"The Trinity and the Vindication of Christian Paradox" grapples with the question of how to honor theological system, apologetic proof, and genuine Christian paradox by building on the. in sights of Dr. Cornelius Van Til. Van Til developed an apologetic where one presupposes that the Triune God exists and has spoken authoritatively in Scripture, and then proves this Christian presupposition by demonstrating that the anti-Christian alternative is self-defeating in the specific sense that it betrays reliance on principles that only the Triune God, as a perfect harmony between unity and diversity, can furnish. Van Til deflects the criticism that theological paradoxes render Christianity self-defeating by arguing that although they cannot be resolved, they can be vindicated as true. Vindication involves showing that the opposing features of a paradox discernibly necessitate one another, and together perform an indispensable function to the Christian system. Yet, Van Til fails to thoroughly vindicate the Trinity by showing that the self-sufficient unity of God requires that he should be specifically tri-personal rather than generically multi-personal. Likewise, subsequent Van Tillians have failed to develop systematic vindications of Christian paradoxes according to the method so described. In an effort to overcome these shortcomings, this thesis supplies a demonstration that God's status as (a) his own source of self-distinction, and (b) his own personal context necessitates that he must be three, and only three persons, in order to be a self-sufficient unity. Our conclusion about the Trinity is necessitated by the covenantal perspective that permeates Scripture. And the Trinity in return is proven to be foundational for a covenantal worldview. This initial vindication of the Trinity supplies a refined vision of the Christian worldview in light of which other prominent Christian paradoxes are vindicated in systematic Succession, and variations on the anti-Christian perspective are dispelled as genuine contradictions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:556082 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Bosserman, Brant A. |
| Publisher | Bangor University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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