Van Til, Aquinas, and the Natural Knowledge of God

Lane Tipton speaks about his new course on Van Til’s doctrine of revelation, which is the third course in our Fellowship in Reformed Apologetics. In this course, Dr. Tipton covers:

1. The implications of the self-contained and immutable Trinity for a doctrine of revelation in the work of creation and in the special act of providence in covenantal condescension
2. The distinctive character of natural revelation and the natural knowledge of God in Reformed theology, set in comparison and contrast to the views of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth
3. The relation between natural and supernatural, or general and special revelation, giving special attention to Van Til’s key essay, “Nature and Scripture”
4. The Vosian doctrine of eschatology as it bears upon the distinction and the relation of God’s revelation in nature and God’s revelation in covenant (and in Scripture).

The course gives sustained attention to a close reading of central primary sources in Van Til’s corpus that bear on his doctrine of the revelation of the self-contained Trinity in nature and in covenant.

Before sharing one of the lectures from the course, Lane and Camden compare and contrast Cornelius Van Til’s theology with that of Thomas Aquinas on the natural knowledge of God as well as man’s religious fellowship with God.

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:01:23 The Fellowship in Reformed Apologetics
• 00:17:51 Van Til and Thomas Aquinas on the Natural Knowledge of God
• 00:23:33 Differences between Roman Catholic and Reformed Natural Theology
• 00:31:15 Thomas Aquinas on the Natural Knowledge of God
• 00:38:10 Aquinas on Ontological Re-Proportioning to Participate in the Essence of God
• 00:44:35 Preview Lecture on Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Knowledge of God
• 01:11:24 Conclusion

Participants: Camden Bucey, Lane G. Tipton