What is Presuppositional Apologetics?
In this part of the series on apologetics, I explain what presuppositional apologetics is.
Presuppositional apologetics (PA) is the apologetical framework that teaches that the biblical worldview is the only viable interpretation of reality, and thus must be presupposed (not abandoned) to answer the objections of unbelief. Put positively, Christians must believe that the Bible is the truth, and thus the only foundation upon which all apologetical argumentation can be made. Put negatively, Christians must never adopt the presuppositions of unbelievers (unbelief and unreality), but instead stand upon the presuppositions of reality—namely of the world that God has made and the interpretation of that world as revealed in the Scriptures.
PA is built upon verses like John 17:17 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which teach a revelational epistemology—namely that truth is known from God’s revelation alone. Man can only know truth because God has revealed truth through general revelation (His creation) and/or special revelation (primarily His Word). This revelational epistemology leads the presuppositional apologist to presuppose that reality is defined, shaped, and revealed by God. He seeks to think God’s thoughts after Him. To know anything rightly, we need the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), the Spirit indwelling (1 Cor 2:10-16), and the illuminated Scriptures—even merely to understand general revelation. Therefore, it is foolish to try and reason to God. You don’t reason to God. You can’t reason without God. In order to reason at all, you must presuppose God, that is, you must take Him at His Word. God Himself is the ultimate authority.
After a biblical epistemology, the most distinct feature of PA is its offensive tactics; it seeks to dismantle the foolish arguments of unbelief (2 Cor 10:5, Prov 24:4-5). Typically, the apologetic focuses on two specific ideas: (1) the notion of neutrality and (2) the myth of human autonomy.
Unbelieving man insists that there is neutral ground between being for God and being against God. Typically, he pleads for a reasonable, unbiased presentation of the evidence for the Christian God that he might make an evaluation. Even believers that hold to other apologetic systems may want to leave behind their Christian convictions in order to reason towards the truth. But neutrality in this realm is a myth; there is no neutral ground between faith and unbelief. Either you are for God or against God. Either your father is God or Satan (John 8:41-44). Either you submit to the God of Scripture because He is Lord and King of all creation (Psa 24:1, 29:10) or you are a fool who rebels in His kingdom (Psa 14:1). In fact, it is impossible to have any knowledge apart from Jesus Christ, because in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). So, an unbeliever, from one perspective, doesn’t know anything at all! Therefore, attempting to reason from neutrality, independent from Christ, is fruitless.
This leads to the second myth of the unbeliever: human autonomy. Scripture teaches that an unbeliever does not have the right to do anything apart from God—including think or reason. God is the Lord over all creation, and will judge even the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12). He is the Lord over every mind. In order to reason, man must use the instruments that God Himself has given (Jas 1:17). He is, whether he admits it or not, dependent on God even to think. Furthermore, all knowledge is derived and found in God’s knowledge. Even the part of man that tells man there is a God—the conscience—is a gift from Him (Rom 2:15), and that conscience teaches that God is the Lord over all (Rom 1:18ff). Therefore, to use these things that come from God to evaluate whether or not He is true is simply ludicrous.
There is no neutrality with God. There is no human independence from God. Everything bows to Him. In light of such truths, PA teaches that a Christian must never seek neutral ground and rely upon reasoning and truth apart from God. He must never appeal to the unbeliever as if he is the judge and arbiter of what is right and wrong. Instead, he must argue that it is impossible that Christianity would not be true, for without the Christian God, there is no reality, reason, or knowledge. Put positively, he must argue that only the Christian worldview can explain reality—morality, logic, meaning, reason, purpose, humanity. The alternative is absurdity, for apart from God nothing has meaning and man could not understand anything. In conversations, the presuppositional apologist will often ask how the unbeliever can be sure of anything apart from God. Invariably, the unbeliever must always point to man, which they will admit is a fickle and unreliable source of truth. How then can he know anything for certain? But the fact that man does understand parts of reality rightly, even despite his unbelief, proves the point that he is not autonomous, and must be dependent upon the steadfastness of the God who truly defines reality—even if the unbeliever denies it.
There is more to PA than showing the unbeliever his folly. There is also a defensive aspect that seeks to show the comprehensibility and consistency of the Christian faith from the Scriptures. Note that this is not submitting evidence to the unbeliever as if he was the judge, but proclaiming the truth of the Scriptures that he would repent and believe in the God over all. This method is demonstrated by God Himself (Isa 1:18, Mark 3:23-27) and commanded of believers (1 Pet 3:15, Rom 10:14). Even though there is no neutral ground, there is common ground between a believer and an unbeliever—namely, that (1) every person lives in God’s world, and (2) that every person is made in God’s image.
God has revealed Himself through creation (Rom 1:18). Every person knows that He exists, and that He powerful and divine—regardless of their self-profession. They only deny God by suppressing, or holding down out of consciousness, the truth about Him by their unrighteousness. Sinful man sins in order to escape the right thought of God from coming to mind. The presuppositional apologist aims to unearth this suppressed knowledge with Scripture. God has displayed His majesty and splendor above the heavens (Psa 8:1, 19:1-3). He has cared for man and made him His viceroy over all things (Psa 8:4-7, Matt 5:45, Acts 14:17). He has given everyone a conscience that shows the law written on his heart (Rom 2:14-16), teaching him that there is a judge, that there is a judgment, and that he is guilty. Sin, shame, guilt, awe and dominion over creation is the common knowledge and experience of every person; yet, only the Scriptures give a reasonable explanation of it. The apologist hopes to awaken the conscience with the sword of the Word, in order to expose the unbeliever’s heart to his own eyes.
This apologetic also teaches Christians to speak to unbelievers as fellow human beings made in the image of God. The unbeliever lives inconsistently, with no rationale foundation for his life, yet he does interpret some realities rightly because he still retains the faculties of the image of God—reasonability, logic, morality—though marred by the Fall. Presuppositional apologists appeal to this common humanity and show that only the Christian God can explain this. Scientism calls man a mere animal, and yet man values human life much higher than an ape life; Scripture explains it is because man is stamped with intrinsic worth and dignity by God (Gen 9:6). Materialism teaches that there is no eternity, purpose, or soul, yet man yearns for significance, relationship, immortality; Scripture says it is because God has written eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:11) that we might grope for Him (Acts 17:27). Deism says God created and then left humanity, but man is an incurable worshipper that exists to worship (Rom 1:23); Scripture says it is because man is made to worship Him, and Him alone (Deut 6:13). The unbeliever knows this, and this apologetic exposes his need for the only true and living God.
Lastly, the heart of PA is to clear the fog of man’s foolish objections in order to present the God of the gospel in all His splendor, that, by God’s mercy, he would repent and believe.
Adapted from an essay written for a seminary course on evangelism and apologetics, Fall 2021.