Cornelius Van Til

Life

Van Til was born in 1895 in the northern Netherlands. In 1905 he immigrated with his family to the United States. He attended Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary and then studied at Princeton University. In 1929 he joined J. Gresham Machen and others in founding Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, where he taught apologetics until his retirement. Apologetics is the theological discipline that rationally explains and defends the truth of the Christian faith. Students who attended his lectures recall that he began every class with prayer.

Ministry and Contributions

Van Til is best known for championing presuppositional apologetics. A presupposition is a basic assumption that a person already holds before forming any thought or judgment. Van Til maintained that no one views the facts with neutral reason; rather, every person interprets the world on the basis of fundamental presuppositions. He therefore argued that in defending the faith one must presuppose the authority of God and of Scripture from the very outset. He regarded this position as the apologetic method consistent with Reformed theology, the theological tradition stemming from John Calvin. By contrast, he was critical of traditional approaches to apologetics that begin with arguments for the existence of God or with historical evidence. His thought is preserved in extensive lecture notes and published writings.

Influence on the Korean Church

Van Til's thought is reported to have entered Korea through Presbyterian theologians who studied at Westminster Theological Seminary, among whom Park Yune-sun is frequently cited as a leading figure. Through this line of influence, Van Til's ideas have often been treated in the teaching of apologetics and systematic theology at Presbyterian seminaries that identify themselves as Reformed. The extent to which his thought has been accepted, however, varies by denomination and seminary.

Assessment

Supporters credit Van Til with establishing an apologetic method that consistently applies Reformed theology, arguing that he clearly exposed the fundamental difference between Christian and non-Christian thought. Critics, particularly scholars who follow classical or evidentialist apologetics, take a different view. They contend that placing the existence of God—the very thing to be concluded—at the starting point risks circular reasoning. They also hold that this method makes it difficult to find common ground with unbelievers. His writing is frequently described as difficult because it is dense with philosophical terminology.