Preview of a Coming Attraction

March 26, 2008 at 5:03 pm (Books (reviews and recommendations))

Here at GB, Gary Johnson will be reviewing a book recently published, one that I devoured in a little over a day, a wonderful book, and one you should purchase straightway.

7 Comments

  1. David Gray said,

    March 26, 2008 at 6:02 pm

    That has been an excellent series of biographies thus far. I enjoyed the ones on Nevin and Dabney. Is this the third in the series then?

  2. greenbaggins said,

    March 26, 2008 at 6:56 pm

    Yes.

  3. J.R. Polk said,

    March 27, 2008 at 5:50 am

    Lane,

    You might be interested in the following podcast:

    http://www.castlechurch.org/ctc009/

  4. ReformedSinner (DC) said,

    March 27, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Wow. “Uniqued Approach” to apologetics according to castlechurch.org. This is why Van Til is loved by some and less-appreciated by others. Some considered him the pioneer that revitalized the field of Apologetics to its rightful spot along side other theological disciplines, others think he unnecessarily rejected Classical Apologetics of the Reformed tradition and created (introduced) something foreign to the Reformed faith.

    Although I have read the book but I’m sure Gary Johnson will have a wonderful review coming up so I will not comment into the book. I’m sure he will address how “unique” Van Til really is, and the answer may be surprising….

    In Christ,
    ReformedSinner (DC)

  5. J.R. Polk said,

    March 28, 2008 at 5:41 am

    Here’s the latest from Castle Church called Van Til and Barth:

    http://www.castlechurch.org/ctc010/

  6. Jeff Waddington said,

    March 31, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    Actually, my reference to Van Til being unique is within the context of American or English language approaches to apologetics. With the translation of Herman Bavinck’s “Reformed Dogmatics” it is becoming quite clear that Van Til was seeking to apply the insights of Bavinck to apologetics. However Van Til does correct Bavinck at points, just as does Warfield and Kuyper.

  7. Barry Waugh said,

    April 3, 2008 at 1:34 pm

    When I read Scott Oliphint’s comment that, “I could not put this book down,” I had my doubts that any biography about a philosophical-theological-apologist could be that absorbing, but I found that Dr. Oliphint was correct because I read the book in a single sitting. I appreciate the extensive Dutch background and family life that John provided in the early chapters because they gave Van Til’s massive intellect some flesh and humanity. As I progressed into the conflicts of the early Westminster Seminary years, Gordon Clark, Barth, etc. I sometimes found myself skipping a few paragraphs to get on to the next subject, but all in all, the book is an exceptional, cogent, and massive piece of work. I may have detected a bit of OPC flag waving as the pages progressed, but I guess a book written by an OPC elder, telling the story of an OPC minister, and having one editor who is an OPC elder had to relish a bit in the struggles of their church. A great book and beautifully written. I also appreciate the use of the traditional documentation format of superscript numbers leading to the sources in endnotes. I think that Darryl Hart and John Muether’s, “American Presbyterianism,” is hampered by inadequate documentation.


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