospel whether by means of logic, or evidence, or simply our Christian testimony. God, in his infinite power and wisdom, has created every man in the imago dei. Thus, when the Christian or the atheist decides to open his mouth and argue, he displays this amazing truth to all.